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Have you ever thought about immigrating to Canada, but aren't sure if you're eligible?
Express Entry is the most common Canadian permanent residence program for skilled workers. Find out if it's a good fit for you!
What Is Express Entry?
Express Entry is an immigration program that:
Is for skilled workers ✅
Offers permanent residence ✅ (which means being able to live anywhere in Canada, work for any company, access health and educational services, include family members in the application, and ultimately progress towards citizenship)
Is an online, points-based program ✅
Takes 4-6 months for 80% of applicants ✅
Did you know?
Express Entry Programs
There are three programs, each with slightly different requirements.
Canadian Experience Class: for those with skilled work experience in Canada.
Federal Skilled Worker Program: for those with skilled work experience abroad.
Federal Skilled Trades Program: for those with experience in the trades.
How Does The Express Entry Program Work?
Immigration Canada invites applicants every 2 weeks. 📅
Applicants are assessed based on their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score.
The CRS score is calculated out of a maximum of 1,200 points and is based on factors like your age, education, language skills, and work experience.
Knowing your CRS score will help you see whether you have a good chance of being invited!
Am I Eligible For Express Entry?
There are two things you’ll need in order to decide if Express Entry is right for you – your eligibility and CRS score. For eligibility there are a few factors based on which program you’re interested in.
Work Experience:
Federal Skilled Worker program: 1 year of continuous, paid work experience in a skilled role
Canadian Experience Class: 1 year of paid work experience in a skilled role (within the last 3 years, does not have to be continuous)
Federal Skilled Trades program: 2 years of paid work experience in a skilled trade, in the last 5 years
Other Factors
Again, depending on your program, you'll also need:
a minimum score on a language exam
if applying under the Federal Skilled Worker program, at least a high school diploma or equivalent
Quiz
Johnny is 26 years old, and has a bachelor's degree. He worked for 7 months continuously in Sweden as an accountant, then moved to Canada and worked for another 10 months continuously in finance. Is Johnny eligible for any of the Express Entry programs?
Unfortunately, Johnny does not meet the qualifications for any of the EE programs.
Take Action
Aim for a CRS in the mid to high 400s. Your score can change over time, and remember the higher the better!
Use the government of Canada score calculator here.
Hope this helps!
That's it, hope you found this helpful. To learn more about Express Entry or other ways to move to Canada, make sure to check out Visto.ai
This Byte has been authored by
Josh Schachnow
Immigration lawyer, CEO @Visto.ai