Apply for ECA
What is ECA (Educational Credentials Assessment)?
ECA stands for Educational Credentials Assessment. ECA is a study that confirms your degree, diploma, certificate, or any other education evidence to be authentic and equivalent to the Canadian standards to check whether you are eligible for a Canada PR visa, or study visa.
In Canada, having academic credentials is crucial for getting a high-paying job. Your ability to obtain a job and earn may depend on your degrees. So, this ECA report is a must to ensure that your degree meets the demands of Canadian standards to get a good-paying job.
Why ECA is important for immigration?
ECA(Educational Credentials Assessment) is a process of degree/diploma verification that is necessary to assess the qualifications of those who apply for a Canada visa using the Express Entry designation. So, the person who wants to immigrate to Canada must undergo the ECA process.
Another critical point is that if you were an international student and studied at a Canadian University, then there is no need for ECA as your degree is already a Canadian degree.
Supporting documents needed for ECA (Educational Credentials Assessment):
ECA is the first step for any person who wants to immigrate to Canada. So, whosoever is planning to immigrate to Canada for any of the purposes whether it is based on a PR visa, study visa, work visa, or business visa must ensure that his ECA is done.
For ECA, the following supporting documents are needed:
- A certified copy of a government-issued ID that includes the person’s birthdate.
- A scan of the diploma or degree certificate’s back and front in the language of the award.
- A scan of the academic credentials on both sides, in the language it was written in.
- All papers not in English or French must be accompanied by a verified qualified translation, for each word.
How to get an ECA report for immigration?
The ECA report is prepared by authorized organizations that operate independently of the government of Canada. The organizations recognized by IRCC to issue ECA (Educational Credential Assessment) reports are listed below. Two primary entities oversee the ECA process.
Designated organizations: These organizations are used to verify the documents of education qualification except for physicians and pharmacists.
- World Education Services (WES)
- Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
- International Credential Assessment Service of Canada
- International Qualifications Assessment Service
- International Credential Evaluation Service
Designated professional bodies: These are the bodies designed by the IRCC to issue reports for physicians and pharmacists especially.
- Medical Council of Canada
- Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada
You need to apply to the organizations mentioned above to get your ECA reports. One needs to fill out the form and have to submit the form with the required documents.
What is the ECA Academic Request Form:
For the sake of the ECA certificate we need to fill up the ECA application through the ECA Academic Request Form. To get the application form, IRCC has introduced us to some authorized organization that provides us with the ECA form in which our details will be shared for verification.
- This ECA Academic Request Form form is only available after the applicant completes the process with the payment.
- The designated organizations only have the right to issue our ECA certificate report.
- Also, we need to focus on the fact that IRCC will accept the assessments that are issued on or after the date the entities were allocated to provide for immigration applicants’ ECA reports.
Transcript for ECA:
Transcript means the statement of marksheets which we need to be evaluated. The procedure of ECA is, once the payment is done we have to share our transcript to the designated organization for verification. This can be done in two ways:
- One can visit the university and collect all the required documents with the proper stamp and seal.
- Another option is that one can apply for this online by filling out the request form and paying for the service to the university.
After the collection of the stamped documents with the university seal, the applicant has to courier them to the designated organization for further verification process.
Cost and Processing Time for ECA:
The cost and processing time vary for each ECA organization. The processing fee and time period are discussed in the following table:
Sr.No. | ECA Organization | Time period | Fees($) |
1. | World Education Services (WES) | 4 Weeks | 240 |
2. | Comparative Education Service (CES) | 14 Weeks | 210 |
3. | International Credential Evaluation Service (ICES) | 12 Weeks | 230 |
4. | International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS) | 15 Weeks | 200 |
5. | International Credential Assessment of service of Canada (ICAS) | 13 Weeks | 200 |
6. | Medical Council of Canada – (Professional body for doctors) | 6 Weeks | 290 |
7. | Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (For Pharmacists) | 13 Weeks | 600 |
In this table, the fee of the application is not inclusive of the courier charges. Also, from this table, it is clear that World Education Services (WES) is the fastest organization with a nominal fee and takes less time. WES is an organization that evaluates your academic credentials to continue your studies, look for a job, or pursue professional licensure
Conclusion:
Concluding, ECA is the foremost step in order to get a Canada Visa which includes a Canada PR Visa, Study Visa, Work Visa, or Business Visa. If a person wants to immigrate to Canada he has to get the ECA certificate so that the Canadian Government can check whether his degree is compatible with a Canadian degree. There are various organizations that help the applicant to get the ECA certificate.