Canada is opening its doors once again to skilled workers who want to settle and make a living in Canada while contributing to the country's booming economy. This opens an opportunity to foreign nationals, such as Filipinos to work and live in a foreign land while earning and being a part of the Canadian workforce.

Through the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), a foreign but skilled professional may receive a Canadian Immigration Visa once he or she qualifies and become eligible in the FSWP, thus making him or her a permanent resident in Canada.

This article is divided into two parts. This part tackles how one can be eligible, how to apply and be assessed for Canada's immigration program.

How can one be eligible for the program? To be able to qualify for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the applicant must meet the following basic requirements, or what are called selection factors in order for his or her application to be processed:

Language Skills- must pass a language test (that is composed of reading, speaking, listening and writing assessments) for English and French from an agency approved by the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

Education- must possess Canadian diploma or certificate; and/or must possess foreign educational credentials that has an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report. ECA is used to verify the validity of foreign educational requirements and to check if it is equivalent to the Canadian education credentials.

Work Experience -worked for at least one year (continuously and paid/full-time or an equal amount in part-time) in an occupation that fits in the eligible occupations under the FWSP.

-Employed within the last 10 years or  has a valid arranged employment (permanent and full-time)

3. Age -Preferably, applicants who are around 18 to 35 years old are the most eligible for the program. Applicants around 36 to 46 years old are still considered, though.

4. Arranged Employment in Canada - Applicants can be eligible in the program if they have a pending job offer from an employer in Canada that is:
-full-time and permanent; and
-falls in one of the eligible occupations under the FWSP.

5. Proof of Funds - An FWSP applicant must prove that he or she has sufficient funds to support his or her family, whether they are part of the applicant's immigration to Canada or not. The amount of money (fund) the applicant needs is gauged based on the number of members of the family.

Note: An applicant does not need to show any proof of funds, though, when 1) the applicant has a valid arranged employment/job offer in Canada; and/or 2) the applicant is already authorized to work or currently working in Canada.

6. Adaptability -An applicant may find himself/herself eligible in the Federal Skilled Worker Program if he or she has a partner or relatives who will immigrate to Canada with him/her given that they meet the following criteria:

-The spouse or partner's language level is at CLB-4 (based on language test done by CIC-approved agency).

-The applicant or his/her spouse finished at least two academic years of full-time study (in a program at least two years long) at a secondary or post-secondary school in Canada.

-The applicant (with a valid work permit and worked in a occupation listed in Skill Type O or Skill Levels A or B of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) or his/her spouse (on a valid work permit or while authorized to work in Canada ) must have worked full-time for at least one year in Canada.

-Has an arranged employment in Canada

-has any relative living in Canada, 18 years or older and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.   

What are the steps to apply for Eligibility in the FWSP program?

a) Download the Generic Application Form for Canada in the CIC website .

b) Fill out the forms. Click “Validate”. Incomplete/Unfilled-out sections of the forms will be highlighted in red. You must complete and correct such fields and click “Validate” again to be able to proceed to the next step.

c) Once the validation of your form is done, a barcode page will appear. Print the barcode page and sign wherever necessary.

d) This application form must be submitted to the visa office in Canada together with all other required documents in applying for eligibility in the FSWP. If any are missing, the documents will be sent back to the applicant without processing it.

e) Prepare to pay for some fees such as the following:

• processing fee
• Right of Permanent Residence fee  
• your medical exam  
• a police certificate (if you need one)  
• an educational credential assessment (ECA)  
• language testing  
• services at a Visa Application Centre (if you use one) 
  

The higher the points you get for each selection factor, the more eligible you become for the program. The current passing mark for FSWP is 67. Scoring 66 or lower will not qualify an applicant to immigrate to Canada.

For more information about Canada's Skilled Worker Program, you may visit the Canadian Embassy in the Philippines website.