IRCC Holds April’s First Express Entry Draw
Another Express Entry Draw was conducted by IRCC, in which 3,500 invitations to apply (ITAs) were issued to candidates across all programs. The Minimum Comprehensive Ranking System cut-off score was 486, and the draw included candidates from the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP).
April’s first draw comes after three consecutive draws that invited 7,000 candidates each. In the March 29 draw, the CRS cut-off score was 481, the lowest since December 2020.
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PGWP Extension Now Available
PGWPs are open work permits granted to international students upon graduating from a Canadian post-secondary institution. If students fail to receive an ITA before their PGWP expires, they become ineligible to apply for permanent residency. Consequently, this could lead to costly and time-consuming options, such as obtaining a visitor card or an alternative work permit.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser recently announced that PGWP holders could apply for an 18-month open work permit extension starting April 6 to assist them.
Express Entry Definition
Established in 2015. Express Entry is a program designed to manage applications. By objectively evaluating highly-skilled economic immigrants based on various criteria, such as work experience, age, occupation, education, and language ability, among other human capital factors. These factors are scored and ranked using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS)… Candidates with a higher CRS score have a better chance of receiving an invitation to apply (ITAs) for permanent residence.
Upon receiving an ITA, candidates have 60 days to submit their final application to IRCC. An officer will evaluate the application to determine whether the candidate is approved for permanent residency.
Exceptional Month for Express Entry
March was an unprecedented month for Express Entry, with IRCC conducting four draws and issuing a total of 21,667 ITAs. Although this was the second-highest number of ITAs issued in a month since Express Entry’s inception in January 2015, the record still remains with February 2021, when IRCC issued 27,332 ITAs in a single draw focused on Canadian Experience Class candidates.
If you want to be one of the invitees of permanent residency, fill out our Free Assessment form and evaluate your chances of immigrating to Canada.
