March 2015

I have this great client.  He works in a restaurant at one of Ottawa’s cultural landmarks.  He brings me lunch whenever he has an appointment – really awesome lunches (I’m sure you’re already jealous).  He came here from India to study in the Culinary Management program at Algonquin College.  They obviously trained him well.

So why was this cook not a cook?

Februrary 2015

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) promised to make the first draw from the Express Entry pool by the end of January.

Well, they just made their own deadline.  14 seconds before midnight, January 31^st, CIC sent Invitations to Apply (ITA) to 779 lucky Express Entry applicants.

January 2015

11:59 am January 1, 2015.  Cup of tea by my side.  Two client files on my desk.  Waiting for Express Entry to open at noon…

All the sensible lawyers had closed their offices for the week, and here I was, waiting for the minute the program opened so I could get Express Entry profiles created for my clients.

December 2014

Since the Express Entry program was first announced last April, I’ve been checking the CIC website regularly for news on what the program would look like.  I’ve been following the tweets.  I’ve been reading the Canadian Bar Association listserv posts.  I listened to the webcast where the Express Entry Ambassador told lawyers what was coming.  Last month, I attended the Immigration Law Summit conference in Toronto where the Ambassador gave another presentation.  Over the past week, I read the Ministerial Instructions, digested the Comprehension Ranking System and went over the Express Entry Questions and Answers.    

I have Express Entry Exhaustion.