When Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) assesses your work experience, it looks at how much education is required of to do your job. Generally speaking, the more education and experience it takes to work in your position, the higher your occupational skill level will be. Canada currently analyzes a job’s skill level using the 2016 National Occupational Classification (NOC).

For economic-class immigration, IRCC generally uses the NOC to evaluate how the work experience of a given immigration candidate will support the mandate of the immigration program they are applying for. Economic-class immigration programs are specifically designed to fill job vacancies with foreign talent to support Canada’s labour market, and long-term prosperity.

When it comes to Express Entry, the specific occupation does not matter as much as the skill level. When assessing your application, IRCC will match your job duties with the NOC description to determine your occupation and whether or not it is skilled. There are five NOC skill levels described on the Canadian government website:

• Skill Type 0 (zero): management jobs, such as: restaurant managers, mine managers, and shore captains (fishing).
• Skill Level A: professional jobs that usually call for a degree from a university, such as: doctors, dentists, and architects.
• Skill Level B: technical jobs and skilled trades that usually call for a college diploma or training as an apprentice, such as: chefs, plumbers, and electricians.
• Skill Level C: intermediate jobs that usually call for high school and/or job-specific training, such as: industrial butchers, long-haul truck drivers, food and beverage servers.
• Skill Level D: labour jobs that usually give on-the-job training, such as: fruit pickers, cleaning staff, and oil field workers.

For the purposes of Express Entry, only jobs that fall under skill types 0, A, and B are considered “skilled.” You need skilled work experience to be eligible for one of the three Express Entry-managed immigration programs. How much work experience you need depends on which program you are applying for.

IRCC considers “full-time” to be equal to 30 hours per week. Over one year, this adds up to be 1,560 hours. You can meet this in a few different ways, by working full-time for a year or part-time. For part-time work, you can work more or less than 15 hours per week as long as it adds up to 1,560 hours. IRCC does not count any hours you worked above 30 hours per week. So, you cannot become eligible faster for working more hours.

Also, all work experience for the purposes of an Express Entry-managed program must be paid. Volunteer work, and unpaid internships do not count.

Work experience requirements for Federal Skilled Worker Program

To meet the basic eligibility criteria for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) you need to meet work experience, language proficiency, and education requirements.

At minimum, you need at least one year of skilled work experience within the past 10 years. The work experience you use to qualify you for the program, your previous work experience has to match your primary occupation in your immigration application.

Once you have met the minimum eligibility requirements, IRCC assesses your application on a points system that is specific to the program. You need to score at least 67 out of 100 in order to pass. At least 15 of these points come from work experience.

To get points for your work experience, you need to have held a full-time job in a skilled occupation for at least one year. Again, it has to add up to 1,560 hours total. Part-time work counts as long as it adds up to the minimum number of hours within the 10 years before you apply.

Your work experience will count if it was in Canada or abroad, completed while you were studying or while being self-employed outside of Canada. Self-employment in Canada does not count.

To get the full 15 points, you need at least six years of eligible work experience. Having only one year of work experience will get you nine points. Two to three years is enough for 11 points, and four to five years equates to 13 points.

You can also get an additional 10 points for “adaptability” if you have at least one year of full-time, skilled work experience in Canada.

Work experience requirements for Canadian Experience Class

The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is for people who have work experience in Canada.

Also, each occupation code will have five digits instead of four, but the majority will only change by name and not description. There will be 516 occupations in the new classification system, up from 500 in the current edition. New occupations were created to reflect emerging fields in data science, cyber security and others.

The NOC is overseen by Employment and Social Development Canada and Statistics Canada. The new system will be the most extensive revision to the NOC since 2011.

source

While settlement funds are not compulsory for those applying under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and those with a valid job offer, applicants to prove that they have a certain amount of savings in order to qualify without a job offer in the Express Entry-managed Federal Skilled Worker Class; and the Federal Skilled Trades Class.

Settlement funds are required in order to demonstrate that immigration candidates have the means to establish themselves and their family in Canada and pay for initial costs, such as accommodation. 

Settlement funds are required unless the applicant:

• Is currently authorised for working in Canada and,
• Has a valid job offer from an employer in Canada.

The amount of money you need to support your family is set by the size of your family. To calculate the size of your family you must include:

• yourself
• your spouse or partner
• your dependent children and
• your spouse’s dependent children

This includes your spouse or dependent children who are permanent residents or Canadian citizens.

This table shows the minimum amount you need to immigrate to Canada in 2020. If you have more money, you should list the full amount in your profile or application.

Applicants should note that borrowed money cannot be used to meet the thresholds. They need to use the money cover costs of living for their family. This applies even if the family is not accompanying the applicant to Canada.

IRCC has advised candidates to review the new figures to ensure they continue to meet the financial requirements of the Express Entry class under which they are registered, and to keep their funds updated in their Express Entry profile. 

Applicants whose spouses are is coming with them can count money that they have together in a joint account. An applicant may also be able to count money in an account under their spouse only, but you must prove you have access to the money.

What Does IRCC Accept As Proof?

IRCC requires that the funds must be readily available to you. For example, you can not use equity on real property as proof of settlement funds.

The funds must be available both when you apply and when (if) IRCC issues you a permanent resident visa. You must prove to an immigration officer that you can legally access them to use to settle here when you arrive.

For proof, you must get official letters from any banks or financial institutions where you are keeping money.

Letter(s) must:

• be printed on the financial institution’s letterhead
• include their contact information (address, telephone number and email address)
• include your name
• list outstanding debts such as credit card debts and loans
• include, for each current bank and investment account:
  • account numbers
  • the date each account was opened
  • the current balance of each account
  • the average balance for the past six months

NOTE: IRCC updates the proof of funds numbers every year based on 50 per cent of the low income cut-off totals. The changes are small but there is a chance it could affect your eligibility. Be sure to check the new numbers to your own once they’re posted.

Overall, Express Entry system requires applicants to prove their knowledge in at least one of Canada’s two official languages, English or French.

Applicants must therefore complete a government approved language test and include the test results in their profile.

Step 2: Assess Your Foreign Education Credentials

If you had your education outside of Canada, have your diploma assessed to a similar Canadian education.

Obtaining a credential assessment is mandatory for anyone who wants to immigrate to Canada under the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

The assessment is NOT mandatory if the applicant is applying under the Federal Skilled Trade Program or the Canadian Experience Class.

While a credential assessment is not mandatory for all Express Entry programs, assessment can greatly increase an applicant’s chances of success.

For example, CEC candidates may enter the pool without an ECA or Canadian credential.  As a result some CEC candidates might enter the pool (without ECA assessment of course), sit back, and wait for an ITA

They could be waiting a long time, however, and in vain.  Instead, they should be boosting their score by having their level(s) of education assessed.

Doing so can bring up to 200 points—150 for human capital, with a bonus 50 in combination with Canadian work experience and/or language ability.

Step 3: Determine Your National Occupation Classification (NOC)

All applicants must show that their work experience meets the definition of an occupation in Canada’s National Occupation Classification database.

Note: Only applicants with the following types of work experience may apply for immigration under the Express Entry System.

1. Skill Type 0 (Management Jobs)

2. Skill Level A (Professional Jobs)

3. Level B (Technical Jobs and Skilled Trades)

Step 4: Determine Your Eligibility for Express Entry Immigration

IRCC’s website contains an online tool to help applicants determine whether or not they are eligible to use the Express Entry system. You must use this tool before you create your Express Entry profile.

Note: In order to use the tool, applicants must:

• Already have taken a language test
• Identify the National Occupation Classification (NOC) skill type or level under which they will be applying.

Step 5: Build your Express Entry profile

If the online tool determines that you are eligible to apply for Express Entry immigration, you can begin building your Express Entry profile. Go to Create your Express Entry profile on Canada government website.

Overall, applicants must provide the following information in their Express Entry profiles

• Identity and age
• Contact Information
• A detailed account of their educational history
• A detailed account of their work experience
• Language proficiency
• Factors that facilitate their adaptability to life in Canada
• Family composition
• Information on their spouse or common-law partner, if applicable

In order to successfully complete your Express Entry profile, you must also have in hand:

• Their passport or travel document
• The title and code of the occupation that best describes their work experience as stated in the National Occupation Classification Database.
• Language test results.
• Foreign Educational Credential assessment result, if necessary.
• A copy of a written job offer from a Canadian employer (if the applicant has been offered a job).
• Proof of provincial nomination for permanent residence (if the candidate has received a provincial nomination).
• Personal reference code from IRCC’s online eligibility verification tool (see step 4 above). All applicants will receive a reference code upon the successful use of the online tool.

Step 6: Submit Your Express Entry Profile

After you created the profile you will see the button to submit it to IRCC.

Thereafter, IRCCO will send you

• An Express Entry profile number, and
• A job seeker validation code

Applicants will need these numbers if:

• They will be registering for the Job Bank (see below)
• They have received nominations for permanent residence from a provincial or territorial government.

If your profile fulfills all criteria for any of the Express Entry, IRCC places into the Express Entry candidate pool.

Most importantly, placement into the pool does not mean that you will automatically be invited to apply for permanent residence.

Canada’s Express Entry immigration system is competitive. IRCC issues Invitations to Apply for PR to only a limited number of candidates with the highest CRS points in the pool.

IRCC assesses applicants in the pool based on their score using the Comprehensive Ranking System.

You get an invitation only if your CRS score meets the lowest score that IRCC sets for any particular Express Entry draw.

Step 7: Update Your Information regularly

You must update your Express Entry profile in order to keep it accurate. By doing so you avoid disqualification due to misrepresentation.

You also get more points on your factors that have improved.

Your Express Entry profile remains valid for one year. However, an Express Entry profile could become invalid before one year passes if you no longer meet relevant Express Entry criteria

You must certainly update if for instance

• The nature of your work experience changes
• You receive new language test results
• You obtain a new educational diploma
• There is a change in your family composition. For example birth, death, marriage, divorce, a child in the family is no longer a dependent

An Express Entry profile remains valid even if a candidate updates the information on the profile.

If one year passes without a candidate receiving an invitation to apply for permanent residence, IRCC will delete the profile from the pool.

Note. Applicants who decline an invitation to apply for permanent residence will see their profiles become valid again

How Express Entry works

Step 1: Find out if you’re eligible

There are two ways to find out if you’re eligible for a program that is part of Express Entry:

• answer a few questions to see if you meet the minimum requirements
• read the detailed requirements for each program

Step 2: Get your documents ready

You need documents, such as language test results, to show that you’re eligible for Express Entry.

However, note that some documents take a long time to get, so you should get them ready now.

• Get the documents you need

Step 3: Submit your profile into Express Entry pool

See How to create Express Entry profile for your Canada PR Application

Basically, your Express Entry profile is where you give IRCC information about yourself.

A key point specifically if you’re married or have a common-law partner. One of you must be the main or principal applicant.

Your principal applicant should be the one of you most likely to:

• meet the eligibility requirements
• earn the most points in the selection factors (if applying under the Federal Skilled Workers Program)
• earn the most points in Express Entry’s Comprehensive Ranking System

If you’re eligible, IRCC will accept you, and register you into the Express Entry pool of candidates.

You’ll be ranked in the Express Entry pool using the CRS points-based system. Your score is based on the information in your profile.

• Quickly Check your CRS score with our simple FREE CRS Score calculator.
• THEN use the more detailed official Canada government CRS Score form for Free.
• THEN create your official Canada government Express Entry Profile.

Step 4: Receive an invitation and apply for Canada permanent residence

IRCC will send Invitations to Apply to the candidates with the highest scores in the pool.

If IRCC invites you to apply, you’ll have 60 days to submit your application for permanent residence.

IRCC processes complete applications that have all the supporting documents in 6 months or less.

How to improve your Express Entry CRS score

An Express Entry candidate typically needs a CRS score of 470-490 points in a regular draw.

To emphasize, to get to these higher scores you need to maximize your points on all available factors.

Documents for Express Entry Profile

To emphasize again, you need certain documents at different stages of the Express Entry application process.

You don’t need to upload documents to submit a profile. However, you may need information from some or all of these documents:

• passport or travel document
• language test results
• education credential assessment report if
  • you’re applying through the Federal Skilled Workers program, or
  • you want to get points for the education you got outside Canada
• provincial nomination (if you have one)
• written job offer from an employer in Canada (if you have one)

Documents for your application for Canadian permanent residence

Most importantly, you must upload the documents referenced in your profile.

Most applicants will also need to upload the following:

• police certificates
• medical exams
• proof of funds

Yes! In 2021, Nigeria is #2 leading country of citizenship of successful Express Entry candidates. And also it ranked only behind India.

In general, Canada uses the Express Entry system to manage applications for three Canadian immigration programs. These are: the Federal Skilled Worker Class; the Federal Skilled Trades Class; and the Canadian Experience Class.

Express Entry is also the fastest and most popular pathway for newcomers seeking a new life in Canada.

Express Entry awards candidates eligibility points using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

A job offer is not required to enter or be selected from the Express Entry pool. However, additional Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score points are awarded to those who already have a job.

How the Express Entry system works

A total of 1,200 points is available under Express Entry. A candidate’s CRS score is based on several factors, most importantly

• age
• education
• skilled work experience, and also
• proficiency in English or French

Individual applicant or a couple may get CRS points. Candidates do not need to have any experience in Canada in order to get ITA for permanent residence.

Your CRS is a numerical value, out of a possible 1,200, determined by your core human capital. This is essentially your age, work experience, educational background, ability to adapt and language skills.

Only a limited number of candidates with the highest CRS points in the pool get Invitation to Apply (ITA).

Express Entry Application Quick Steps

• Create an IRCC profile/account to apply for Canada visa online
• Check your application status
• Check application processing times

Federal Skilled Worker applications are assessed based on an applicant’s ability to become economically established upon immigration to Canada. Successful applicants of the Canada Skilled Worker Immigration programs will receive a Canadian Immigration (permanent resident) Visa, allowing the applicant to immigrate to Canada with his or her family.

As a skilled worker or professional, you have several options to consider. For example, you may be eligible to apply under Canada’s Federal Skilled Worker Class or, if your intended destination is in Quebec, the Quebec Skilled Worker Program may be the pathway for you and your family, if applicable. Moreover, if you know in which province or territory you plan to reside, you may be able to submit an application through one of the Provincial Nominee Programs.

• Create an IRCC profile/account to apply for Canada visa online
• Check your application status
• Check application processing times

Six selection factors – Federal Skilled Worker Program (Express Entry)

Federal Skilled Trades Class and Express Entry

The FSTC is one of three programs managed by the Government of Canada’s
Express Entry selection system. This means that in order to begin the process immigrating to Canada under FSTC a tradesperson must first create an online Express Entry profile to get a Comprehensive Ranking System score and become ranked against other candidates in Express Entry pool.ve lower CRS scores than candidates in the two other Express Entry program  —FSWC and CEC — because they are not required to prove their level of education to enter the pool. 

FSTC Requirements

FSTC applications are assessed based on an applicant’s ability to become economically established upon immigration to Canada. Eligible candidates must make an expression of interest in immigrating to Canada through the IRCC Express Entry Selection System for Immigration to Canada

FSTC Applicants receive a pass or fail score, based on the following four requirements:

• have offers of employment from up to two employers in Canada of at least one year duration OR a Certificate of Qualification* from a provincial or territorial body;
• provide proof of basic language proficiency from a designated language testing organization, demonstrating that the applicant meets the minimum threshold set by the Minister — Canadian Level Benchmark (CLB) 5 for speaking and listening, CLB 4 for reading and writing;
• have obtained 2 years of full-time work experience (or an equal amount of part-time work)  in the skilled trade in the five years before applying; and
• be able to demonstrate the skills and experience and that they have performed the essential duties of the occupation.

The program is quota based and limited to 3000 applications per year
with sub quotas in many of the eligible categories of trade.

Skilled work experience eligible for the Federal Skilled Trades Class fall into the following general Skilled Trades categories of the NOC:

• Major Group 72: industrial, electrical and construction trades,
• Major Group 73: maintenance and equipment operation trades,
• Major Group 82: supervisors and technical jobs in natural resources, agriculture and related production,
• Major Group 92: processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors and central control operators,
• Minor Group 632: chefs and cooks, and
• Minor Group 633: butchers and bakers.

FSTC applicants must plan to reside outside the province of Quebec. The province of Quebec selects its own skilled workers through a unique immigration system. If prospective applicants plan on living in Quebec, visit the Quebec Skilled Worker Program page for more information.

Language Requirement:

Applicants must provide evidence of proficiency in the English or French language for speaking, listening, reading and writing. Only test results from a IRCC designated language testing agency are acceptable.

Two of the most commonly used language tests are the IELTS for English and the TEF for French.

Required scores are:

Canada has various Economic Immigration programs designed to bring immigrants who can establish themselves economically in the country. The CEC is one of such programs and it is processed through the Express Entry System

The CEC is a popular option for temporary foreign workers and international graduates who are gaining Canadian work experience. 

1. Pre-application phase – A phase where you have NOT created an online Express Entry (hereafter referred to as EE) profile. You do not have a profile number.

2. Pre-ITA phase – A phase where you have created an online profile and you are waiting to get your Invitation to Apply (hereafter referred to as ITA).

3. Post-ITA phase – A phase where you have received an ITA and you are all set to submit your Permanent Resident (hereafter referred to as PR) application to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (hereafter referred to as CIC).

You will go through the following in the pre-application phase:

Deciding to come to Canada

Take a piece of paper and write down why you want to come to Canada. Outline your settlement plan; try to research how you would support yourself and the job prospects in Canada. Please do not paint a rosy picture, don’t think Canada will be a land of milk and honey right after you land here. You have to build a life for yourself so DO NOT plan to relax as soon as you get here.

If you are determined to work smart and put in sincere efforts once you get here, you will be a successful immigrant in your new home – Canada.

Eligibility

To apply to Express Entry, you must satisfy certain criteria. We shall discuss this below.

You should be eligible under one of the Economic Immigration programs (Federal Skilled Worker Program , Federal Skilled Trades or Canadian Experience Class .

FSWP

FST

CEC

From this point on, I will limit the information to FSW program alone.

For FSWP, you need to score at least 67 points out of 100 to be eligible. You can manually calculate your points based on the criteria outlined in the CIC webpage (on the link that is provided).

So, are you eligible? Do you score at least 67/100 points? If no, I’m very sorry, you are not eligible to apply under the FSWP. If yes, keep your fingers crossed, you have another set of criteria to satisfy to be eligible for Express Entry.

You must use the Come to Canada tool to check if you are eligible under Express Entry.

Provide answers to the questions and the tool will tell you if you are eligible or not. The basic eligibility criteria are as follows :

A) You need to have your language test results ready (English or French – I shall write a separate post about this later).
B) You need to have an ECA report for your academic degrees/diplomas if they were not obtained from Canada. You can learn about the ECA process at here
C) You need to have at least one year continuous, full-time (at least 30 hours per week/1560 hours per year) or equivalent part-time experience in an occupation that is categorized under NOC 0, A or B in the past 10 years.
D) You need to have unfettered access to sufficient funds (that are unencumbered) depending on your family size (for the case in point here, “dependents” include your spouse and your dependent children). This money may not be borrowed from another person. You can check how much funds you need (here)

So, what does the tool say? Are you eligible? No? I’m sorry, you can check if you are eligible under any other immigration program. If yes, congratulations, you have cleared one hurdle on your path to attaining your Permanent Residence. You will receive a code that is called the “Personal Reference Code”. You need this to create your online EE profile.

Creating your online Express Entry profile:

Congratulations! You are eligible and all set to create your online Express Entry profile. To proceed you will need a couple of things:

A) As mentioned before, you would need the Personal Reference code.

B) You need to create a myCIC account, if you do not have one already.

C) You will need your language test’s Test Report Form (hereafter referred to as TRF) number AND your ECA report number to create and submit a complete profile.

D) You need to register with Canada’s “Job Bank” for CIC to deem your application as complete. The only people who are exempted from this requirement are the ones who have a job offer endorsed with a positive Labor Market Impact Assessment (hereafter referred to as LMIA) or people who are already working in Canada.

Please note that you need a login credential to create a myCIC account; you can login through a sign-in partner or by creating a GC key. I will discuss, in pristine detail, the end to end process involved in creating an EE profile (with screenshots) in a separate post since the scope of this post is only to provide some basic insight on how the EE system works.

You will have created your profile by now. Now you have to sit down patiently and wait for your ITA. The odds of getting an ITA are directly proportional to your CRS. Higher your CRS, higher the chances of getting invited. This is the end of the pre-application phase.

Please find the step-by-step details here

As I have already mentioned before, this phase requires you to wait and have patience. Roughly speaking, CIC conducts draws twice a month. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration decides the cut-off score for the particular draw. You can see the rounds of invitation (here). If your score is greater than or equal to the cut-off score selected by CIC, you will get an ITA.

One thing that you’ll have to do here is keep an eye on the draws and your CRS. You have to see how close you are to the previous/recent draws. I must admit that CIC is extremely unpredictable in this regard; the draws are random and the CRS cannot be predicted in advance, so to speak. So, depending on your CRS, you might want to consider applying for Provincial Nomination, which has been discussed at the end of this section.

In the pre-ITA phase, you can start collecting the documents that you are expected to submit once you get an ITA. Some of the documents that you can prioritize on getting are Police Clearance Certificates and your Employer reference letters. I will be discussing this in detail below.

A) Police Clearance Certificates or PCC are they are known as are required for the PA, spouse and children over 18 years of age from their country of residence AND all other countries where they have been for a continuous period of 6 months or more. Getting a foreign PCC can be a tedious and a painstakingly long process so it is imperative to be proactive to avoid delays and get things done on time. PCC issued by a foreign county is valid indefinitely if it was issued during or after your last visit to that country. Please note that local PCCs can be obtained after you receive the ITA because it usually takes less time.

B) Employer Reference letters are required for the PA. The reference letter must be as specified by CIC. You can find the details of what the reference letters should be like in the link provided at the end of this section.

Depending on where the applicant works, the time taken for employers to issue these reference letters vary. So, it is important to be prepared and apply for the reference letter at the earliest. Please note that reference letters issued by employers while you quit the job is valid indefinitely while the reference letter issued by your current employer is generally valid for one year.

C) Proof of funds (POF) is a very important part of your documentation. While you are awaiting your ITA, you can prepare to show your funds. You DO NOT need to get any bank letter/document at this stage but if you need to arrange funds (like selling a car or liquidating assets like selling gold etc.) you have to start planning on how you are going to show your funds. CIC requires that the funds be unencumbered by any debt or obligation to re-pay. These funds must be liquid (You should be able to convert it to hard cash whenever required). You can see what CIC allows you to show as POF in the link provided at the end of the section.

D) Provincial Nominee Program (hereafter referred to as PNP) can be put to use if you think your CRS is not up to the mark. PNP are immigration schemes of the provincial/territorial governments by which they pick applicants who they think are suitable to fulfill the demand in their province. Some provinces require a full-time job offer from a Canadian Employer and some don’t. Some provinces process the applications electronically and some provinces still use the old-school snail mail method. Some provinces prefer applicants whose job falls under a particular NOC. There is variety. You can check the website of the province that you are interested in to learn more. If you get a provincial nomination, it will add 600 points to your CRS which means, in most cases, you will get an ITA in the very next draw.

Alright! So you have certain documents ready and Voila! You received an ITA. Great! Your next step is to accept the ITA and file your PR application electronically (e-APR).

Please note that if you will not be able to submit any of the necessary documents, you must consider declining the ITA and re-enter the pool to get another ITA.

We have now come to the end of the pre-ITA section.

For the complete EE Checklist, click here

This is a very important phase and this is where your application will either be accepted or rejected. Once you get an ITA, you have 60 days to file a complete application – e-APR (electronic – Application for Permanent Residence). You need to gather all the required documents. You need to undergo a medical test (The details of the test are outlined later in the section). Once you submit a complete application, CIC will determine if you will receive a visa or not within a period of 6 months or less.

POF/Reference letters can be obtained post-ITA too (depending on your personal circumstance).

A) Medical examination is, by far, one of the most important post-ITA processes. The medical test is to ensure that you or your dependents do not have any serious/contagious diseases AND you will not be a burden to the Canadian healthcare system initially. You and all your dependents (whether accompanying or not) MUST undergo a medical test. Please note that this medical test must be performed by a doctor who is a CIC designated panel physician. Pregnant applicants or applicants can choose to complete their medical exam after the baby is born (since chest X-ray is a part of the tests) OR can choose to go ahead with the tests by wearing a lead apron. After the tests are done, you will get an upfront medical form. You will upload this form along with the other documents on the checklist.

B) Passports/Travel Documents must be submitted for the PA, spouse and for dependent children.

These two, along with other documents mentioned above (and in the checklist) must be submitted as a part of your post-ITA documentation.

Alright! So now you have all the documents available in the checklist. You are now all set to submit your application. Please follow the instructions given by CIC very carefully and fill the online application. Upload all the required documents. When you feel the need to explain something to CIC (like large recent deposits on your account or any other unusual circumstance), PLEASE submit a Letter of Explanation (LOE) along with the documents so that the officer who is assessing your case understands why you have not submitted the document in the prescribed format/why you are submitting an alternate document. Remember, you only have 60 days to submit your application. If you do not submit a complete application within this period, the validity of your ITA will lapse. You would then need to re-enter the pool and wait for a brand new ITA and have to start your e-APR from scratch.

Any changes to your personal circumstance (like the pregnancy of self/spouse, birth of a child, death/divorce etc.) MUST be reported to the VO at the earliest. If you DO NOT report these changes, it amounts to misrepresentation and your application will be rejected and you will be barred from re-applying again for 5 years.

After you submit your application, your medical records are checked. If everything is fine, your application goes into processing. At this stage, the background checks are performed. CIC might sometimes choose to call your employer to verify your employment history if they feel they need to verify. If the VO feels he/she needs more information, then you will be asked to upload further documents. You *might* be asked to attend an interview if the need be. If everything goes fine, you will get a Passport Request (PPR) and a Decision Made (DM) within 6 months of submission of complete application.

You can submit your passport (along with dependents’ passport, if they are accompanying you to Canada) at the nearest VFS. They will send your passport to the embassy and deliver your passport back to you after the stamping is done. You will get a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) letter along with your passport that is stamped with the Maple Leaf Visa  . You need to carry BOTH your passport(with the stamped visa) and the COPR when you are travelling to Canada.

Please ensure that you verify all the details on your Visa and COPR. If there are any discrepancies, report it to your VO at once.

Please note that you and your dependents MUST land in Canada before your (and their) medical test expires (The validity of the medical test is 1 year from the date of the test) OR before your current passport expires, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST. Also, please note that the dependents can either land ALONG with the PA or at a later date after the PA has landed BUT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE CAN THE DEPENDENTS LAND BEFORE THE PA LANDS.

Source