Kareem El-Assal - 05 November, 2020
More Nigerians are moving to Canada to obtain permanent residents as skilled workers.
Last year, about 12,600 Nigerians immigrated to Canada. They mostly arrived as economic class skilled workers. Thanks to higher immigration from Nigeria, Canada's Nigerian diaspora should blossom even further from its level of 42,000 Nigerians living in the country as of the 2016 Census.
Moreover, Canada recently announced a historic Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023 that will see the country welcome over 400,000 immigrants per year.
The new Immigration Levels Plan means that even more Nigerians will be immigrating to Canada moving forward
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Express Entry is the main way you can obtained a permanent resident visa from Nigeria. It is a system that manages applications for three Canadian immigration programs: Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, and Canadian Experience Class.
In 2019, Nigeria was the 2nd leading country of citizenship of those who were successful under Express Entry.
The first step to obtain permanent residence through Express Entry is to see if you are eligible for one of the three aforementioned programs. If you are eligible, you can submit a profile to the Express Entry system.
Nigerian candidates obtain a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score based on their human capital factors.
Every two weeks, the highest-scoring candidates are invited to apply for permanent residence by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Draws have occurred regularly throughout the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, Express Entry draw sizes have been rising, and Canada will be increasing its immigration levels through Express Entry as stipulated under its new Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023.
The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is the second best option for Nigerian immigration candidates.
Canada is a federal country, with 10 provinces and three territories. Eleven of these jurisdictions operate the PNP.
The PNP enables provinces and territories to nominate skilled worker immigration candidates to immigrate to their jurisdiction.
Nigerian candidates can apply to a PNP directly. They can also enter the Express Entry pool if they are eligible while also applying directly to a PNP if they wish.
A benefit of entering the Express Entry pool is a province or territory can then invite you to apply to their PNP. This invitation can get Nigerian candidates an additional 600 CRS points under Express Entry which virtually guarantees they will receive a permanent residence invitation from IRCC.
Despite COVID-19, Express Entry and the PNP are continuing, and they will grow at a rapid pace once the pandemic is over, resulting in immigration from Nigeria to Canada increasing beyond 12,600 arrivals per year.
Complete our FREE Immigration form to see if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada!
