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Canada – Federal Express Entry (EE) Application Procedures and Fees

As a prime destination consistently voted among the top 3 countries for its quality of life, Canada offers different visa and immigration options to foreigners who aspire to relocate or settle in Canada on a temporary or permanent basis, alone or with his/her family members. Launched on 1 January 2015, Canada Express Entry is a point-based system for Canada to manage applications from a pool of interested and immigration-ready skilled workers. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) holds multiple rounds of invitations (general, program-specific, or category-based) every month and sends out Invitations to Apply (ITA) to the candidates with the highest scores in the pool. If IRCC invites you to apply, you have 60 days to submit your permanent residence (PR) application. The processing time upon submission of a complete PR file to the IRCC is currently 6 months.

There are 3 federal immigration programs managed through Express Entry:

A. Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW)

• For skilled workers with foreign or Canadian work experience
• Must meet criteria for education and other factors

B. Federal Skilled Trades Program (FWT)

• For skilled workers who are qualified in a skilled trade
• Must have a valid job offer or a certificate of qualification

C. Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

• For skilled workers who have Canadian work experience
• Work experience must be granted within 3 years before application submission

Applicant(s) who are eligible for any of the above programs may also apply under a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), but they are not covered here. If nominated by a PNP, extra points will be awarded towards the applicant’s Express Entry profile, ensuring a faster obtention of the ITA.

1. Handling and Application Fees

Our handling fee for the Canada Express Entry application is CAD5,500, payable in 2 stages: 1) CAD2,500 for profile creation; 2) CAD3,000 upon receipt of Invitation to Apply (ITA). An extra CAD800 will be charged for each dependent visa. In particular, our fees cover the following services:

1. Continuous advice regarding the Canada Express Entry application;
2. Assisting with the preparation of supporting documentation;
3. Reviewing of application documents prepared by the applicant(s);

1. Preparing of authorization letter(s), statements and application form(s);

1. Submitting the Express Entry profile to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC);
2. Liaising with IRCC regarding the application;
3. Application status reporting to the applicant and relevant parties;
4. Coordinating the payment of fees and collection of the approved ITA;
5. Legal representation for the purpose of the permanent residence (PR) application;
6. Submitting the PR application to the IRCC;
7. Process the CoPR and PR visa, where applicable.

Note:

1. The fees quoted are exclusive of the government fees and any surcharges.

For your information and subject to change by IRCC, the Canada Express Entry applicant fee as of October 2024 is as follow:

2. The fees stated exclude document translation fees. Please contact us for a quotation.

3. All applicants need to provide a certified translation of any documents that are not in English or French. Please consult with Kaizen’s visa and immigration professionals for further information of certified Canada translator.

2. Payment Terms and Methods

Upon receipt of your confirmation of engagement, we will issue and send an invoice together with the wiring instructions to you for your settlement. When you arrange the payment, please put our invoice number of account number in the message section and then send email a copy of the remittance receipt to us for our records. Due to the nature of service, we require the advance full payment at each stage as set out in Section 1. Moreover, once the service is commenced, no refund of service fee will be made.

We accept cash, HKD check, TT and credit card through PayPal. An extra handling fee of 5% will be charged if paid by PayPal. If China or Taiwan official tax invoice is required, Value-Added Tax or Business Tax at the prevailing rate in the respective jurisdiction will be charged and collected.

3. Programs Eligibility Under Express Entry

If you are eligible for at least one of the underlying programs managed by Express Entry, and submit your profile, you’ll be given a score and ranked in a pool of skilled worker candidates using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The CRS is an online, point-based system to assess, score and rank applicants’ profile. Candidate(s) can score up to 600 points in the core set and up to 600 in additional points, with a maximum total score of 1,200.

You may calculate your CRS score with this tool, or contact Kaizen’s Mobility and Migration team for a full eligibility assessment.

The IRCC holds multiple rounds of invitations (general, program-specific, or category-based) every month and sends out ITAs to the candidates with the highest scores in the pool. If IRCC invites you to apply, you have 60 days to submit your PR application.

There are 3 federal programs that are managed through Express Entry.

(Many independent provincial nominee programs (PNPs) exist and are integrated into the Express Entry, but they are not covered here. Applicant(s) who are eligible for any of the federal programs and are nominated by a PNP will be awarded extra points towards their Express Entry profile, ensuring a faster obtention of an ITA.)

A. Express Entry Selection under Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW)

This program is for skilled workers with foreign or Canadian work experience who meet a set of requirements and scored criteria. Under the FSW, there are 3 minimum requirements and 6 selection factors. An overall score of selection factors is assigned out of 100. To qualify as an FSW, applicant(s) must score 67 points or higher. Please contact our Kaizen’s Mobility and Migration team for a detailed assessment.

Minimum requirements

1. At least 1 year continuous work experience within the last 10 years in Canada or abroad (combination of part-time, full-time or more than 1 job in your primary occupation). The skilled work experience can be counted in 3 ways:
   

   Full-time at 1 job	30 hours/week for 12 months = 1 year full-time (1,560 hours)
   Equal amount in part-time work:	An equivalent amount of part-time work can be added to fulfill the requirement. E.g. 15 hours/week for 24 months = 1 year full-time (1,560 hours)
   Full-time work at more than 1 job:	30 hours/week for 12 months at more than 1 job = 1 year full-time (1,560 hours)

2. Have work experience in an occupation listed in 1 of the NOC TEER Categories: TEER 0, TEER 1, TEER 2, or TEER 3.
3. Meet the language level of at least CLB 7 or NCLC 7 in all language abilities.
4. Meet secondary education. However, a Canadian OR foreign post-secondary education will be beneficial to applicant(s) who wish to acquire more points in selection factor.

Selection factors

If you meet all the minimum requirements above, your eligibility will then be assessed by the following Selection factors. The current passing mark is 67 points out of 100. These points are different from the points used within the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

1. Age
2. Education
3. Work experience
4. Hold a valid job offer
5. English and/or French language skills
6. Adaptability (settle in Canada)

B. Express Entry Selection under Federal Skilled Trades Program (FST)

This program is for skilled workers who are qualified in a skilled trade and hold a valid job offer or a certificate of qualification. The following are the minimum requirements.

1. Language level for each language ability
   

   Abilities	Language	Minimum level
   Speaking and listening	English	CLB 5
   	French	NCLC 5
   Reading and writing	English	CLB 4
   	French	NCLC 4

2. At least 2 years of full-time work experience or an equal amount of part-time work experience in a skilled trade within the 5 years before submitting the application. Volunteer work or unpaid internships do not count.
3. Meet the job requirement of National Occupational Classification (NOC) except for needing a certificate of qualification. The work experience must be in one of the following skilled trades groups under TEER 2 and 3 categories.
   

   Major Group 72	Industrial, electrical and construction trades
   Major Group 73	Maintenance and equipment operation trades
   Major Group 82	Supervisors and technical jobs in natural resources, agriculture and related production
   Major Group 83	Occupations in natural resources and related production
   Major Group 92	Processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors and central control operators
   Major Group 93	Central control and process operators and aircraft assembly assemblers and inspectors
   Minor Group 6320	Cooks, butchers and bakers
   Unit Group 62200	Chefs

4. Evidence of performing the duties set out in the lead statement of the occupational description in the NOC, including all the essential duties and most of the main duties listed.
5. Hold a valid job offer of full-time employment for a total period of at least 1 year OR certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial or federal authority.
6. There is no education requirement under the FST program. However, a Canadian certificate/diploma/degree OR foreign education credential and Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) will be beneficial to applicant(s) who wish to improve their ranking in the Express Entry pool.

C. Express Entry Selection under Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

This program is for skilled workers who have Canadian work experience gained in the 3 years before applying. The following are the minimum requirements.

1. Language level for each language ability according to the job requirement of Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC)
   

   NOC TEER	Minimum level
   TEER 0 or 1	CLB 7 or NCLC 7
   TEER 2 or 3	CLB 5 or NCLC 5

2. At least 1 year of skilled work experience in Canada in the last 3 years (either combination of full-time or part-time work) before applying. Volunteer work, unpaid internships, self-employment and student work experience do not count.
3. Have skilled work experience in 1 or more NOC TEER categories: TEER 0, TEER 1, TEER 2, and/or TEER 3.
4. Work experience gained by working in Canada while applicant(s) were under temporary resident status with authorization to work. If you are unsure whether your past work experience can be counted, please contact our Kaizen’s Mobility and Migration team for further assessment.
5. Evidence of performing the duties set out in the lead statement of the occupational description in the NOC, including all the essential duties and most of the main duties listed.
6. There is no education requirement under the CEC program. However, a Canadian certificate/diploma/degree OR foreign education credential and Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) will be beneficial to applicant(s) who wish to improve their ranking in the Express Entry pool.

Notes:

1. Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) is the Canadian standard used to describe, measure and recognize English language ability of adult immigrants and prospective immigrants who plan to live and work in Canada, or apply for citizenship. Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) is used to assess abilities in the French language. The language ability tests are writing, reading, listening and speaking.
2. National Occupation Classification (NOC) is a system that identifies and categorizes jobs (occupations) based on the training, education, experience and responsibilities (TEER). For further details about the TEER categories and their descriptions, please refer to this link.