An applicant's PR application was rejected with the reason that the Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) was 'not submitted for immigration purposes' — even though they had attached a WES report referenced in their LOE, and WES had sent results to IRCC directly.
How members diagnosed it:
- First check: does the ECA reference number end in 'IMM'? WES issues different report types; only the WES-IMM (immigration) version satisfies IRCC. The very first question members asked was whether the reference number carried the IMM suffix.
- If the letter says it anyway, suspect the report itself. Even with an IMM-suffixed reference on file, members concluded the refusal likely reflects the report's actual type or content — 'the problem seems to be in the report itself' — and asked to see it. An education-purpose or course-by-course evaluation, or a report ordered under the wrong purpose, will read as non-immigration regardless of what the LOE claims.
- Webforms after the fact have limits. The applicant had sent documents by webform a month earlier with no effect; once a decision cites the wrong-report reason, the realistic path is getting the correct WES-IMM report and reapplying (or contesting with proof the report was genuinely the IMM type).
Practical takeaway: when ordering an ECA for Canadian PR, explicitly select the immigration/IRCC purpose, verify the reference number ends in IMM, and confirm the report type printed on the document — an LOE cannot paper over a report ordered for the wrong purpose.