Express Entry is the fastest, efficient, and most popular way for skilled and qualified immigrants to migrate to Canada in order to acquire permanent residency.

What is Express Entry

In 2015, the Canadian government introduced an online application system Express Entry (EE) to select candidates for immigration to Canada through various Federal Economic Immigration programs. The purpose of introducing this program was to make the process of immigration faster not only with eligibility criteria but with flexibility as well. This system manages various immigration applications of skilled workers in a fast but systematic manner for permanent residence. 

How Express Entry works

There is a selection factor that assesses an applicant’s application. Express Entry is a very systematic way that contains two major steps:

• In the first step, the applicant shows an expression of interest (EOI) in getting Canadian immigration. They will include some details about themselves including their age, skills, education, work experience, and language ability. Successful profiles will then be grouped in the eligible candidate’s pool.
• In the second step, the Canadian government invites the highest-scoring profiles to immigrate to Canada. In that case, the applicants will get an Invitation to Apply (ITA) from the Canadian government. After receiving ITA, the applicants will have a total of 60 days time to submit their online application.

Eligibility Criteria

To become eligible for the Express Entry, requirements vary depending upon under which program you wish to apply. Applicants have to obtain the minimum required score/points on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Score/points can be obtained based on age, education, Canadian or Non-Canadian work experience, language ability, certifications.

Express Entry sets a benchmark of a points system to see if the applicants are eligible to apply for permanent residence. They have to obtain at least 67 or more points on a 100 point scale system. If the score is 67 or higher, the possibility of getting immigration for the Federal Skilled Workers Program gets higher. If the score is lower than 67, then there will be no possibility of getting immigration. You may get a higher score by improving the following three things:

• Improve your language skills
• Improve your education, diploma, certification
• Receive a job letter from a Canadian employer

Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS)

So far, we have understood that in order to get in the Express Entry pool, applicants need the highest points or at least obtain the minimum eligibility criteria.  For this purpose, to rank applicants’ profiles, the Canadian government developed a points-based system that assigns a score to each applicant’s profile. This points-based system is called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The higher the applicants’ scores on the CRS, the better their chances of becoming a permanent resident of Canada. It’s used to assess applicants:

• Age
• Education
• Work experience
• Language ability
• Skills
• Other factors

Programs of Express Entry

Express Entry allows provinces and territories (Under PNP – Provincial Nominee Program) to use this system to enroll suitable applicants. But the following are the three major programs/categories to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
• Federal Skilled Trades Program  (FSTP)
• Canadian Experience Class         (CEC)

Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP):

This is the most popular program of Canadian immigration. Federal skilled workers are persons with suitable education, years of work experience, age, language ability (English or French), occupation. A Canadian job offer letter is not required under this program. Essential conditions for this program:

• Work experience must be of one-year or equivalent to 1560 hours (30 hours/week) continuous full-time paid work within the last 10 years.
• The work experience must be classified within these skills:
• Managerial jobs
• Professional jobs
• Technical jobs
• Language proficiency score in all the 4 abilities (Reading, Writing, Listening & Speaking) with a band of 7 under Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) The test must not be more than 2 years after the date of the result.
• Have at least secondary education (high-school). The applicants who studied outside Canada, need to get Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) in order to prove that their education equals Canadian education.
• Obtain a minimum of 67 points out of 100 under this FSWP.

Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP):

This program is for those who are skilled in a particular trade. Profiles are evaluated based on applicants’ ability to become economically established. Essential conditions for this program:

• Work experience must be of 2 years full-time paid work or equivalent part-time paid work in a skilled trade within the last 5 years before you apply.
• Must have a full-time job offer letter from a Canadian employer for a total period of at least 1 year or a certificate of qualification in that skilled trade from a province or territory.
• Language proficiency score must be 5 (Listening + Speaking) and 4 (Writing + Reading) under Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB).
• Meet the job requirements for that skilled trade.
• Plan to live and work outside of Quebec province.
• You must show that you have enough capital for you and your family to settle in Canada unless you have full-time Canadian employment.

Canadian Experience Class (CEC):

This program is for those applicants who are already residing inside Canada either on a student visa or on a work permit. It is designed for permanent residence applicants who have Canadian work experience through a temporary work permit. To achieve this class, some basic requirements needed:

• Applicants must have skilled, professional, or technical Canadian work experience of at least one year full-time or equivalent part-time within the 3 years of the application date.
• There is no education requirement in this program.
• Language proficiency score must be 7 in all the abilities (Listening, Speaking, Reading & Writing)  for NOC 0 jobs (Managerial jobs) or NOC A jobs (Professional jobs). The score must be 5 in all the abilities (Listening, Speaking, Reading & Writing) for NOC B jobs (Technical & Trade jobs).
• Plan to work and live outside of Quebec province.
• Self-employment and work experience gained during a full-time student visa period does not count in this program