No wonder that Canada’s Entry Express program is gaining popularity every day and more people are getting interested to know deeper about the opportunities this program offers. Who wouldn't like to live in a country that can offer so much to its residents?
As in Vazir Group, we receive a lot of questions about this all-new Express Entry Program, we answered the top 10 most frequently asked questions.
1. What is Entry Express Program?
EEP is an electronic application management system that helps to manage applications from skilled workers who submit their documents to obtain Canadian permanent residency through such immigrations programs as:
- Federal Skilled Traders (FST)
- Federal Skilled Worker (FSW)
- Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
Express Entry Program filters the applications based on points received in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) so that the candidates with the highest ranks can easier apply and get Canadian permanent residency.
2. What is a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS)?
If you are applying to Canada’s Express Entry Program, your application will go through the Comprehensive Ranking System with a maximum score of 1,200 points to select eligible applicants to migrate to Canada. The draw occurs every second Wednesday and if selected, within 24 hours you will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) in your IRCC account.
The maximum score of 1,200 points is divided in the following way:
- a. For a single applicant without a spouse maximum of 500 points can be obtained for core human capital factors, like age, level of education, language ability, and Canadian work experience;
- b. For an applicant with a spouse maximum of 460 points available for core human capital factors of the main applicant and a maximum of 40 points for the spouse;
- Maximum 100 points can be gotten for skill transferability factors, for example, language level;
- Maximum 600 points are available for additional criteria, such as provincial nomination, Canadian study experience, a valid job offer, a sibling/family member in Canada, English/French bi-lingual ability).
3. How to know if I’m qualified for Express Entry Program?
If you want to know if you are qualified for the Express Entry Program, first of all, check if you are eligible for one of three Express-Entry immigration programs Federal Skilled Traders (FST), Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), or Canadian Experience Class (CEC). If you meet all the requirements, create and submit an Express Entry profile, where you will be asked to submit a passport, language test certificate, as well as educational documents, such as an Educational Credentials Assessment or a Canadian diploma. Remember, more information provided in the profile, more CRS points will be received!
4. What are FSW, FST and CEC?
Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), Federal Skilled Traders (FST), and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) are three of Canada's Express Entry immigration programs that allow you to become Canadian permanent residents.
FSW is a great program for any professionals and skilled workers around the world while FST is ideal for experienced tradespeople who want to move to Canada.
CEC on the other hand is an immigration program that allows individuals who have worked in Canada for at least one year to immigrate permanently.
5. What score will allow me to receive ITA?
There is no fixed score that will allow the applicants to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) as it changes every year. The lowest cut-off for an all-program draw was 413 points in May 2017, while in 2019 CRS was already between 460 and 470. However, if you apply for the FST program, occasionally there are draws for FST applicants only where the CRS score is much lower like in May 2017 it was 199.
6. How can I improve my CRS score?
Don’t worry if your score is below the draw limit, as there is always room for improvement.
- First of all, double-check if you provided all the information, for example in education. If you are applying to CEC and FST programs, you do not have to provide an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) or Canadian credential upon entry to the pool, so if you forgot to mention or thought that the course completed 5 years ago is not important, it’s time to fix it. Remember that education is worth 200 CRS points, where 150 is the level of education with all the certificates received and 50 in combination with Canadian work experience and/or language ability. Express Entry profile as awards points for education regardless of the area of study and whether or not it relates to your current work.
- Another way to improve your CRS score is language as it takes up to 260 CRS points for a single candidate and up to 270 points for a couple. The Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) for the applicants should be Level 9. If you didn't reach the needed level, we advise you to have the test again.
Of course, there are other options like getting more work experience, try to get a Canadian job offer, or complete another educational program, but they will take a longer time.
7. Who can apply with me for Express Entry Program?
Any applicant can include the spouse as well dependent children in the application. The dependent children for Canadian immigration should be not married under 22 years old or above 22 years if they are financially dependent due to a physical or mental condition.
8. Which Language tests are required for Entry Express Program?
As Canada has 2 official languages: English and French any candidate is required to submit the results of IELTS General Training (results showing with CLB level, NOT Academic version) or CELPIP General for English, and Test d’évaluation du français (TEF) or Test de Connaissance du français (TCF) for French.
9. How long does it take to obtain Express Entry?
The length of the process is individual and depends on the applicant, but in general, can be divided into the following steps.
- Step 1. Submit an Express Entry profile.
If you have all the documents ready, you submit them along with your profile, however, in general, document preparation can take up to several months to complete.
- Step 2. Receive ITA.
If you submitted all the required documents and your CRS score is high, you can receive an ITA within the next draws. If your score is on the border of the cut-off score, it might take days, weeks, or even months. However, if your CRS score is low, you might not receive an ITA at all and should consider improving the score.
- Step 3. Final documents submission.
After you receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA), you will have 60 days to submit your final application to receive permanent resident status.
As you see, the whole process, in general, can take up to 6 months for the application to be approved and for you to receive the documents to activate your permanent resident status in Canada.
10. If I need help, who can assist me?
There is nothing as exciting and at the same time stressful as relocating and in Vazir Group we can relate to that. We know the stress many applicants go through, that is why we aim to provide seamless assistance throughout the application process.
Our professional advisors are dedicated to providing you with the highest quality migration services.
Contact us today and let's start this journey to a better future together!
