Canada has long been the destination of choice for the ambitious, seeking better quality opportunities in life. For professional and skilled individuals from Pakistan, the Express Entry Canada system offers rapid and streamlined permanent residency in Canada. Following is an easy, comprehensive guide to everything one needs to understand, from understanding Express Entry Canada to the steps to be taken in securing permanent residency.
What Is Express Entry Canada?
It is an online system used by the Canadian Government to manage applications for permanent residence under the following three main economic immigration programs:
- Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
- Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)
- Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
In this process, the individual’s profile is scored based on points mainly for the individual’s age, education, work experience, and language proficiency. These profiles with high scores are subsequently invited to apply for permanent residency in Canada through draws conducted periodically.
How Does Express Entry Work?
The system of Canada Express Entry Canada works step by step. There are steps that one should understand while maximizing the chances of receiving an Invitation to Apply for permanent residency.
Eligibility Assessment
Before going ahead to create an Express Entry profile, one must have an eligibility assessment done. You are supposed to satisfy the minimum eligibility requirements for any of the above-mentioned three programs. Key criteria include:
- Language Proficiency: You should be proficient in English or French, and you need to be tested for proficiency in the known language by taking a test like IELTS or CELPIP.
- Education: You will need to get a valid report about its assessment that will prove that your foreign education can be equated with the standards prevalent in Canada.
- Work Experience: You should have at least one year of work experience that too falls under the skillful job category of National Occupational Classification.
Creating Your Express Entry Profile
Once you qualify for the necessary criteria, you’ll then be able to create an Express Entry profile. Below are the elements you’ll enter in that profile:
- Age
- Education
- Work Experience
- Language Skills
- Adaptability
All of the above factors increment your CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System)—the score that is responsible for ranking candidates within the Express Entry Canada pool. The CRS score is important because a high score essentially means that you have a good chance of getting an ITA.
Entering the Express Entry Canada Pool
Upon creating your profile, you will be placed into an Express Entry pool in which you will be ranked against other candidates. Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada draw invites with the highest scores based on a regular draw process.
One should keep getting their profile updated as, at times, results that would be bettered later in language proficiency tests, work experience, or higher education could be included. This will help increase your CRS score, and you may stand a better chance of selection.
Key Factors That Affect Your CRS Score
Here are some key elements that determine your CRS score, a basis on which your Express Entry profile is granted:
Age
Younger candidates get more CRS points. Any candidate between the ages of 20-29 gets maximum points. The older you get, the fewer the points, and after age 45, no points are awarded.
Education
The more you learn, the more points under the CRS. A more significant score one gets to hold a master’s or Ph.D. You also get more scores for a Canadian qualification in education or its equivalent.
Language Proficiency
High language proficiency in English and/or French can greatly enhance your CRS score. The language test attainment of a CLB 9 or higher on IELTS has an easy way of clearly placing you at the top in the Express Entry pool.
Work Experience
Canadian work experience is highly valued, and the CRS gives more points than having worked abroad does. However, foreign skilled work experience is also a positive count, especially if matched with a full-time job offer in Canada.
Additional Factors
Other factors have to do with whether you hold a valid job offer in Canada, a provincial program nomination, or have a sibling resident in Canada, all of which bring in more points to your CRS score.
Receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA)
If you have one of the highest CRS scores within the Express Entry pool, you will be invited to Apply for permanent residency in Canada. After you receive an ITA, you need to get a submission of all documents and information ready to meet the deadline of 60 days.
Document Submission checklist includes, but is not limited to –
- Proof of Identity: Passport/ Travel Documents
- Educational Credentials: degrees, diplomas, or certificates, and ECA report
- Language Test Results: IELTS or CELPIP scores
- Proof of Work Experience: Letter of work experience from employer, pay stub, etc.
- Medical Examination: Medical results from an approved panel physician by the Canadian government
- Police Clearance Certificate: Proof of no criminal record
Processing Time and Final Steps
Express Entry application processing times are typically six months from the moment a complete application is submitted. Within that period, which is five months, you may be required to submit additional information or receive an invitation to an interview. After this, your application gets approved, and you are sent a confirmation of permanent residency along with a permanent residence visa.
Your visa expiry must be in Canada to complete the remaining steps of obtaining a permanent residence visa. At the time of landing, you will have to show your COPR, proof of funds, and other required documents to the immigration officer, and then you will be issued a Permanent Resident Card to confirm that you are now a permanent resident of Canada.
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and Express Entry
Permanent residency can also be obtained outside the Federal Express Entry programs through the Provincial Nominee Program. Every province and territory has its own PNP, which allows them to nominate applicants who best suit their particular labor needs in the economy.
Some of these PNPs align with the Express Entry system, which, in the event of a province nomination, will award you those additional CRS points. This kind of nomination will almost assuredly mean that you get an ITA toward permanent residency because it will raise your CRS score by 600.
Why Express Entry Is Ideal for Pakistani Applicants
This particularly bodes well for professionals and skilled workers from Pakistan, as the system is set up with a fair and transparent process in which applicants are chosen based on merit and not subjective criteria. Some competencies, such as language skills, education, and work experience, that the system stresses are really in line with what most Pakistani candidates have under their belt.
Overall, this makes Canada very multicultural and has a huge Pakistani community that would add up one more prop to an immigrant from Pakistan. If you understand the Express Entry in-take process and work towards optimizing your profile, it will let you get permanent residency.
Final Thoughts
Shall seems very overwhelming the whole process of Express Entry Canada; however, an excellent opportunity to secure oneself in getting permanent residency. You focus on your CRS score improvement, always follow the new immigration policy, and take advice from professionals if necessary, so your Canadian dream can become a reality.
Express Entry offers the most clear and effective way to become a permanent citizen of Canada for those qualified from Pakistan. Therefore, take your time in preparing your profile, make sure that you fit all eligibility criteria, and stay focused on your goal. There awaits a great welcome and unlimited opportunities within Canada.