How to go about obtaining a Canadian permanent residence visa
- Thread starter Afredebo
- Start date
Required Reading
Go to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)'s website and read about obtaining Canadian Permanent Residency (PR): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/index.asp
The Express Entry (EE) Programme – What Is It?
Express Entry is an umbrella programme that started in January 2015, under which three of Canada's PR programmes fall - the Federal Skilled Workers (FSW), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and Federal Skilled Trades (FST) programmes.
EE allows eligible candidates to submit an online profile (an Express Entry profile) for consideration to be invited to apply for Canadian Permanent Residency, through an entirely electronic process.
The process also allows a person (the primary applicant) to include dependents on their application (an accompanying spouse, and/or any children), who will also be granted permanent residency status if the primary applicant’s application is approved.
Please note that submitting an EE profile is NOT the same as submitting an application to IRCC for Permanent Residency. Submitting an EE profile is just an 'expression of interest'. If a CANDIDATE gets an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residency, based on the Express Entry profile that he or she submitted for consideration, and subsequently submits an electronic application for permanent residency (eAPR), THIS is when an application for permanent residency has been made and he/she becomes an APPLICANT.
Determining Your Eligibility for Express Entry
The first thing you need to do is check your eligibility for Express Entry (EE). Unless you have 1-year of full-time Canadian work experience, you would most likely be trying to apply under the FSW programme.
- Use this webpage here to see if you're eligible under the FSW programme (you need a score of at least 67 out of 100): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-factors.asp
- If you DO have at least 1 year of Canadian work experience, use this webpage to determine if you're eligible under the CEC programme: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/cec/apply-who.asp
- If you don’t meet eligibility under either FSW or CEC, use this webpage to determine if you’re eligible under the FST programme: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/perm/econ/fst/processing/criteria.asp
If you ARE eligible under one or more of these three programmes, please note that this does NOT guarantee you will receive an Invitation to Apply for permanent residency. Read on to learn more about your likelihood of receiving an invitation.
Determining Your Likelihood for being Invited to Apply for Permanent Residency (if you’re eligible for Express Entry)
If you're eligible for EE, you need to calculate your projected Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) Score.
The CRS Score is what IRCC uses to determine which candidates will get an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residency. The general consensus is that, at least at the time of writing this, you need a CRS score of at least 435 to have a chance at getting an ITA; but please note that this could easily change in the future.
- Use this tool to calculate your projected CRS Score: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp
Submitting Your Express Entry Profile
Activities You Need to Complete Before Submitting Your EE Profile
In order to complete your EE profile, you need to:
- get an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) from an approved education credential assessment organization, if your educational qualifications (certificates, diplomas, degrees, etc.) were not awarded by a Canadian tertiary institution (see link below):
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assessment.asp (the most frequently used ECA organization appears to be World Educational Services (WES))
- take an Approved Language Test (IELTS/CELPIP/TEF) (see link below):
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/language-testing.asp (Study HARD for your Language Test - it is one of the most important factors influencing your CRS Score)
Once you have your ECA and Language Test Results, you need to create a myCIC account, and then create and submit your EE Profile. The entire Express Entry process (and PR application process if you secure an ITA) will happen through your myCIC account.
Start with the 'Come To Canada' tool (see link below) as that will check your eligibility again, before providing you with a number that will help you carry over your answers into your EE profile, and then direct you to creating your account: http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/ee-start.asp
After You Create Your EE Profile
Once you submit your EE profile, the wait is on for IRCC’s next 'Draw' – a process by which IRCC, based on their immigration quotas and other factors, chooses a minimum CRS Score and invites everyone who has a CRS Score at or above that number to apply for permanent residency. In other words, if your CRS Score is above the Draw 'cut-off', you receive an ITA.
'Draws' occur roughly every 2 or 3 weeks, usually on Wednesdays, and the results of the draw are posted to IRCC's website here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/express-entry/rounds.asp, but you'll also get a notification in your myCIC account, and an email, if you receive an ITA.