PLEASE NOTE THIS GUIDE IS UP TO DATE AS OF JANUARY 2017 AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR COORDINATOR IF YOU HAVE ANY VISA RELATED QUESTIONS, OR REQUIRE ANY FURTHER ASSISTANCE DURING THIS PROCESS. IF YOU HAVE LIVED OUTSIDE YOUR COUNTRY OF CITIZENSHIP FOR MORE THAN 6 MONTHS, MAKE SURE THAT YOU TALK WITH YOUR COORDINATOR BEFORE STARTING YOUR VISA. There is a limit to the amount of Canadian visas issued to most countries (Australia excluded). To be eligible for a position in the visa quota, candidates are required to register into a pool of applicants from which Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will regularly issue visa invitations. STEP 1 - Determine your eligibility You are required to fill in an online questionnaire to determine what type of visa you are eligible for. You can begin the questionnaire by following the link below:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/cometocanada.asp For the standard working holiday visa, the answers should be as follows: What would you like to do in Canada? IEC - Travel and Work How long are you planning to stay in Canada? Temporarily – More than 6 months Which country issues your passport? If you are from the United Kingdom, please enter ‘British Citizens’ What is your current country/territory of residence? If you are presently in Canada, you should select Canada. Enter your country of current residence. For example, if you are a New Zealand citizen living in Australia, the answer should be Australia. Do you have a family member who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and is 18 years or older? Unless your spouse or children live in Canada, the answer to this question should be ‘No’ Do you have a letter proving one of these organizations will help you plan your trip or find work in Canada? No What is your country/territory of permanent residence? This is where you live permanently. For example, if you are a Mexican student in Canada, your country of permanent residence is Mexico. Do you plan to do a work placement or internship in Canada as part of your studies? No
Do you have a signed letter of offer, contract of employment, or internship agreement from an employer in Canada? No Are you registered at a college or university in your country of citizenship? If you are at College or university select ‘Yes’, otherwise ‘No’. After completion of the questionnaire, you will be issued a personal reference code in the following format: AB0123456789. Make sure you write this down as you will need it later!
STEP 2 – Submit your profile The next step is to create the account that you will use to submit your visa application. This is called your MyCIC account and it will be used for all of your visa correspondence from now on. To create your account, please follow the link below, scroll down the page and click on the blue 'Continue to GCKey' button. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/e-services/mycic.asp Follow the prompts to create a username and password. You will need to create some security questions and enter in some basic information about yourself. Please make sure the answers to your security questions are easy to remember, as you will need to answer one of them every time you log in to your account! After creating all of your security questions (7 in total) you will come to a welcoming page with the heading: Welcome to MyCIC, Your Name Scroll halfway down the page to ‘What would you like to do today?’ and select International Experience Canada (IEC) Enter in the personal reference code that you created earlier and click ‘continue’. You are now ready to complete your basic profile. You should see four sub-headings: Personal details – In progress Contact Details – Not started Application details – In progress Work and Education details – Complete You will need to click on each of the sections and enter in the required information until all four sub-headings read ‘complete’. After you have completed each section, click on the blue ‘Continue’ button at the bottom of the page. You are now required to read through the privacy policy. If you agree, select ‘I agree’ and electronically sign the page. (This is just entering your name, and answering one of the security questions that you created earlier.) Once this is done, click ‘Sign’.
If you happy with everything, on the next page click ‘Transmit’ and congratulations, your profile has been successfully submitted into the visa pool! From here it is the waiting game. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will regularly issue invitations to candidates from the IEC pools during the year. You can check the schedule to find out when the rounds of invitations for each country and category will start. You can submit an IEC profile at any time. As long as you submit your profile before the date of the last round of invitations for your country, you may receive an Invitation to Apply for a work permit. You will receive an email notification and a message in your MyCIC account once your invitation has been issued. Please make sure to check or account and emails regularly for any updates! Your updates will appear in your ‘My Messages’ section of your account. STEP 3 – Accept your invitation You will have 10 days to decide if you will accept the invitation. From the day you accept the invitation, you will have 20 days to apply online for a work permit. To accept the invitation, you will need to: 1. Go to the section called “Applications” in MyCIC 2. Find the application called “Work permit” and 3. Click “Start application.” If you do not respond to an invitation within the 10 days, the invitation will expire. If it expires, you will have to submit a new IEC profile and be accepted to the pool again before you can be considered for future invitations. Once you accept your invitation, you need to apply for a work permit. You will have to show proof of the information you gave in your International Experience Canada (IEC) profile. You will also have to provide more information about your background and the type of work you intend to do in Canada. STEP 4 – Completing your profile After accepting your invitation, you will be directed to a page almost identical to the one you completed when registering into the pool, with four sub-headings: Personal details – In progress Contact Details – In progress Application details – In progress Work and Education history – In progress Note: You will need to supply your complete employment history for the last ten years including start and finish dates, so make sure you have your CV/resume handy. Once again, you will need to click on each of the sections and enter in the required information until all four sub-headings read ‘complete’. After you have completed each section, click on the blue ‘Continue’ button at the
bottom of the page.
STEP 5 – Upload your supporting documents Family Information Form (IMM5707) This application form can be downloaded by clicking on the document name and will open a PDF in a separate window on your computer. The purpose of this form is to provide CIC with basic information about your family. You will need to provide the date of birth, country of birth, present address and present occupation for not only yourself but also your mother, father and spouse where applicable. If you do not have a spouse or any children, this form must be signed and dated three times. You will need to physically print this form to sign it, and then scan it back to your computer to upload in to your account when complete. Police Certificates You must provide a police certificate for every country, region or territory, other than Canada, where you lived for six months or more. We recommend that you apply for your police check when you enter the visa pool. You MUST provide the correct police check as specified by CIC or your visa will be denied. You can apply for the correct police check by following the links below: Australia – http://www.afp.gov.au/what-we-do/police-checks/national-police-checks New Zealand – http://www.justice.govt.nz/services/criminal-records UK – https://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx Ireland - http://www.garda.ie/stations/default.aspx If your country is not listed, please follow this link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/index.asp Note: Applicants that live or have lived in Victoria or Queensland will also need to provide a Traffic History Report as well as a police check. You will need to scan your police check and traffic report together and upload them as one document into your account. Victoria – https://billing.vicroads.vic.gov.au/driverhistory/ Queensland - http://www.qld.gov.au/transport/licensing/history/traffic/
CV/Resume The Global CV/resume template is fine to use here. Make sure that your employment history matches the information you entered before, including the months that you started and finished any job listed. The CV/resume should be uploaded in PDF format. Digital photo A passport style photo is best here. For a full list of photo requirements you can follow this link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/photospecs.asp Passports/Travel Documents Provide a clear scan of your passport(s). If the passport scan is not clear and legible your visa application will be denied. STEP 6 – Pay your fees Once you have uploaded all of the required documents, click on the ‘Next’ button at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. From here you will need to accept the ‘Notice Regarding Personal Information’ and electronically sign your application. This is done by typing in your name, answering one of your security questions, and clicking on the ‘Sign’ button.
On the next page, if you are happy with everything, click on the ‘Transmit and Pay’ button at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. The total cost for your visa application is $226 CAD, which is made up of $100 for the IEC Participation fee and $126 for the Open Work Permit Holder Fee. Your payment can be made using a Visa, MasterCard or AMEX. You will be redirected to a payment page to enter in your card details, once your payment has been made; your visa application is complete! FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q: I am from QLD/Victoria, over the age of 18 but I’ve never had a driver’s licence – will I still need to provide a traffic/licence search? A: If you are unable to provide a Traffic/Licence History Search, you must provide evidence issued by Queensland Transport or VIC Roads stating that you have never held a driver’s license in that state. Q: I am having technical issues with my account, who can I contact? A: If you are encountering problems after you submitted your online application: Use the case specific webform If you are encountering problems before you submit your application (while you are preparing your online application and uploading your documents): Send the above information by selecting the “Report a technical issue” button available at the top of your
MyCIC account. Q: I am reaching the deadline to submit my visa application but my police check still hasn’t arrived. What do I do? A: You must submit your visa application by the deadline no matter what. If you are not able to get a police certificate before the deadline to submit your application, you may upload a copy of the receipt proving you have requested one. You must have the police certificate ready to submit to CIC when an officer later requests it. Q: How long will it take to process my application? A: The maximum processing time is 8 weeks from the day your application has been submitted. However, it can take longer if additional documents are required. Q: I did a student exchange in the USA for 12 months. Will I need an American police check? A: Yes, you are required to provide a police check for any country that you have lived in for 6 consecutive months over the age of 18, excluding Canada. Q: Do I require a minimum amount of funds to be eligible for the visa? A: You will not be required to show any proof of funds during the application process. However, when you arrive in Canada you will required to prove that you have access to at least $2500CAD in savings. Q: Do I need to show proof of insurance during my visa application? A: You must have insurance for the entire length of your stay in Canada. However, you will not be required to show this until you physically arrive in Canada and check through immigration. Our travel department will be able to help with all your insurance requirements.
