Canada is the most sought after the country for the immigrants all over the world who are looking for higher standard of living and better career growth opportunities. With the fifth largest economy in the world, Canada has high employment rate also. These reasons make the Canada the top most priority for the immigrants. With this, there are high rate of immigrants who are wants to move to Canada. To meet these demands of the higher rate of influx of the immigrants in the country, Canadian government has over 60 immigration programs.
Every immigration programs provides the immigrants with different pathways to move to Canada. There are also types of visas that the candidates can avail from: Student visa, Work Permit visa, Temporary resident visa, Visitor visa, Permanent Residence (PR) visa etc. Types of visas are mainly categorized under two types:
- Temporary Visas: These types of visas allows its holder to move to Canada on a temporary basis this means they are able to be in Canada for short duration of time period i.e 6 to 8 months on an average.
- Permanent Visas: These types of visas allows it holder to move to Canada on a permanent basis. Canada PR visa allows it holder to move to Canada for duration of five years.
Which is the best way to move to Canada?
With these many options (type of visas) to move to Canada, having a Canada PR visa can be the best way to live in Canada. Immigrant who is having a Permanent Residence (PR) Visa is allowed to live and work anywhere in Canada for duration of five years. There are also other major benefits of having the Canada PR visa and some of these are as follows:
- No tax on income earned outside of Canada
- Access to the subsidized education system of Canada
- After certain amount of time, PR visa holder is able to apply for Canadian citizenship
- Can avail free healthcare system that is funded by the provincial government
- Protection under Canadian law
- Access to social security benefits
What are the ways to apply for Canada PR visa from India?
With 60 immigration programs, there is also some immigration program that allows the skilled and capable immigrants to apply for Canada PR visa online. These major immigration programs are as follows:
- Express Entry Program
- Provincial Nomination Program (PNP)
- Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP)
- Atlantic Immigrant Pilot Program (AIPP)
- Family Sponsorship Program
- Life Caregiver Program
Each of the above programs has different requirements and eligibility criteria to give the maximum chances to the immigrants with different skill-sets to apply under the program that suits their needs and credentials.
Provincial Nomination Program (PNP) allows the provinces or territories to nominate the immigrants who will be able to help the provinces for their economical development. Every province in Canada has different requirements and eligibility criteria. Candidate who are able to meet these requirements are awarded with the provincial nomination which allows them to reside as permanent residence in the province.
What are the basics of express entry program?
Express entry was introduced in January, 2015. It is the flagship program for Canadian immigration. Point-based program that manages the profiles of the candidates who have applied under the Canada’s three economic immigration program: Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
Points are awarded to the Candidates who have created their express profile by submitting their credentials. Express entry uses a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) that ranks the profiles of the candidates based on the points awarded to them by factoring in the selection factors like age, language proficiency, educational qualifications etc. Highest ranked profiles are then issued the Invitation to Apply (ITA) to apply for PR visa to the Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Once a candidate gets the ITA they have 60 days to submit their application with proper set of documents to the IRCC.
How to apply for express entry program online from India?
The very first step for any immigrant who is looking to apply for Canada PR visa via express entry program is to check their eligibility whether they are able to create their profile in express entry program or not. Once they have cleared the eligibility criteria (67 points system), they are allowed to create the express entry profile.
Check your eligibility for Canada PR visa under 67 points system
To create the express profile, candidates have to fill out the online form for their Express Entry profile by submitting their credentials and personal information. For candidates to complete their express profile, they’ll need the information for certain documents (including IELTS scores) and their National Occupational Classification (NOC) code. Candidates are allowed exit the portal any time they want. They will be given 60 days to complete their express entry profile otherwise they have to start the whole process all over again.
After the express profile is created, their profile will be submitted into the express pool. Once the profile is submitted into the express pool, they will have to wait for the Invitation to Apply (ITA). While waiting, candidates can do following tasks:
- Get the documents ready that includes language tests results (IELTS score), Police clearance certificates etc.
- Can find the job by creating Job Match account with the Job Bank. For to be able to doing so, candidates are required to have a valid Job Seeker Validation Code.
- Can try to increase their CRS score: getting a valid job-offer, can get the provincial nomination, improve their language proficiency test scores, improve on their educational qualifications, can gain more relevant work experience etc.
- Candidates have to keep their express profile up to date.
IRCC holds express draws to issue the ITAs to the candidates who are able to clear the CRS cut-offs of the draws. Latest express draw have set the CRS cut-off at 454 points. Once a candidate gets the ITA, they will get the message in their account showing the information about the program they have been invited for and what are the next steps to follow.
If a candidate gets the ITA, they have the option to refuse the ITA. If candidate refuse the ITA, their profile is again sent into the express pool. If the candidates have not declined the ITA and not have submitted their application for PR visa within 60 days, then the ITA will be expired and also their profile will be removed from the express pool.
In case the candidate is not able to get the ITA within a time period of 12 months, then their profile will be expired and removed from the express pool.
