Invitation To Apply For Permanent Residence

Express Entry candidates who received an Invitation To Apply (ITA) for Permanent Residence from Canadian immigration, their skills and potential had been recognized by the Canadian government.

Candidates are rewarded with an opportunity for them and accompanying dependent family members to start a new life in Canada.

Invitations to Apply Issued

For an overview of Express Entry draws that have taken place so far, click the button below.

Learn more about the ITA process in the following sections:

• About the ITA
• Obtaining an ITA
• Required documentation
• The 90-day deadline
• Misrepresentation
• Accepting an ITA
• Expiration of an ITA
• Declining an ITA
• The next steps

About the Invitation To Apply for Canadian permanent residence

An Invitation to Apply is offered to any candidate in the Express Entry pool who has been selected to apply for immigration to Canada by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) through the Express Entry immigration system. Invitations to Apply are issued on a priority basis when IRCC performs a draw from the Express Entry pool, which is made up of candidates who are interested in immigrating to Canada.

It is an auto-generated letter issued to Express Entry candidates through their Express Entry profiles.

How candidates may obtain an Invitation to Apply

Only candidates who are qualified to immigrate to Canada by meeting the minimum entry criteria of a federal economic immigration program may enter the Express Entry pool, where they are ranked according to the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The CRS ranks candidates under the following components:

• core human capital factors;
• accompanying spouse or common-law partner factors, if applicable;
• skill transferability factors; and
• factors relating to a provincial nomination, a qualifying offer of arranged employment, or previous study in Canada.
• There is a total of 1,200 points available under the Comprehensive Ranking System.

The government of Canada issues Invitations to Apply to certain candidates in the Express Entry pool according to their ranking by publishing a minimum CRS cut-off score at the time of the draw and notifying those candidates who have been invited to apply for permanent residence.

Documentation required to submit an e-application

All candidates who receive an Invitation to Apply are currently required to submit the following supporting documents along with their application, along with government processing fees:

• Valid passport
• Birth certificate
• Language test results
• Documentation attesting to work experience
• Police clearance certificate(s)
• Upfront medical receipt
• Photographs of principal applicant and family members

Depending on the program under which a candidate was issued an Invitation to Apply and the information provided in his or her Express Entry profile, the following documentation may be required:

• Canadian Education Credential OR Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)
• Letter of attestation
• Official transcripts of post-secondary education study program courses taken
• Secondary education documents
• Original letter from a Canadian employer indicating an offer of arranged employment
• Proof of family relationship(s) in Canada
• Proof of settlement funds
• Legal documents showing changes in name or date of birth
• Marriage certificate(s)
• Signed Statutory Declaration of Common-law Union and documents attesting to cohabitation for a period of at least 12 months
• Divorce or annulment certificate(s)
• Death certificate(s) for former spouse(s) or common-law partner(s)
• Children’s birth certificates
• Adoption papers
• Proof of full custody for children
• Travel documents (non-passport)
• Certified copy of a certificate of qualification in a skilled trade occupation issued by a Canadian provincial/territorial authority
• Copies of work contracts and/or pay stubs
• Documents relating to income taxation

The 90-day deadline

Note: As of November 19, 2016, candidates have 90 days to apply after they receive an ITA, rather than 60 days, as was previously the case.

Please note that from the date the ITA is issued there is a 90-day period in which to apply and submit all supporting documents. IRCC has indicated that no extensions will be granted.

Because of this limited time period, candidates are encouraged to begin collecting these documents and ensuring they are in good order before an Invitation to Apply for Canadian permanent residence is issued. If a candidate misses the 90-day deadline, the Invitation to Apply for permanent residence that was issued to him or her is no longer valid and he or she will have to re-enter the Express Entry pool.

The government has now reduced that time limit to 60 days. This change takes effect on June 26, 2018. Anyone who received ITA before June 26, is still covered by the 90 days deadline to submit the Electronic Applications for Permanent Residency or EAPR.

Misrepresentation

If the information provided by the potential candidate turns out to be false, this is known as misrepresentation and, depending on the nature and rigidness of the false claim, carries penalties. The purpose of the misrepresentation provisions is to ensure that applicants provide complete, honest, and truthful information in every manner when applying for entry into Canada, and to ensure the integrity of Canadian immigration programs.

A potential candidate who has been found to have provided false information going into the Express Entry pool can be banned from re-entering the pool for five years. It is very important to provide accurate and correct information always.

An applicant may be found inadmissible to Canada due to misrepresentation for directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the processing of his or her application. The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the application is truthful and that the supporting documents are genuine, and he or she may be found to have misrepresented him or herself whether or not that misrepresentation was intentional.

Accepting an Invitation to Apply

The original profile information will remain for 90 days after the Invitation to Apply is issued. Candidates will have this length of time to submit a complete and accurate application along with all supporting documents. The submission of the complete application is considered the acceptance.

Once all portions of the document checklist are uploaded and complete, applicants are given the option to submit an application. The option to submit is not available until after all fields are accounted for. An Acknowledgment of Receipt (AOR) will be automatically issued once the file is submitted. IRCC will review the application and determine whether or not it is both complete and eligible. IRCC aims to complete this process within six months of the applicant having submitted his or her application.

Expiration of an Invitation to Apply

If no application is made by that time, it will be deleted. Candidates who do not decline an Invitation to Apply and who do not apply within 90 days will see that the Invitation to Apply will expire. At this point, candidates who still wish to immigrate to Canada through Express Entry will have to complete and submit a new Express Entry profile and be accepted to the pool again in order to be considered in future rounds of invitations. To re-enter the pool, candidates will have to still meet the minimum criteria.

Declining an Invitation to Apply

Candidates who decide to decline an Invitation to Apply will have their profiles placed back into the Express Entry pool to be considered in future rounds of invitations, as long as they still meet the minimum criteria of a federal economic immigration program.

There is no guarantee that candidates will receive another Invitation to Apply at a later date. Declining an invitation, however, will not have a negative effect on whether or not candidates could be invited to apply at a later date.