13. Road Map Update: Express Entry Application Submitted

It is a major milestone for us in this journey. We have submitted our application into the Express Entry Pool!

The application process was pretty straightforward. It took us around 20-30 minutes to complete the process - including the time taken to complete an optional questionnaire. Some of the important points that I would like to highlight to potential applicants:

• Information needed to complete Express Entry Profile: Official language test results, Passport, awareness of NOC of job claimed in work experience, official Education Credential Assessment report. Note: language test and ECA must be official results - since you would need official form/reference numbers on it.

• DO NOT FORGET security questions and answers - note them down in a separate file. You will need this not only before transmitting (signing and submitting) the application, but also to login to your Express Entry account.
• In personal information section, you are asked Country/Territory of Issue of your passport. It is rather a simple question if you live in the country that issued your passport. For those residing abroad (like us), it may trip you. To make it absolutely clear, after confirming it through online sources, Country/Territory of Issue is the passport country. For example, if you have a Canadian passport which was issue by a consulate in Washington DC (USA), Country / Territory of Issue is still Canada, since Consulate is its home country's representative in foreign countries. 
• Enter the highest level of education. If you have a master's degree, enter that. There is no need to enter your bachelor's degree, high school information, etc. The rule of thumb is to provide education for which you would like to claim points and for which you've obtained an ECA (for foreign degree). 

12. DACA Update

Breaking the silent streak to provide some, surprising to many, disappointing news. Supreme Court on June 18, 2020 sided with Dreamers in an inflammatory case which was argued back in November of 2019. 

I wanted DACA to be rescinded, buried, and put to rest... forever. That was the only way the Congress of the United States would have attempted to provide some sort of permanent relief to oddly 700,000 young immigrants like myself. President Trump had made it very clear that he would formulate a deal to keep Dreamers in the US "when" the Supreme Court issues results in his favor. Veracity of each of his words has always been questionable. However, given the history of melee on this subject between Democrats, Republicans, and a Republican President, and the sheer catastrophe that would befall on the lives of hundreds of thousands of dreamers if they were to be placed under removal proceedings or left bereft of their temporary authorization to work, a deal made under a pressure cooker seemed as the only viable option.

That didn't happen. To my surprise, the highest court of the land gave a pretty sheepish judgement. 

"… the agency failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to DACA recipients. That dual failure raises doubts about whether the agency appreciated the scope of its discretion or exercised that discretion in a reasonable manner. The appropriate recourse is therefore to remand to DHS so that it may consider the problem anew."

The court wants Trump Administration to "consider the problem anew". Consider the problem of what to do with dreamers anew. That, according to Supreme Court, is the "appropriate recourse".

It is beyond my cognition as to why the dreamers, and ostensibly supportive organizations, are celebrating this "chickening out" of a ruling. Supreme Court didn't rule "DACA cannot be rescinded." Neither did it rule that "DACA is unconstitutional and must be rescinded." Both of these opinions lead to a logical conclusion of tossing this issue onto the legislative table and figuring out a way to lift a veil of uncertainty off dreamers.

Supreme Court has asked Trump Administration to "consider the problem anew." If Trump's DHS follows these instructions (which only a dimwit wouldn't), then all they need to do is incorporate in their reasoning to rescind DACA a definite decision "of whether to retain forbearance (i.e. prosecutorial discretion), and "what if anything to do about the hardship of DACA recipients." Based on this ruling, isn't all that DHS has to do to circumvent a future negative ruling is say "No" to first question, and "place all DACA recipients under removal proceedings" to the latter? 

A few hours ago, on that note, the President announced via Twitter "We will be submitting enhanced papers shortly...". 

The hammer is coming down soon, Dreamers. Toss the champagne and run for cover.