For several reasons, the need for migration is considered an important option for many, but migrating from one country to another can be quite tedious and thus require careful planning and arrangement.
Whether you migrate for education, work, or residency, it is important to consider the entry requirements to the country of your choice before taking a step further to attain your goal.
Canada can be a good choice of destination for work, education, or residency. However, one vital requirement to access the Canadian community is through ECA(Educational Credential Assessment).
WHAT IS ECA?
An ECA(Educational Credential Assessment) is used to verify foreign credentials to detect if it equals the basic Canadian one. These credentials include educational qualifications and other important documents which would serve as a permit to immigrate to Canada.
The ECA is the most common assessment for foreign immigrants. However, this assessment is not necessarily required if you have studied from any institution in Canada but is required to assess credentials approved by foreign institutions.
WHY ECA?
ECA is important, especially for those intending to further their education in Canada, and if you must be eligible, then an ECA is required.
It also enables immigrants to qualify for the federal skilled worker’s program and enables you to earn the comprehensive ranking system points for foreign education. But these points can only be accumulated when your credentials are equal to a completed high school or post-secondary Canadian credential.
The ECA report can also serve as an added advantage when looking for a job, but at the same time, it doesn’t guarantee you are getting a job in your given field or level.
HOW TO GET YOUR CREDENTIALS ASSESSED
The most valid organization officially recognized by the Canadian immigration service to carry out the ECA is the World Education Service(WES). This is because they are the most efficient and process the ECA on time. Other designated organizations include the following: International Credential Assessment of Canada, International Credential Evaluation service, International Qualifications Assessment Service, and a host of others.
As an immigrant, you will be required to submit your credentials to any of these designated bodies to process them before being issued a report to confirm whether your credentials equal the Canadian one.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR ECA CANADA
1. A university certificate or a Diploma: This document/credential will be required for the ECA, and in most cases, you may only need assessment for your highest form of education.
Meaning that if you own two or more degrees, you may only be required to submit the highest degree for assessment.
2. An Academic Transcript: This document will be required if, without completing your education, you decide to migrate to Canada to continue, usually issued by your former institution,
stating the subjects or courses taken and the grades accumulated for years of study.
3. A document evaluation application form: This contains an official application form for evaluating and assessing your credentials for possible migration.
4. Birth Certificate
5. Marriage certificate: This is optional and is mainly required for those who are married.
6. Statutory supporting documents if required
7. Licencing Statement: This applies to those who need to continue their professional practice upon migrating to Canada. For example, a pharmacist would require a licensing statement from the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada to continue with their job.
8. Depending on the organization involved in evaluating and processing your documents, you will be required to pay a stipulated amount of money.
9. Getting an accurate record of the required documents and your academic credentials is vital to avoid complications and unnecessary delays while carrying out the ECA.
The requirements may be updated from time to time by the World Education Service(WES). It’s therefore important to follow up with new developments to make the ECA process easy.
It is important to note that to get your credentials or documents accepted and evaluated by WES and other recognized bodies, your documents must meet up the required standard, which are;
*The documents(educational qualifications) must be issued by a well-recognized educational institution.
*The documents should be signed and sealed and, if necessary, sent digitally by the authorized body or organization.
*It must be written in English
WHAT TO DO BEFORE ECA
To get your documents properly evaluated by any recognized organization of your choice, it is necessary to be fully prepared and follow the required procedures to avoid unnecessary delays or complications. Failure to do this could affect the process and may delay issuing a report for your migration and may lead to the ECA not being conducted in the first place.
Here is what you need to do to avoid this;
- Understand your requirements: Requirements for migration differs from country to country. Having a clear understanding of what is required of you by the country you choose to migrate to will save you the stress of unnecessary mistakes and help you make arrangements to get what is required of you available before taking the next step.
- Provide genuine documents for the ECA: The documents presented for assessment must be genuine and from a recognized institution to avoid being rejected.
- Have a complete document: Take note of the documents required for this procedure, and be sure that you have a complete one before proceeding.
- Consider the stipulated amount for the ECA: charges differ from one organization to the other, you may want to consider looking out for the amounts charged by these organizations and settle for the one in which you can afford, thus the WES(World Education Service) would be a good choice to consider since their charges are relatively cheap. They are timely in completing the ECA procedure.
