Canada is the top choice among aspiring immigrants from around the world. The country is extremely popular due to the ample number of job opportunities, high quality of living, safety, and welcoming, friendly people.
Every year countless people apply for Canada immigration hoping to make Canada their new home. The Express Entry Program is the fastest and the most popular route to Canadian Permanent Residency. Launched in 2015, the Express Entry Program is an online application management system providing an accurate and transparent way of selecting skilled workers who can contribute to the Canadian economy.
The Express Entry Program is a points-based program. You will need to first and foremost submit an online Expression of Interest. Your online profile will ask you questions regarding your age, education, work experience, Canada education or work experience, language scores, and details about your spouse’s education and work experience if you are married. These factors would determine your points which will largely decide whether you immigrate to Canada or not.
Here is the Canada PR process step by step:
Step 1: Check your eligibility
The Canadian Express Entry Program organizes and processes the applications for the main economic immigration programs of Canada, which are:
- Federal Skilled Worker Program
- Federal Skilled Trades Program
- Canadian Experience Class
You have to be eligible for at least one of the programs above to apply under the Express Entry Program.
One-fourth of all Canada PR Visas issued in 2019 was granted to Indians. A large majority of Indians apply for Canadian PR as high skilled foreign workers under the Federal Skilled Worker Program.
The eligibility criteria for the FSWP are:
- You must score 67 points on the FSWP points grid
- You must have at least one year of continuous work experience in occupation under the NOC 0, A or B category
- You must have completed at least a post-secondary diploma, degree or higher
- You must have a language proficiency score equivalent to CLB 7 (example, 6 on each module of IELTS) in either English or French
The eligibility criteria for the FSTP are:
- You must have at least 2 years of work experience in a skilled trade in the recent 5 years
- You must appear for a language test in either English or French and score at least a CLB 5 in the Speaking and Listening module and at least a CLB 4 in the Reading and Writing module.
- Have a full-time job offer from Canada in a skilled trade or have a certificate of qualification issued by the federal, provincial or territorial government of Canada
The eligibility criteria for the CEC are:
- You must have at least 1 year of skilled work experience in Canada in the recent 3 years. Your work experience must be in a job in the NOC 0, A, or B category.
- You must have a language proficiency test score of at least CLB 7 for NOC 0 or A jobs and CLB 5 for NOC B jobs
Step 2: Get an educational credential assessment and language score
If you have completed your education from outside Canada, you must get your diploma or degree assessed by a designated body like WES or IQAS in Canada. You must also appear for a language test like IELTS or CELPIP for English and TEF for French and be prepared with the relevant score.
Step 3: Submit an online EOI for the Express Entry Program
You have to complete an online Expression of Interest for the Express Entry Program. All eligible EOIs then enter the Express Entry Pool. Each eligible candidate is assigned a score based on the Comprehensive Ranking System. IRCC ranks each candidate based on their individual CRS scores and issues Invitations to Apply to candidates with the top CRS scores.
Step 4 (Optional): Apply for a provincial nomination
If your CRS scores fall below the cut-off of the recent Express Entry draws, then you may apply for a provincial nomination to boost your scores. Getting a provincial nomination can fast-track your Canada PR Visa process as it is worth 600 CRS points.
Step 5: Wait for an Invitation to Apply
You will need to have obtained an Invitation to Apply from IRCC before you can apply for a Canada PR Visa. Depending on your score, getting an ITA can take as little as a few days to several weeks or months. Your Express Entry profile has the validity of 12 months. If you do not receive an ITA within these 12 months, your profile expires. On the expiry of your profile, you would need to submit a new profile in the Express Entry Pool.
Step 6: Apply for a Canada PR Visa after getting an ITA
Once you get an ITA, you get 60 days to submit a Canada PR application. If you do not submit an application within this time, your ITA gets cancelled.
When applying for a Canada PR Visa, you will need to submit all supporting documents as per the document checklist. You will also need to submit medicals and police clearance certificates. IRCC will review and verify your documents before giving a visa decision.
Step 7: Submit your passport for stamping in case of a positive visa decision
In case of a positive visa decision, you will be asked to submit your passport for visa stamping. After that, you will receive your COPR (Confirmation of Permanent Residency).
What is the Canada Express Entry processing time?
The duration of the entire Canada PR process through the Express Entry program will be different for different people depending on how soon you get an ITA.
A candidate who gets an ITA in a few days versus someone who takes several months to get one- the duration will differ.
However, once you submit your Canada PR Visa application after receiving an ITA, IRCC processes 80% of all applications in 6 months or less.