Canada Immigration Visa FAQs

• Express Entry

• Provincial nomination

Express Entry is a selection system for Canadian immigration (by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) designed to select skilled workers for immigration to Canada from the express entry pool. Express Entry is an online system that we use to manage applications for permanent residence from skilled workers.

The Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) allow Canadian provinces and territories to nominate individuals who wish to immigrate to Canada and who are interested in settling in a particular province. Each Canadian province and territory (except Nunavut and Quebec) have its own unique Provincial Nominee Program.

Express Entry program is a federal program that selects immigrants using criteria established by the federal government. 

Provincial nominee programs(PNPs) select immigrants based on the criteria of individual provinces.

The final decision still lies on the federal government.

Yes you can.

If a province opens and gives you an invitation then your total points will have 600 points more and you will be picked in the next federal draw after the invitation.

Potential candidates who create an Express Entry profile and are eligible for one of Canada’s economic immigration programs enter the Express Entry pool. The Federal Government and Provincial Governments, as well as Canadian employers, are able to select candidates from this pool. Candidates who are selected then receive an ‘Invitation to Apply’ (ITA) for immigration to Canada under any one of Canada’s economic immigration programs.

An Express Entry profile helps potential immigrants provide information about their skills, work experience, language ability, education, and other personal information. The profile is self-declared i.e. the material provided by the potential candidate is based on his or her own assessment of his or her personal information.

You can be barred and banned from re-entering the Express Entry pool for up to five years.

Your documents will be verified by WES. 

The Comprehensive Ranking System is the Canadian Government’s internal mechanism for ranking candidates. This helps to enable the government to decide which candidates may be issued invitations to apply for permanent residence. There are up to 600 points available under the system for a candidate’s core human capital and skills transferability factors. Up to 600 additional points are available for additional factors (including a Provincial Nomination, an offer of employment, and/or prior Canadian study experience).

This tool will help you calculate your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score based on the answers you provide. The CRS is a points-based system that they use to assess and score your profile and rank it in the Express Entry pool.

• Skills

• Education

• Language ability

• Work experience

Yes, you are required to change your profile if there are any changes.

An Invitation to Apply (ITA) is offered to any candidate in the Express Entry pool who has been selected to apply for immigration to Canada

A candidate who receives an ITA will have met the requirements draws from the pool. This includes meeting the minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off threshold for that draw

Under Express Entry, candidates with higher points totals in the Express Entry pool may have a better chance of being invited to apply for Canadian permanent residency by either the Federal Government, a Canadian Province or Territory, or a Canadian employer.

Highly educated candidates with skilled work experience and strong language skills in English and/or French, for example, are likely obtain a greater number of points than those who do not possess these qualities.

Yes

Yes, the Federal Government of Canada can select candidates from the Express Entry pool. These candidates do not necessarily need to have a valid job offer from a Canadian employer in order to receive an Invitation to apply for permanent residency.

A successful applicant can bring his or her spouse (i.e. husband or wife) or common-law partner, as well as dependent children, to Canada. In the case of married couples and commonlaw partners, only one of the partners needs to receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence.

The spouse or common-law partner of the principal applicant, as well as any children under the age of 19 (at the time the application is received), also receive a permanent resident visa.

Your family will be added as a dependent

All provinces and territories, except for Quebec, Alberta and Nunavut, currently use Express Entry. Provinces and territories are able to nominate a certain number of candidates through the Express Entry system to meet their local and provincial labor market needs. These are known as “enhanced” nominations.

If an applicant gets an enhanced nomination from a province or territory, he or she is then given 600 additional points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence at a subsequent draw from the pool.

All candidates must meet the eligibility criteria of one of the Federal Economic immigration programs in order to enter and be selected from the Express Entry pool. Just as they manage their own Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs), provinces and territories set the criteria they use to nominate Express Entry candidates. Depending on the province/territory, Express Entry candidates may either enter the pool first and then be nominated by a province or territory, or be nominated by a province or territory and then complete an online Express Entry profile.

Provinces and territories are also able to make nominations under their regular (“base”) PNPs outside the Express Entry system.

You must first apply to the province or territory where you want to live and be nominated.

After a province or territory nominates you, you must apply to IRCC for permanent residence.

An IRCC officer will then assess your application based on Canadian immigration rules

On an average it can take around 6-10 months for immigration through a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) but the candidate can also apply for a provincial nomination by stating the preference in an Express Entry profile.

If after 12 months a candidate has not received an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence from the federal government, a Canadian province, or a Canadian employer, but wishes to remain in the Express Entry pool, he or she can create a new Express Entry profile.

If he or she is still eligible for one of the economic immigration programs, he or she will re-enter the Express Entry pool.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC, formerly known as CIC) aims to process the majority of complete applications received within six months from the date of submission.

Yes, a portion of the PNPs, known as the “enhanced” portion, are managed inside Express Entry, with the remainder operating external to Express Entry.

The Canada Visa immigration assessment form assesses your eligibility for immigration across a range of immigration programs, including the various PNPs.

Candidates who receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence from a Canadian province or territory should have the intention to reside in that particular province or territory as you will have to work in that province for a specific time.

Each profile remains in the Express Entry pool for a period of 12 months or until an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence is issued, whichever comes first.

If after 12 months a candidate wishes to remain in the pool, he or she may create a fresh profile.

Yes, all candidates need to take a language test in order to determine their language abilities.

Your language test score helps you to boost your score.

All provinces and territories, except for Quebec, Alberta and Nunavut, currently use Express Entry. Provinces and territories are able to nominate a certain number of candidates through the Express Entry system to meet their local and provincial labour market needs.

These are known as “enhanced” nominations. If an applicant gets an enhanced nomination from a province or territory, he or she is then given 600 additional points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence at a subsequent draw from the pool.

6-9 months

• Eligibility test/Consultation Assessment: Free
• Creation of Profile: N129,500 per candidate & N358,500 per a family 
• IELTS Exam Payment (To pay to IELTS): N85,000 (approx.)
• Invitation to Apply Guidance: N24,000 per applicant
• Application Fee (To Canadian Embassy):

o Per Adult: CA$1325

o Per Child: CA$225 

Please note that once you have been invited to apply, per number of people, there is a certain amount you must have in your account. Our experts will guide you.

Eligibility test is a test to know if you are eligible to apply for Express Entry before you start the process. The test is free.

• Creation of Profile: N85,500 per candidate & N226,500 per a family
• Application Fee (To the province):

Saskatchewan – CA$350

Prince Edward Island – CA$300