An applicant's PR application was refused because the spouse's WES Educational Credential Assessment was the 'Standard' report rather than the IRCC version. IRCC refused directly, without sending a document request first.
Key lessons from the thread:
- WES sells two different products. The Standard report (typically used for education/employment purposes) is not the same as the ECA for IRCC. Only the IRCC version is valid for Express Entry. If you ordered the wrong one, WES can issue the correct version, but IRCC may have already decided by then.
- IRCC may refuse without asking for the correct document. Members confirmed there is no entitlement to a procedural fairness letter for this - a wrong document type can mean outright refusal of a complete application.
- Recovery options are limited. One member suggested raising a webform, attaching the correct IRCC-version report, and requesting the application be reopened - describing it candidly as 'attach the right document and just pray.' Another was blunt that reconsideration rarely works for this and the realistic path is creating a new Express Entry profile and waiting for a fresh ITA.
- Verify document types before submission. The thread's broader debate - consultant vs self-file - landed on this: whichever route you take, checking each document against IRCC's exact specification (including report versions) is what prevents a small mistake from costing an entire application cycle.