IRCC made changes to the Express Entry System

By: Law Office of Jeff Jiehui Li

As of June 6, 2017, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) made a few changes to the Express Entry program. More Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points are awarded for candidates with strong French language skills with additional points for those who have siblings in Canada.

Applicants under the Express Entry program can score up to a total of 1,200 points, dependent on their work skill, education, work experience, language ability, etc. Candidates that meet the requirements of the Express Entry program will be invited into a pool and may be invited to apply for permanent residence according to their CRS score.

The Express Entry system will now award up to 30 additional points to those that score higher than Level 7 on the French Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) test in addition to the English Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) test. If the candidate does not take the English test or receives lower than Level 4 on the English test, then the candidate will get 15 additional points. If the candidate scores higher than Level 5 on all sections of the test (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), then the candidate will be awarded the maximum amount of additional points.

The points system also awards candidates with additional points if they have siblings in Canada. If the sibling is 18 years old or older, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and related by blood, marriage, common-law partnership, or adoption, then the candidate may be qualified to be awarded up to 15 additional points.

Changes have also been made to the ranking of candidates in the program. Candidates were previously ranked according to their CRS score. With the implementation of the new changes, candidates will be ranked according to their CRS score and the submission date and time. This means that those who apply earlier will be ranked higher than others with a tied score that submitted their application later.

If you need more information about the latest changes or your immigration case, please contact the Law Office of Jeff Jiehui Li today.

 

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