UPDATED FOR 2015- IEC FAQ Thread - please read here first and ask any questions here!

Hi guys,

I've put together a bit of an FAQ for the IEC, mostly thanks to the IEC FAQ page and fergusb's great thread (here).

Please read through this before asking any questions, and try to keep questions to this thread so there's one definitive thread for the questions that get asked over and over again.

If I've missed anything, or if any information is wrong, don't hesitate to let me know.

It'd be great if you could direct anyone with questions to this thread too, so hopefully it will become a really useful resource and save us having to read/explain the same things repeatedly.


1. Help! I want to go to Canada but I don’t know what I need to do!

International Experience Canada (IEC) offers a 24-month working holiday visa. This allows you to work in any job in Canada for up to 2 years. To participate, you must be an Irish citizen aged between 18-35, you must have a valid Irish passport for the duration of the trip, you must be able to demonstrate that you have at least CA$2,500 in your bank account on arrival in Canada and you must have health insurance for the duration of your trip.

The process is quite straight forward, so it’s generally advised that third parties such as USIT are simply as waste of money, and are no guarantee of a visa. You need to apply yourself once the visas open, and given how quickly they sold out in 2014, don't trust anyone else to apply for you.

Applications are all completed online, in 2 stages. Visas are allocated on a first come, first served basis and are expected to sell out within days (in 2014, Round 1 sold out in 8 minutes and Round 2 sold out in 20 minutes).

There is also a Young Professionals visa available. To qualify for this, you must have a written job offer from a Canadian employer before offering. Apart from that, the process seems virtually identical to the WHV process.

Thanks to fergusb for a lot of the following information.

2. What do I need for stage 1?

To apply for Stage 1, you need to create a Kompass account. You will only be able to create your account when IEC opens. If there is more than one category of IEC in your country, you can create a Kompass account as soon as the first category opens. It's strongly advised to have your Kompass account ready to go before the WHV category opens, if possible.

Creating a Kompass account does not mean that you have been given a spot in the quota for any of the categories. You must complete and submit the online application for a CAL in order to receive a spot.

You will use your Kompass account to manage your application for a CAL.

Note 1: You must create a new account even if you applied for a CAL in a previous year.

Note 2: You must enter your family name (surname) and given name(s) (first, second or more), passport number and date of birth exactly as they appear in your passport. Your application may be refused if the information you provide does not match your passport.

When the WHV category opens, you will need to immediately need to go to the visa category tab and select Working Holiday Visa. You'll be prompted to enter your email address and password again. Then you submit everything.

At this stage, if you've been successful, you'll be issued with a WTN and contacted within 48 hours to upload the necessary documents and pay the fee (CAD$150). You have 10 days after receiving your Notice of Receipt letter to submit your payment for the IEC participation fee and required documents. It is your responsibility to meet this deadline. Failure to submit payment and the required documents on time will result in the refusal of your application.

From 2015, payments must be made by credit card (it's possible that Visa Debit will also be accepted, but there's no guarantee).

You must upload (when prompted):

1. A copy of your passport. Your passport must not expire for the duration of your 2 year visa. Otherwise supposedly you will be only issued a visa until the expiry date of your visa.

2. A CV/Resume. This must contain the information specified at http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/ireland-irlande/experience_canada_experience/resume.aspx. However the exact format is not specified and is not critical if previous years are anything to go on. You can upload MS Documents format (.docx) or PDF. (other formats may be supported).

After payment is completed, your IEC application will be assessed, if you are accepted you will receive a "Conditional Letter of Acceptance" which is required for Stage 2, receiving this letter can take 2 weeks.


Watch the YouTube videos about applying through Kompass:

- Video # 1: How to - Get Started (Create, activate and login to your Kompass account)
- Video # 2: How to - Fill out and submit your IEC Kompass application form
- Video # 3: How to - Pay your IEC participation fee and upload required documents.
- Video # 4: How to and when to - Submit your work permit application
- Video # 5: What do I need to - Come to Canada


3. What do I need for stage 2?

Important changed for 2015: Conditional Acceptance Letters are valid for 15 days. You must upload your CAL to your MyCIC account while it is still valid.

Stage 2 is run by CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada). You must create a myCIC account at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/e-services/mycic.asp using the GCKey Login.

Within the myCIC account, you fill out an online form (the Come to Canada Questionnaire) at http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/getting-started.asp under Getting Started

If you fill this out it should recommend an IEC visa and give you a unique code which identifies the forms you must complete. Alternatively, if you complete it within MyCIC, it will automatically link to your account and provide the forms that you need.

Completing this form you need to enter:

You want to Work in Canada.
You want to stay for more than 6 months
Nationality as Ireland
Country of Residence is Ireland
You Don't have a written offer from an employer in Canada

Everything else should be obvious in that form.

Once you have your Unique code, you can enter that into you MyCIC account which then lists all the forms you must complete and upload, if it hasn't been linked automatically.

There are 2 main forms to complete:

IMM1295E -> Which is your details, address, work, education, passport details.

IMM5707E -> Details your family, your parents address, their occupation and if they intent to join you in Canada.

CV (again)

Passport -> A scan of your passport (again)

Garda Certificate -> A scan of your Garda Certificate (detailed below)/Police clearance from any country you have lived in for 6 or more months since you have turned 18. If you have more than one police clearance cert, merge them into one PDF document. An easy way to do this is to use http://www.pdfmerge.com/

If your certificate is in a language other than English or French, send it when you apply, along with the original copy of a translation done by a certified translator.

You do not need to print and physically sign any of the forms. You validate them electronically which acts as your signature.

Once you submit this information, CIC will determine your eligibility. Depending on how busy they are this can take up to a month. You will be issued a "Letter of Introduction". This is valid for 1 calendar year. You must enter Canada within this period to get your visa. The Visa is valid for 2 years from the date of entry to Canada.

Garda Certificate: http://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=2742&Lang=1 this takes a couple of weeks usually.

Details of obtaining Australian clearance can be found here: http://www.afp.gov.au/what-we-do/police-checks/national-police-checks.aspx

UK Clearance: http://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx

4. How long does it all take?

From start to finish, you should expect the process to take about 8 weeks.

5. How many visas will there be and how long will they be available for?

This year, 2014, there are 7,700 visas being released for Working Holidays, 2,500 Young Professional visas and 500 International Co-Op visas (for students coming to Canada on temporary placements and internships). They are expected to sell out quickly, based on last year, likely within a few hours or even minutes. Preparation is absolutely essential!

6. Is there an age limit?

Yes, you must be between 18 and 35.

7. What’s up with police clearance? When do I need to get it?

You need to get clearance from every country you’ve lived in for more than 6 months since you turned 18. Details of the Irish clearance can be found here: http://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=2742&Lang=1

8. Do I need health insurance? Where can I get it cheaply?

Yes, you need health insurance for the entire duration of your stay. You may be asked for proof of this on entry to Canada, and denied entry if you don’t have it.

Three main options are available:

http://www.backpackertravelinsurance.ie/

Cost: €305 excluding winter sports, €355 including winter sports.

NB: You are allowed a single trip back to Ireland spanning a maximum of 14 days over the 2-year period. Any more than this and your insurance will be invalidated.

http://www.go4less.ie/insurance/index_canada.asp

Cost: €285 ex. Winter sports, €340 inc. winter sports

This allows for 2 trips back to Ireland per year, at a maximum of 14 days per trip. So this is 4 trips over the 2 year visa period.

VHI: Costs around €400, but allows you much more time to come and go from Ireland, and you remain covered by the insurance while you're home.

9. My passport is expiring soon! What do I do?

You need a valid passport to apply. Your passport must be valid for at least one day beyond the date of your departure from Canada and there must be one completely blank page, other than the last page, available in your passport

10. I’m going with my partner – can they travel on my visa?

No, you both need individual visas.

11. What should my resume look like? Can they refuse me if it doesn’t look right?

Resume details are here: http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/ireland-irlande/experience_canada_experience/resume.aspx . However, it’s extremely unlikely that you will be refused if your resume doesn’t follow this format.

12. How do I scan my passport without a scanner?

A clear picture taken should suffice.

13. What format should the documents be in?

PDF or a Word document for your CV, PDF or JPG for your passport.

14. Once I’ve gotten conditional acceptance, how long do I have to complete Stage 2?

The Conditional Letter of Acceptance is valid for 3 months once issued, which you should get within about 2 weeks of payment of the fees. Once you begin the MyCIC stage, you then have 60 days to complete it.

15. How long do I have to enter Canada once I get my visa approval?

You will be issued with a ‘Letter of Introduction’ which states for how long you have to activate the visa (1 calendar year, as of 2014).

16. My IEC application has been approved, but I will soon turn 36. Do I have to enter Canada before my birthday? Will my birthday limit the validity of my work permit?

No to both questions. Your Letter of Introduction is valid for presentation at a Canadian port of entry for the duration stated in the letter and is not affected if you turn 36 within its validity period.

17. Do I need to have a job lined up in Canada before I apply?

No, if you are applying under the working holiday category, you do not need to have a job lined up in Canada before you apply.

18. I do not have an Irish passport. Is there a working holiday arrangement for me?

Yes, many other countries are also signed up for the IEC. You should check the IEC website to see if your country is eligible.

19. If I am assigned an IEC spot and issued a Letter of Introduction but do not use it, will I get back the participation fee? May I apply again in other years?

Fees are non-refundable once the Letter of Introduction is issued. As well, each individual may participate in the IEC initiative only once. You are deemed a participant once you are issued a Letter of Introduction.

20. I am applying as a citizen of Northern Ireland. To which IEC initiative should I apply?

Citizens of Northern Ireland who hold a valid Irish passport should apply to the Ireland IEC initiative. Citizens of Northern Ireland who hold a valid U.K. passport should apply to the U.K. IEC initiative.

21. What do I need to show as proof of funds upon arrival in Canada?

You must have a statement from your bank account that must have been issued no more than one (1) week before your departure for Canada. It must clearly indicate that you have sufficient funds in your account to support yourself financially for the first three months of your stay in Canada (C$2,500).

22. I am currently renewing my passport. May I submit my application with a photocopy of my previous passport and a letter stating that my passport is being renewed?

No. You must submit a scan of the appropriate pages of your new passport, otherwise your application will be considered incomplete.

23. How long does my passport have to be valid for in order to apply?

You must hold a valid passport at the time you submit your application. If you have been accepted as a participant and you are preparing to enter Canada through IEC, the validity period of your passport should cover the whole time you plan to stay in Canada The validity period of your work permit may not extend beyond the validity period of your passport.

24. Do I need to book a return flight before I leave?

No. As long as you can demonstrate sufficient funds to cover the cost of a return flight (i.e. the CA$2,500 you need to have anyway), you don't need to actually buy a return flight.

25. Okay, I've read all of this and an IEC visa doesn't suit. What other options are there for visas?

Two other routes exist. An LMO visa and a Federal Skilled Worker visa. For an introduction to LMO visas, please read here: http://moving2canada.com/immigration-to-canada/labour-market-opinion-lmo-work-in-canada/

Information on the Federal Skilled Worker visa is available here: http://moving2canada.com/immigration-to-canada/federal-skilled-worker-program/