prepration of IELST depends upon you. If you have good comman in english then there could be no need for prepration. Getting register for IELTS usually take 1 month and the announcement of result takes 15 days.
Yes you can do by providing other written evidence. You have to write an explanation and support documantion for your appeal.
If you believe that you can clearly demonstrate your level of proficiency through a written submission, follow the instructions as the following steps:
Your written submission must demonstrate your language proficiency in all four abilities: speaking, listening, reading and writing.
1- Your written submission must clearly detail all of the following:
o Your education and training in English or French;
o Your work experience in English or French; and
o Any other contexts in which you may wish to provide details on your use of English or French (such as the language spoken in the home or in social situations).
2- Gather documentation which supports the claims made in your submission and submit these documents with your immigration application. Supporting documents should include:
o Degrees, diplomas, certificates, transcripts of all education completed in English or French;
o Documentation that supports your work experience in English or French, such as letters from employers, pay stubs, samples of your work, etc.; and
Any other evidence that proves that you have spent considerable time speaking, listening, reading and writing an English or French speaking environment.
being from non-english speaking country, it is highly recommended that you take the IELTS.
preparation depends on person to person based on high level of exposure to English language in his life. I would expect an SE for 7 years in India to be good enough to crack IELTS with a week's preparation.
Note that only the primary applicant needs to appear for IELTS.
CIC strongly advises that you provide the results of a language test if English or French is not your first language. Written submissions are only recommended for applicants whose first language is English or French.
So even though you can provide written submissions instead of doing IELTS, it's not recommended and if you do, it will be up to the visa officer how many points they give you, if any. There are quite a few people who have come here crying because they provided a written submission and were awarded less points than they needed, ended up with less than 67 total and were denied. If you choose to do this, you do so at your own risk.
