New Entrant questions

[JP2023]

Hi,

Apologies for the basic questions but my partner and I have struggled to find out clear answers and we're looking to create our profile over the next couple of months. We have 2 main queries:

1) My partner is studying for a qualification with exam due in June, we will be able to create our profile prior to this, can my partners qualification be added on after profile creation to aid our CRS?

2) we've been reading a lot about bill c-19 but are confused as to how this will affect the express entry programme and creating a profile. Will the CRS still be in place and is it worth creating a profile now even though the criteria may change or is the CRS still going to be a driving factor?

With the qualification that my partner is hoping to achieve in June our CRS will be 474, she works in finance/accounting and I work in administrative HR, but my partner will be the main applicant as she happens to be under 30 and Canada doesn't seem to like that I'm not

Just checking there aren't any pitfalls to be aware of and want to make sure we're following the best and correct practice given the changes bought in by bill c-19.

Thanks in advance!

 

[iSaidGoodDay]

Hi,

Apologies for the basic questions but my partner and I have struggled to find out clear answers and we're looking to create our profile over the next couple of months. We have 2 main queries:

1) My partner is studying for a qualification with exam due in June, we will be able to create our profile prior to this, can my partners qualification be added on after profile creation to aid our CRS?

2) we've been reading a lot about bill c-19 but are confused as to how this will affect the express entry programme and creating a profile. Will the CRS still be in place and is it worth creating a profile now even though the criteria may change or is the CRS still going to be a driving factor?

With the qualification that my partner is hoping to achieve in June our CRS will be 474, she works in finance/accounting and I work in administrative HR, but my partner will be the main applicant as she happens to be under 30 and Canada doesn't seem to like that I'm not

Just checking there aren't any pitfalls to be aware of and want to make sure we're following the best and correct practice given the changes bought in by bill c-19.

Thanks in advance!

1. Yes, you can update your profile after finishing the qualification. You'll however, have to get it assessed through WES again iirc(unless it is Canadian education). So, just be mindful of that.
2. C-19 for the time being is going to be a small fraction of EE draws. FSW will continue till 2024. Read the docs on C-19, M44, etc to better understand it.

CRS will continue to be in place. C-19 will have categories and those categories have their own CRS cut-offs. However, for now, there's no plan of retiring FSW. They could retire FSW next year or reduce it to something small, but that is not on the table for 2023.

About C-19 pitfalls, there are just speculations: Connection to Canada (jobs, education, etc) could be valued, French skills could be valued, in-demand professions (high likely to be valued).

I'll define IRCC's Pyramid of Immigration for you - there are three layers in this pyramid: okayish, better, best. Anyone below 420 won't qualify. The layers from okayish to best have the following traits:
1. Okayish: IELTS + Masters Education + max experience points outside of Canada
2. Better: Okayish + French points/Canadian education/1 year Canadian exp
3. Best: Better (with either french/Canadian ed./Canadian exp) + PNP nomination/LMIA

Now, there was a time when Okayish was best (pre 2019 era) and Better was barely Okayish (2022 draws). From last month, Okayish got ITAs, but unsure for long that's possible.

You see, best practice is to do your best and always keep improving your score. But, that comes at the cost of capital, time and efforts. See where you'd want to say "this seems like enough".

 

[JP2023]

Thanks, that's useful and yeah we're aware we'll need the new qualification accredited by WES again. We've seen some predictions that the CRS would drop to around 474 later this year around August but I guess it's all speculation at this stage so it's good to know the FSW is still on the table beyond 2023.

We've also read a lot about various PNP's and our preferred province of Alberta seems to have a decent program but can't be applied for directly. Do they just take the same candidates from the general EE pool but may offer a nomination to lower CRS scores based on ties to Alberta and desired occupations?

Final question (for now), I have distant family in Nova Scotia currently, we are also exploring options on the AIP. I doubt having a cousin living in the region would help much but is there any benefits of having some more distant family relation in the country or province for immigrants? - I appreciate this isn't specifically an EE related question.