Every month my team speaks to hundreds of lawyers and assists them in preparing a foolproof strategy to move to Canada.
Most people find it difficult to get PR (Permanent Residency). Even those who manage to get a work permit or a PR struggle to get jobs there.
In our experience this struggle is unnecessary and created due to bad strategy.
So we decided to create a foolproof strategy which ensures that you solve both problems – you get PR and land a well paid job even before you set foot in Canada.
Most Indian lawyers who apply for PR and face rejection tend to fall under the 400-450 points bracket and miss PR narrowly, as it is somewhere between 460-500 points.
For example, last year, the cut-off was 481.
How can you get head and shoulders above the cut-off by then?
If you score 550 to 600, obtaining a PR is almost certain.
We have found out that it is possible to score 1000+ in your PR applications if you apply strategically, which makes your getting a PR almost a certainty.
We are sharing the top 3 strategies to do that.
The 3rd strategy rides on the shoulders of the second strategy and ensures that you score above 1000.
The first strategy is to get work experience. There are two kinds of work experience you should focus on:
- Indian work experience (includes working as a freelancer or consultant)
- Canadian work experience (obtained through remote work)
There are a lot of lawyers who apply for Canadian PR without having any work experience first, losing out on points.
Having 3 years of Indian work experience can enable you to score an additional 25 points, provided you also have 1 year of Canadian work experience.
Note that you will get none of these points if you only have Indian work experience with zero Canadian experience. Hence getting Canadian work experience remotely is very critical.
Indian work experience I know you can figure out. How do you get remote work experience by working with Canadian employers while you are still in India? We will get to this.
Note that it is also possible to get 50 points if you have 2 years of Canadian work experience (apart from those 3 years of Indian work experience).
Now, before the pandemic it was not possible to obtain Canadian work experience without a suitable visa to move to Canada, but after the pandemic it has become possible to work remotely for Canadian lawyers, law firms, SMEs and businesses from India.
Hence, it makes sense to do some remote work with Canadian clients from India to secure additional points in your PR application.
This is also a very good idea financially, as remote work enables you to earn very well, often 3x to 5x of what you can earn in Indian jobs.
As an Indian lawyer working remotely, you have a huge cost advantage compared to other Canadian lawyers and paralegals.
Even before you qualify in Canada as a lawyer, you can work as a legal assistant, legal researcher, law firm marketer, business development, legal software sales specialist, case assistant for lawyers etc.
Of course, you must have some high-demand practical skills which are relevant in the Canadian legal market, otherwise it will be very difficult to establish your credibility with Canadian clients or get work remotely.
In addition, we suggest that you also prepare for the NCA Exam on the side. By clearing the NCA exam you become equivalent to a Canadian law graduate, which means you can easily land non-lawyer legal roles that involve assisting lawyers.
It is possible to attempt the NCA Exam from India itself. So this is relatively inexpensive as you do not have to travel to or live in Canada while you are preparing for the exam or writing it.
Preparing for the NCA Exam and also clearing it subsequently provides additional credibility while pitching for remote work opportunities with Canadian clients.
For the purpose of PR, remember that Canadian authorities consider 1560 hours of paid work to amount to 1 year of Canadian work experience.
(This is approximately 6 hours per day if you work for 250 days).
#2 – Get a job offer from a Canadian employer to work in their Canada office
Remotely working successfully with Canadian clients can soon lead to the Canadian client wanting to bring you into the office physically. Such a job offer can lead to an additional 50 points.
Clearing the NCA exam increases your chances of landing a remote job in Canada by leaps and bounds. We have helped many Indian lawyers secure remote job offers in Canada. However, we noticed that many of them were offered to move into in-office positions after 6-12 months if they did well in their remote role.
If you can pull this off, it is a sureshot way to land Canadian PR.
If you score somewhere in the 400s otherwise, which is where most Indian applicants with decent English scores and basic Indian work experience end up, these two strategies will enable you to score 500+ and clear PR requirements.
There is one more strategy, however, which makes you win a clean sweep when it comes to PR, which we discuss next.
#3 – Obtain a provincial nomination in Ontario
A provincial nomination implies that there is a requirement for people working in a particular trade, profession or job role in Canada, and that you have been selected for it.
The provincial government issues a notification from time to time in roles where provincial nominations are available, and when there is a necessity.
Since Canada has an ageing population, there is a huge scarcity of talent across almost all professions, and opportunities to apply for provincial nomination arise from time to time.
As an Indian lawyer, you can of course apply under the lawyer or paralegal category, but you will increase your chances of securing a provincial nomination if you are open to working in such as virtual assistant, sales, etc.
Note that even if you are selected and start as virtual assistant or marketer, you do not have to stick to virtual assistant or marketing forever, you can eventually shift to law practice or paralegal work when you get suitable jobs.
Ontario is the ideal state for Indian lawyers given the huge legal services market there, if you intend to move to Canada.
If such a requirement is there during the pendency of your PR application, a notification of interest will be issued by the province. You will receive an intimation to apply for a provincial nomination to that. You must make this application through a separate form online.
You should have cleared your Ontario Barrister and Solicitor Exam by this point if you want to apply as a lawyer. If you don’t have this, try to apply in some other category where you may fit in.
Once you secure a provincial nomination, you can obtain an additional 600 points on your PR straight away, reaching above 1000 very easily. With that score, you not only beat the cut-offs, but would be amongst the top ranked applicants!
Even if you do not secure a provincial nomination, having Canadian + Indian employment offer ensures that you score 500+ in your PR application and clear the cut-off.
Don’t believe me?
You can fill out the scoring tool (called the Comprehensive Ranking Score or CRS) tool yourself:
Try this with two parameters.
The first should be with your existing qualifications.
The second should be with the following specifications:
- 1 year of Canadian experience minimum (try 2 years)
- Indian experience of 3 years
- Arranged employment in Canada
- IELTS 7 or 8+ in all categories (this is not difficult to obtain)
- Add 600 points (if you secure a provincial nomination)
Here is what I secured when I put in the following: 35 years of age, 3+ years of Indian work experience, 1 year Canadian experience, 8+ IELTS score in English, migrating with spouse who is a lawyer (i.e. professional degree to practise in a licensed profession) with no Canadian experience, 8+ IELTS score
Now, if I didn’t have a provincial nomination, I might score 472 and be below the cut off
How do I increase this number?
I get one more year of Canadian work experience and I score more points:
Even without a provincial nomination, I would score 498 or well above cut-off score.
Here are some other ways to increase your score, but they are not so important:
- If you have some level of French proficiency
- If you have a spouse or a sibling living there on a visa as a citizen or PR, you may score more
- If your spouse has some Canadian work experience or arranged employment in Canada
Did you find this useful?