Detailed Explanation of OINP Conditions for Graduate Immigrants in Ontario; Express Entry (EE)

Such a highly sought-after immigration stream has also made manystudents applying for graduate school in Canadaturn their attention to Ontario.
So, what are its advantages? What are the requirements? And what are the tips for obtaining an application number? Today, Louise, who works in aninternational student recruitment agency in Canada, will answer all your questions for you.
Ontario is the most culturally diverse province in Canada. Ontario’s Immigrant Nominee Program targets skilled immigrants, investment immigrants, and overseas immigrants. We believe that the most cost-effective way to immigrate is through studying abroad for amaster's degree.这种途径。To put it simply, if you want to get an OINP nomination from Ontario through a master's degree, you need to meet two mandatory requirements and several other conditions.

Two mandatory requirements for graduate immigration in Ontario, Canada:

1. OINP Masters Graduate Stream application requirements (graduating school and academic qualification):

To qualify, you must have completed the requirements necessary to get a master’s degree of at least one academic year of full-time study from a public university in Ontario.
Note: The application is valid within 2 years of graduation. Applications submitted in advance without a degree are not accepted. If you have already obtained a degree but did not apply for a degree certificate, please ask your school to provide you with a letter stating your academic qualification.

2. OINP Masters Graduate Stream language requirements:

English level needs to be at least CLB 7, which is a minimum of 6.0 for each section of the IELTS. For French students, the TEF minimum score requirement is Listening: 249; Reading: 207; Writing: 310; and Speaking: 310.

Note: Language test scores are valid only for one year.
 

Several supporting conditions for the OINP Masters Graduate Stream are:

1. Residency requirements for the applicant：

You must have legally lived in Ontario for at least one year in the past two years before you apply. Supporting proof can be telephone bills, car insurance, home insurance, utility bills, rental contracts, Ontario payroll and other certificates.
Note: As of May 1, 2017, credit card bills are no longer accepted as proof of residency in Ontario.

2. Funding requirements for applicants:

You must meet the minimum financial requirements and provide bank statements for the past 6 months. The required amount is as follows:

Note: The family members in the above refer to the applicant's spouse, common-law partner, and dependent children under 19 years of age (parents are excluded). Regardless of whether they are accompanying the applicant in Ontario, they must be listed as family members.

3. Applicant’s intentions to live and work in Ontario:

It is necessary to list the ties between the applicant and Ontario, such as: current or previous jobs in Ontario, job opportunities in Ontario that have been obtained or previously applied for, education experience in Ontario, volunteer work in Ontario, rental contracts or property ownership in Ontario, personal or professional network, family relationships, social or interpersonal relationships, and previous visits to Ontario.

4. Applicant’s legal status：

Applicants must have legal status to live in Ontario, such as student visa, work visa or visitor visa within the validity period.
Note: Since February 21, 2017, applicants can apply for OINP outside Canada. (International students who have returned to China can also apply!) However, students who live in other provinces outside Ontario, Canada are not eligible to apply for OINP.

5. OINP Masters Graduate Stream-- Other Requirements:

You intend to work or live in Ontario and have no intention to continue your studies in Ontario.
 
For specific information, please refer to theofficial website’s list of requirements !!!为准！！！
 

Things to rememeber for the OINP Masters Graduate Stream application:

Remember to keep documented proof of living in Ontario for at least one year, such as rental agreements, local relatives (if any), previous visits to Ontario, etc. Of course, these documents are to prove that your intentions of staying in Ontario is, of course, to find a job locally. Although a job offer is not necessary for applying through OINP, if you have a job, it not only proves your desire to stay in Ontario, but also that you will be able to financially support yourself for about a year. If you do not find a job, it will not be a reason for your application to be rejected. However, you will only be able to prove your finances with your bank statements (overseas accounts are also acceptable).
The above-mentioned items are the requirements for the OINP Masters Graduate Stream. The application fee is $1500. If you are successfully nominated, you will receive your Nomination Approval Letter in about 2 to 3 months (whereas the processing time was at least 6 months a year ago). Then, continue to apply for permanent residence to IRCC. You will get a permanent resident card after more than 1 year.
 
You might have noticed that the biggest advantage of this stream is that there is no job requirement, so no job offer is required. Moreover, the minimum study period for masters is only one year. When including the processing time, the provincial nomination can be obtained within a minimum of one and a half years. The next step is just to wait for the federal nomination (which means you will have no problem to getting the permanent resident card). Unlike Express Entry, which requires IELTS scores of 8, 7, 7, and 7, the OINP Masters Graduate Stream requires only four 6.0s on the IELTS General test, which is easier for graduate students to achieve.
 
Because of the lower requirements and high success rate of this immigration stream, it has become one of the hottest Canadian immigration channels. As a result, the quota for OINP also been growing: the project quota was only 2,500 in 2014, and this year it has increased to 6000. Although the immigration policy has been undergoing minor changes, it is changing in favor of the immigration of international students. For example, the language requirement has dropped from a minimum score of 7.0 to 6.0 for IELTS. For those who have returned to China to work after graduation, these changes have brought graduates one step closer to Canadian permanent residence.
 
However, it must be noted that the OINP Masters Graduate Stream is very popular, and there is a limited number of openings each year, so get started by getting a case number by registering online. When the reopening of applications was announced on the OINP official website on May 1, I obtained my case number immediately. Here, I would like to share with you the experience of getting a case number:

After the closure of OINP on February 24th, we were notified to wait for the next update on May 1st about the reopening of the application system, and no specific opening date was given. At the end of April, there were some minor notifications about debugging of their system. I had a sense that something big was about to come out so I requested for a day off at work for May 1st. Once the clock struck midnight, I began constantly refreshing the OINP official website, but there was still no update. I continued refreshing the page until 3pm in the afternoon I ready to give up. Right at that moment, I received a message in an OINP WeChat group and I was blown away! "It’s open!" the message wrote. I scrambled on to the battlefield, and got myself a case number before the system went bonkers.

From my personal experience applying to OINP Masters Graduate Stream, I have summarized two tips for getting a case number:

1. OINP will send out notifications about policy changes and quota openings or closings from time to time. Remember to for check the latest news on the official website;
2. The opening time of OINP quotas are not fixed. When you notice the updated opening information on the official website, the quota will probably be full already. Therefore, it is necessary to stay informed and get to know more people who are also in the application process through different forums or social media groups.

OINP Masters Graduate StreamTo sum up:

In general, a job offer is not required for applying to the OINP Masters Graduate Stream. You are eligible to apply as long as you have studied in Ontario for at least one year. The cost is lower, and the master’s degree has greater value. Future career development, this is also very beneficial. Fortunately, Ontario has a great wealth of educational resources, and its big city, Toronto, is its capital and one of the biggest areas where the North American Chinese gather, so if you consider immigrating to Canada, this route is recommended.