How to Immigrate to Canada – My experience and timeline

The decision to move to another country is never easy. I fell in love with Canada since my first visit. I’ve visited many countries, but none of them made me want to live and belong as Canada did and I’m happy that I was able to become a Permanent Resident (PR).

It’s not simply a matter of you wanting to immigrate to another country – you should also be perceived as someone interesting that would help the country to grow and excel. Each country has its own rules and immigration programs, and the Canadian government website has a whole section dedicated to it, that was my first, and more important, source of information for my immigration plan.

In a nutshell, this was my profile and how I got my PR:

My country of residence was Brazil, and I applied from outside Canada, via Express Entry.

I was a single applicant, with a Bachelor’s degree and Postgraduate diploma, IELTS CLB 10. I also got a province nomination under Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), via the Human Capital Priorities Stream.

This is a summary of my timeline:

* Express Entry (EE) profile *
Jan 13, 2020: Profile created, waiting for a draw
Nov 2020: Ontario selected as one of the desired provinces, primary NOC info updated
Dec 15, 2020: Ontario NOI received at EE profile (Tech draw of Human Capital Priorities stream)
Jan 13, 2021: EE profile expired
Jan 17, 2021: New profile submitted

* OINP process *
Jan 19, 2021: OINP application submitted
Mar 24, 2021: OINP application status updated to Assessment
Apr 9, 2021: OINP application status updated to Decision in Progress
May 3, 2021: Nomination received, accepted and 600 points added to my score

* Back to EE *
May 12, 2021: EE PNP draw, invitation to apply received
May 28, 2021: PR application submitted, AOR received

~ Around 5 months of silence ~

Nov 5, 2021: Medicals showing as passed at the portal. BIL received.
Nov 9, 2021: Biometrics completed

~ 7 months of no updates ~

Jun 2, 2022: Medicals expired
Jun 10, 2022: Remedicals request received (IMM1017)
Jun 14, 2022: Medicals exams completed
Jun 18, 2022: The date shown on the info sheet I received from the doctor as the date that medicals were submitted to IRCC
Jun 19, 2022: Remedicals appeared as passed at the portal
Jun 23, 2022: PPR!!
Jun 24, 2022: Passport sent via courier to VAC/VSF in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Jun 27, 2022: Courier tracker showing that the envelope was delivered at VAC/VSF
Jun 29, 2022: An update that the envelope was received at IRCC from VAC/VSF
Jul 1, 2022 (Canada Day): Update received at EE portal – application approved, counterfoil details provided
Jul 4, 2022: Update that the decision envelope was sent from IRCC to VAC/VSF and from VAC/VSF back to me
Jul 5, 2022: Confirmation of Permanent Residence and passport received

I’d like to share my experience/path to becoming a Permanent Resident here, hoping that this could be useful to someone. Please note that I’m not an immigration consultant and that if you are considering immigrating, you should also check the “Protect yourself from immigration fraud” section of the Canadian government website as there are a lot of scams out there.