Greetings all - some of you might know me from the immigration.ca board as well. For a little background I'm a born and raised US citizen and I'm applying for PR next year once I graduate college and I have everything I need. My question is, in the on-and-off research I've done since last fall and the serious research I've done in the past few months, what else can I do to make sure everything is airtight and goes as smoothly, efficiently and quickly as possible? I have a lot of time to get this together during the waiting game so might as well. I'm graduating with a degree in English and have several years experience as a baker and cook which I'm using from the NOC occupation list. I've taken a million different assessments and passed. I go to the message boards, have my stuff printed out from CIC and partially filled out, am looking into jobs, healthcare, etc. and am going to submit language testing credentials as well. The plan is thus: I intend to live with my boyfriend, a Canadian citizen, while this is being processed by virtue of a student work permit program. If I am unable to continue my temporary and unable to work while waiting I'll move back to the US in the meantime. My questions are:

Is an application to extend my work permit whilst a PR application is in process and I show signs of settling, i.e. property, bank account, etc. likely to be accepted?

Should I have my education credentials evaluated via WES?

Is it worthwhile to mention my boyfriend in a letter attesting to our relationship? We've been together several years but long-distance and are not entering a common-law relationship until we can actually live together so are technically not yet common-law. But he is the main reason I'm coming obviously so I figured it was worth a try to get some adaptability points for that by listing him as a reference with contact info so he can verify my situation. I have also visisted Canada several times and am forming ties with Canadians.

Sorry this was so long and detailed, but just wanted to get it all out there.

I forgot to mention, I'll be including a copy of the lease once we get a place. I was also wondering, would I be able to get/extend a work permit under the condition that my partner is a full-time student? On the CIC site it said if you were a full-time student your partner could receive a work permit. I figure that's reasonable as I'll be the primary means of support and wanting to work full time.

Please, does anyone have advice? David?

Chilifan, the extensive nature of your questions goes well beyond the scope of this forum. It is impossible to know what you can do to solidify your case without knowing what the weaknesses may be. Similarly, it is impossible to know if educational evaluation is warranted without knowing the details of your education. The extent of the research that you are doing is the best thing that you can do otherwise.

Possession of a work permit can benefit a PR case, but there are no provisions to extend such based solely on the presence of such an application.