I’ve finally joined the Express Entry pool, which is just a first tiny step towards a Canadian permanent residence. I had to verify my academic degree, and I also needed to fly to Bangkok to attend an IELTS exam which is supposed to verify my English language ability. The exam was easy and my final CRS score isn’t that bad, although I’ll probably re-take IELTS a few times until I have a better score. Bumping listening to 8.0 is realistic, and it would give me 50+ extra points, which is a huge competitive advantage.

The best course of action now is squeezing as much extra points as possible and looking for a Canadian job. It’s quite hard for a non-resident to find a local job, but it’s definitely worth a try.