EXPRESS ENTRY

Applying to Express Entry is a two-step process. The first step is to submit your profile which requires the following documents:

1. Language test results
2. Educational credential assessment report
3. A passport or travel document

You will need to submit a more comprehensive application that includes references letters, extra identity documents, police clearance certificates, and test results after submitting your profile and receiving an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residency.

Individuals with university or college degrees, skilled work experience and moderate proficiency in English and/or French are ideal Express Entry candidates.

In order to submit a profile through the Express Entry system, candidates must also meet the eligibility requirements for one of the three federal programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker (FSW)
• Federal Skilled Trades (FST)
• Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

In general, to be eligible to apply to Express Entry as a skilled worker, you must:

• Possess at least one year of continuous full-time (or comparable part-time) work experience in a skilled occupation over the last ten years.
• Possess a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) seven in either English or French as demonstrated on an approved language test.
• Completed post-secondary education that has been evaluated using an Education Credential Assessment in accordance with Canadian criteria

These are the minimal requirements for submitting an application as a skilled worker to Canada’s Express Entry system. Even if you fulfil these qualifications, you may not be invited to apply for Canadian permanent residency. Candidates with stronger profiles are almost always chosen above those who only satisfy the minimum requirements.

Express Entry can be processed in as little as six months from the time the Express Entry profile is submitted until a permanent resident visa is granted. Not every case will, however, develop thus swiftly. If you don’t get an invitation to apply, your Express Entry profile will stay active in the pool of applicants for 12 months. You are welcome to resubmit your profile and continue to be in the pool if after a year you have not gotten an invitation. To clarify it further:

• Your profile will be kept in the Express Entry pool for a year.
• You will have 60 days after the ITA is issued to provide the full set of documents that are required.

IRCC may process your application in roughly six months after the immigration authorities receive your entire application and your permanent residence visa.

The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score is typically meant when people talk about Canada’s “Express Entry points”. Candidates in the Express Entry pool are ranked in Canada based on the CRS score and a number of characteristics, such as:

• Age
• Level of education
• Proficiency in French or English
• Foreign and Canadian work experience
• Spouse factors
• Connections to Canada