How to get ECA For Canada In Pakistan – A Detailed Guide

This article will elaborate the step-by-step process specifically for Canadian immigration applicants in Pakistan who wish to get ECA for Canada from Pakistan using World Education Services “WES” for their degree evaluation. As discussed in our previous article on the topic of “Educational Credential Assessment”, several organizations are authorized by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada(IRCC) to produce the ECA (Educational Credential Assessment) for immigration applicants who completed their studies outside of Canada.

A. Steps Involved for WES Evaluation:

WES Account Creation:

Go to WES website

Press the tab on the top right corner mentioned: “Get your Evaluation.”
Select the country “Canada” on the next screen.
Select “ECA Application for IRCC” from the options on the screen.

Provide your email address in the next provided field on the screen.
Enter the 6 digit verification code received on your email address and hit submit.
Create your profile on the next screen with all the required information.

Now add your highest earned credential, for example
- You do not need to submit your bachelor’s or master’s degree information if you hold a doctorate (PhD).
- You do not need to submit your bachelor’s degree information if you hold a master’s degree (unless this is explicitly requested among your Required Documents by WES). This is mostly applicable if you have a masters degree completed after a four years bachelors in Pakistan.
- You do not need to submit your high school diploma information if you hold a bachelor’s degree (unless this is specifically requested among your Required Documents by WES)
9. Once you start typing the name of your institution and it does not appear in the drop-down menu on the list, this indicates that WES does not recognize your college/university and you may not be able to get ECA for your education from Pakistan through WES. If you see your institution’s name listed , please select that. Then enter other details related to your degree and your mailing address.

How do you know if your institution qualifies for a credential evaluation by WES?

WES allows its applicant to know in advance if they can get ECA for Canada immigration through it even before any payment is initiated. In any case you need not worry, as even if you submit your application and make the payment but it turns out that the Pakistani institution where you completed your study is one that is not assessed by WES, they will reach out to you through email and make a refund.

Check The details and Make the Payment

Now you will see the summary of all the information you have provided to WES along with the total payment due. Make sure all the information is correct.

It’s time to proceed with payment. The payments can be made through Credit Card/Debit Card/Money Order or Western Union, however, the quickest method for payment is through credit/debit card.

Reference Number & Academic Records Request Form

After the payment is processed, you will be allotted with the WES reference number that you will be mentioning on the postal envelope and on the academic records request form that will go to WES.

Cost of WES Evaluation for one degree

It will cost CAD$240 plus applicable taxes for you to obtain ECA for Canada for your Pakistani degree. For those applying from within Pakistan there will be no additional tax amount on top of the ECA fee by WES.

WES does not charge the fee per credential, rather it is per evaluation. So even if you add more than one degree they will still charge the above stated amount. But that will take longer to process so don’t add credentials unnecessarily.

For courier delivery of ECA report to your address in Pakistan along with with the option of shipment tracking there will be an additional cost of CAD$ 85. If the same is done for an address in Canada then the cost for that is CAD$ 25. Pro tip! You don’t need a hard copy of the WES ECA report, as pdf copy will be available online in your WES account and the same can be uploaded on any of the Canadian immigration program portals. So you may save the money by option for standard delivery or having it delivered at a friend/family member’s address in Canada.

The process does not end here, now there is a whole new effort that needs to be done by getting your degree attested from Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan and sending it over through courier to WES.

B. Steps Involved for HEC Attestation:

Since 2017, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has established a new Degree Attestation System (DAS) in which all applicants must apply online for degree attestation by making an account on the HEC website and filling out their online profile as following;

Provide your personal details

Enter the details of your degree
Check the Attestation mode “Attestation through Courier” or “Walk in (Urgent Attestation)”
Select the Number of Copies you want to get attestation, please remember to get your original attested along with the copies (FOR WES YOU ONLY NEED TO SEND PHOTOCOPIES IN THE SEALED ENVELOPE)

Upload the scan copy of Back and Front Side of CNIC separately
Upload the scan copy of your original Certificate and Transcript.
Applicants must submit their applications for initial examination online after completing the online application. Following a successful online examination by HEC, applicants will be notified by SMS and email to: arrange an appointment (for walk-in urgency only) at their OR send documents by specified courier service. Please note that, If you are using “Attestation through Courier”, HEC has authorized only TCS for transportation of educational documents of applicants across Pakistan who apply through Courier mode of Attestation.

Requirement For Documents To Be Put In Sealed Envelope

On applicants’ request, HEC provides the option of sealing HEC’s attested documents in an envelope.

If you have opted for a walk-in appointment, you must visit HEC’s R&I Section after receiving attested documents to place documents in envelopes and have them sealed. HEC will only put such documents in the sealed envelope that they have attested.
Applicants who apply for attestation using a courier service and require papers in a sealed envelope must notify the relevant courier provider and indicate this on the front page of the application form. Also, you need to ensure that you are including the WES provided academic records request form in the sealed envelope with the filled details.

WES Canada address where HEC attested transcripts need to be sent is;

World Education Services

Attention: Documentation Center

102-2820 14th Avenue

Markham, ON L3R 0S9

Canada

Cost of HEC Degree Attestation for one degree:

The attestation charge is Rs. 1000 for each original document and Rs. 700 for each photocopy, courier charges are not included in this price. For the purpose of obtaining WES ECA applicants only need to send attested photocopies of their Pakistani educational transcripts. Don’t make the mistake of sending original transcripts to WES as they do not return the transcripts sent to them as part of the ECA application process.

C. Processing Timeline to get ECA for Canada from Pakistan

It can take 4-10 working days for the HEC sealed envelope to reach WES office in Canada depending on which courier service is used in Pakistan. Once HEC attested documents are received by WES it can take on average 35 business days for them to issue the ECA report. Though, it doesn’t take that long for most of WES ECA applications. WES is the quickest of all IRCC approved ECA bodies in terms of processing time for ECA reports. What are you waiting for now? Follow the process listed above and get your WES ECA processed from Pakistan.

Validity of WES ECA

For the purpose of Canadian immigration ECA issued by WES is considered valid for a period of 5 years from the date of issue. It is a good idea to apply for WES ECA at the earliest. This will help you to create your Express Entry profile and create Express of interest for various Provincial nomination programs. You will also need to have a valid IRCC approved language test result as well.

Which ECA is best for applicants from Pakistan

ECA is an important process during the Canadian immigration process. Applicants are only able to obtain points for non-Canadian education once they have obtained the ECA. So, one must plan the ECA wisely. The focus should be on obtaining the best outcome in terms of credential assessment. For those who have 18 years of education from Pakistan, 4 years bachelors and 2 years masters, WES is the best option for ECA. For Pakistani applicants WES ECA is the quickest to obtain. For those applicants who completed a 2 or 3 years masters in Pakistan after completion of a 2 years bachelors they should not opt for WES ECA. They may try IQAS or CES – UofT ECA. These will take more time than WES but the ECA assessment will be better which will help attain more CRS points.

WES for Pakistani applicants with foreign masters(UK, Australia, USA)

If you are based in Pakistan and completed your bachelors degree in Pakistan but masters from outside Pakistan (e.g, Australia, USA, UK) then you should only submit your foreign masters for WES evaluation. This will help you eliminate the HEC attestation process as part of the WES application from Pakistan. As IRCC only requires the ECA for the highest obtained qualification so you will have maximum points for CRS, avoid HEC processing time and cost, and the WES processing may only take 2-3 weeks.

Related Article: What is Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)?