the Express Entry system

An important part of the emigration process via the Express Entry system is the recognition of your education. It doesn't matter if you want to do anything with this acknowledgement at the end. It's all about points. Points for the Express Entry system in order to achieve the highest possible score and to be pulled out of the pool as early as possible.

Admittedly, we underestimated this part of the process. So far, the procedure has been the most lengthy, nerve-wracking and also costly component of the overall process. So today, let's take a look at what's involved...

Step One - Registration

Im Express-Entry-Formular gibt es einen Abschnitt zur Angabe der erworbenen Ausbildung. Je nach Art und Höhe der Ausbildung bekommt man Punkte. Diese Punkte werden allerdings anhand in Kanada gültiger Ausbildungsstufen und Abschlüsse vergeben. Im Umkehrschluss bedeutet das also, dass man seinen deutschen Abschluss mit einem kanadischen Abschluss gleichsetzen muss. Da man das nicht selbst vornehmen kann, gibt es Dienste und Institutionen, die die Anerkennung der Ausbildung für einen erledigen. Natürlich gegen ein fürstliches Entgelt.

We have had our education evaluated by World Education Service (WES). To do this, you first have to register on the WES website. Of course, you have to enter your name, place of residence, year of birth, the degree you want to have recognized, the institute where you got the degree, and the recipients who should receive the report at the end. This registration is completed with the transfer of the due processing fee of just under $250.

Step two - Documentation

Once you have gone through the application process, you need to gather your documents and send them to WES. Depending on the country and the degree program, different documents are required. You can find out exactly which documents are required on the WES website. In my case, the following documents had to be submitted:

Master's degree certificate/Examination certificate
Final Examination Certificate
Intermediate Examination Certificate
Academic Transcript

The Academic Transcript is an official document of the institute you graduated. It lists all attended lectures, seminars, proseminars and tutorials, plus the semester hours and grades, if applicable.

Academic Transcript

The whole thing becomes problematic if the degree program was a German 'Magister'- degree program. Why? Well, there are no educational certificates for dinosaurs - so there are no transcripts for extinct courses of study either. They never existed, by the way - so the transcripts, not the dinosaurs. And yes - I have a master of arts degree. So it became problematic.
For the course of study, which is now almost ten years in the past, I had to somehow collect the attended lectures, seminars and proseminars. Also the certificates and grades.
Congratulations! Fortunately, I keep all kinds of crap. That includes my notes from university. So I shift through the dusty files - masks are recommended because of the dust - and write down the course, the semester, the hours and the grade I got into an Excel spreadsheet. Then I bring this to the examination office for confirmation. In the end, Ms. Conrad from the Examination Office for German Studies gets the whole thing to print it on university letterhead and send it in an envelope to the WES. Fun for the whole staff!

By the way: All stuff must be sent to following address:

All Documents must be submitted as legible copies. Under no circumstances should you send your originals , as they will not be returned.

World Education Services
Attention: Documentation Center
2 Carlton Street, Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario M5B 1J3
Canada

All documents should ideally be sent in English. If no English versions exist, they must be officially translated. This again costs money. Of course.

Under no circumstances should you send originals!

Step Three - Translation

Once you have passed steps 1 and 2, you need to translate the non-English documents. If the institute or university does it directly: BINGO. Then they can bring the translation directly into the above mentioned envelope. Good. If the institute does not do it, then you need a certified translator or a translation agency.

For most agencies, this depends on the number of sheets to be translated and takes up to 1 week of processing time. Lengthy - I already mentioned it, didn't I?

Once the translated documents are available, they are simply forwarded to the address of the WES mentioned above. It is always important to indicate the WES Reference No, which you will receive after completing step 1. This reference number must be included on all envelopes and correspondence.

Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)

In the end, you get a report that says: Ding Dong can Boom Boom. Except Ding Dong is your name and Boom Boom is your Canadian graduation equivalent. This report is the Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) and is valid for 5 years. You will need this paper when you actually apply to emigrate (ITA) and have to prove the individual details.