WES ECA step by step: from application to completed report

Use the official WES portal.

If you don't have an account yet, create one on the official WES website.

If you already have a personal account, log in to it.

After logging into the current WES portal, you need to start a new application.

The WES interface may change, so don't just rely on old screenshots from forums or videos.

Look at the meaning of the step:

you need to create a new assessment specifically for immigration to Canada.

The country of assessment must be relevant to your purpose.

WES conducts assessments for different countries and purposes.

For the ECA you intend to use for Canadian immigration, you must select Canada on your application.

This is important because a different type of WES assessment may be intended for a different country or task.

Do not order a regular academic assessment by mistake.

In the next step, WES asks you to indicate the purpose of the assessment.

For an ECA accepted by Immigration Canada, select Immigration.

This is one of the most important steps.

An assessment for university admission, employment or other purposes is not automatically the same report needed for immigration.

WES shows recipient details and IRCC information.

During the application process, WES asks you to fill out information about who should receive the report.

Follow the current WES prompts and carefully check the IRCC information that the portal shows.

Don't add random recipients "just in case."

If you later need to send the report to another organization, WES has separate functions for additional copies and recipients.

For Canadian immigration, an ECA immigration report is required.

In the current WES instructions for IRCC, at the package selection stage, you need to select: ECA.

This is a report intended for Canadian immigration.

Don't choose a different report type just because it looks more detailed.

For immigration purposes, the correct type of assessment is important, not the maximum number of pages.

Titles must match your documents.

WES requests the addition of education, which should be included in the ECA.

Provide information as it appears in the documents:

• country of study
• educational institution
• title of diploma, degree or certificate
• training period
• year the document was received

Do not translate the name of education “by meaning” into a more familiar Canadian form.

WES will independently determine the Canadian equivalent after document verification.

Ability to change your application depends on the WES stage.

According to WES published rules, you can request the addition or deletion of an educational document without additional payment until WES has received, verified and accepted all documents.

To do this, you need to contact WES support through your personal account.

Once the documents have already been accepted, changes become more difficult.

WES indicates that in this case, you must first wait until the current assessment is completed before ordering a change or extension to the report.

Therefore, it is better to carefully check the list of education before paying and sending documents.

Pay special attention to data that is difficult to correct later.

Before payment please check:

• first and last name
• country
• purpose of assessment
• selected by ECA
• educational institutions
• titles of education documents
• years of study and issuance of diplomas
• recipients of the report

If the name on your diploma is different from your current name, do not try to discreetly “correct” the old document.

It is necessary to provide reliable information and, if necessary, confirm the name change with separate documents.

The number is needed for documents and correspondence.

Once your application has been submitted and payment has been processed, WES will issue a WES Application Number.

Save it.

WES recommends entering this number:

• on documents where provided
• when sending documents
• on envelopes if postal delivery is used
• in correspondence with WES
• in a request to an educational institution

The number helps WES associate the documents received with your application.

Do not use someone else's list of documents.

After creating an application, open the section personal list of required documents WES (Required Documents).

Requirements depend on:

• countries where you studied
• specific educational institution
• type of diploma
• method of document transfer

This list is the main guideline for preparing documents in WES.

Do not send documents just because they were asked from a friend from the same country.

This needs to be split before uploading files.

WES may allow the candidate to self-upload:

• copy of diploma
• translation

if they are indicated in the personal list as documents for downloading.

An official transcript—a document containing courses and grades—is usually required by WES directly from the institution.

She can do:

• via an approved electronic channel
• through the official university system
• in a sealed envelope, if provided for in the instructions

Self-upload of a transcript does not replace transmission from the institution if WES requires an official source.

Check WES translation requirements.

Translation for WES must be accurate and complete.

WES specifies that the translation must be performed by a professional translator.

The candidate should not translate documents for his/her assessment independently.

In addition, the translation does not replace the original document.

Check your personalized WES document checklist for the procedure for submitting the translation and the source document.

Method determined by WES and institution.

If the educational institution is able to transmit WES documents electronically, this could be:

• official electronic platform
• direct secure channel
• official email address of the institution, if this method is allowed by WES

If there is no electronic method, personal instructions may include postal delivery.

Do not look for a generic WES email address and do not send documents there yourself.

“Delivered” does not mean “accepted.”

After submitting your documents, there are several different events in the process.

The document can be:

1. sent
2. delivered by WES
3. added to the system
4. verified
5. accepted
6. sent for additional verification
7. used for evaluation

Therefore, the courier's notification of delivery does not mean that WES has already accepted the document for evaluation.

The main source of current status is your WES personal account.

Usually you should follow up on messages rather than resend documents.

WES indicates that in most cases the applicant does not need to take special action.

But there may be exceptions.

For example:

• the university requires you to pay its own confirmation fee
• the university requires your consent before responding to WES

Therefore, during the check:

• follow your WES personal account
• check your email
• don't miss university messages
• do not resend documents unnecessarily

WES must first receive and accept the required documents.

Submitting an application and paying does not mean that the assessment is already underway.

WES begins the main work after the required documents:

• arrived
• passed the necessary checks
• were accepted

If a required document is missing, the assessment cannot proceed to completion.

WES transmits the result to IRCC electronically.

When the assessment is complete, WES:

• releases ECA report
• transmits it to IRCC electronically
• places a copy in your WES personal account

After that, check in the report:

• name
• assessed education
• Canadian equivalent
• report date
• report number

If the result is different from what you expected, you cannot change it to a higher level in Express Entry yourself.

The actual ECA result must be used.

ECA itself does not automatically create an Express Entry profile.

The result must be used in your immigration application.

For example, in Express Entry you specify:

• organization that issued the ECA
• date
• report number
• Canadian equivalent result

Specific IRCC fields and interface may change.

Therefore, transfer data from the finished report carefully, and not from memory.

Don’t plan your deadline based on someone else’s experience.

The total period depends not only on the work of the appraiser.

It may be affected by:

• speed of document transfer by the university
• correctness of documents
• need for additional verification
• institution response time
• current WES load

Therefore, a specific processing time is not indicated here.

You should check the current deadlines directly with WES.

1. Make sure ECA via WES suits your purpose
2. Decide what education to evaluate
3. Create or open a WES personal account
4. Start a new application
5. Select Canada
6. Select Immigration
7. Check recipients
8. Select ECA
9. Enter education exactly according to documents
10. Check application
11. Pay
12. Save WES number
13. Open personal list of documents Required Documents
14. Prepare the files you need to upload yourself
15. Organize the transfer of documents from the educational institution
16. Check status
17. Respond to verification requests if they appear
18. Get ready ECA
19. Check result
20. Enter ECA data into immigration application