What should you do when you receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence through the federal Express Entry system?
You will be required to submit an application for permanent residence to the government body of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to complete the process to immigrate to Canada. You have a total of 90 days to apply for permanent residence after receiving an ITA.
If you fail to apply within 90 days, your invitation will expire and you will be required to make a new Express Entry profile and wait to receive another invitation. Recently, IRCC invited a total of 27,332 applicants in the largest Express Entry draw in history through the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program.
Applicants required a minimum Comprehensive System Ranking (CRS) score of 75 and should have applied before September 12, 2020 to qualify for permanent residency. This is also the lowest CRS requirement ever. This reflects Canada’s commitment to accepting over 401,000 new immigrants every year at the toll of 2023.
What Are the Next Steps After Receiving an Invitation to Apply for Permanent Residency?
Gather the Required Documents:
The first thing to do after receiving an ITA is to gather all the required documentation to file a permanent residency application. Your ITA will let you know what to gather and those documents will be based on which federal economic immigration program you initially applied for.
IRCC will provide a list of documents through the Express Entry portal based on which program you qualify for. Generally, civil status documents are requested:
- Birth certificate
- Language test results
- Educational credentials documents
- Work experience documents
- Medical examination results
- Police certificates
- Proof of funds
- Photos for identification, etc.
Police clearance certificates are required from any country you have lived in for more than 6 months. However, if you lived there before the age of 18, then no police certificates are required.
If you were already living in Canada at the time of application you will not be required to submit police certificates for the time spent in Canada until later in the process. In addition to police certificates, you will be required to attend a medical examination from an IRCC approved physician.
Take a look at our regularly updated Latest Express Entry Draw Updates and our Canada PNP Draw Updates.
