Immigration Corner | Express entry requirements

Dear Miss Powell,

Thank you for all those useful articles about the Canadian immigration system. They have really helped me with my application. I am now in the express entry pool and my score is 448 and so I expect that I will soon get an invitation to apply for permanent residence. When I applied, they didn’t ask for any documents. I’m trying to get myself ready, but I don’t know what to expect. A friend said that she didn’t get a checklist until late and she almost missed the deadline. Can you please tell me what documents they will need so that I can be prepared? Thank you for all your help.

JC

Dear JC,

I am pleased to hear from readers who let me know that my articles have helped them. Congratulations on being accepted into the express entry pool and for having such a high Comprehensive Ranking Score (CRS). Let us keep our fingers crossed that they will select you in the next draw.

Requirements

Once you receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence (ITA) from the Canadian immigration authorities, you will have 60 days in which to complete the application. You must ensure that you do not miss this deadline. At this point, you will need to provide more details about yourself and family members and other background information. This will include the full name and addresses of all your close relatives such as your spouse, children, parents and siblings, whether they are alive or deceased.

Additionally, you will need to provide full details of your personal history for the past 10 years. The required information will be your addresses, activities, whether employed or unemployed and the country that these activities took place. You cannot leave gaps in time, as you will not be able to continue to the next stage of the application. A list of documents will be provided at the end, which will be based on the answers you provided. These substantiating documents must be uploaded as these documents will be used to verify your answers and to conduct a background check.

You must be extremely careful about the answers that you provide, as failure to provide the correct information could lead to a five-year ban for misrepresentation.

Document Checklist

I will now outline some of the standard documents that are required. Proof of employment and work experience is a fundamental part of the application. Therefore, you are required to submit employment letters for every place that you have worked in the last 10 years. This letter must be an official document printed on company letterhead. It should clearly state your correct name, your job title, duties and the exact dates that you served the company. It should also state whether it is a full-time or part-time position and the number of hours you worked for the week. It should also include your annual salary and benefits. The letter should also include the company’s address, telephone, email address and the signature of your immediate supervisor or responsible officer. Self-employed persons will need to provide more detailed information so that their information can be verified.

Financial Profile

Your financial profile is important, especially if you are applying under one of the economic programmes. You are required to submit an official letter issued by your financial institution and it must provide details of your financial profile. This letter must list all your bank accounts, investments, outstanding debts, loans and credit cards. It must also state when the account was opened, the name or names on the bank account and the balance over the past six months.

Upfront Medical.

Once you have the ITA letter, you will be required to do a medical exam with one of the approved doctors. Your doctor will provide you with an Emedical form or an information print-out sheet or the IMM 1017B Upfront Medical Report form, that you must upload to your profile.

Relatives and other information.

If you have family members that you are including in your application, such as a spouse or children, you will be required to provide proof of the relationship. Proof can include a marriage certificate, birth certificate, a statutory declaration of common-law relationship form and any other document that can establish the relationship. If you use another name that is different from the one in your passport, you must provide information on the use of this other name. This may take the form of a letter of explanation or a legal document of a name change or adoption.

You will need to upload a digital photograph based on the specifications given by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada at the time. Additionally, you must submit a police report from your home country and for all the places that you have lived or visited for six months or more. So, if you have lived outside of your home country, you should apply for a police report now, as some countries take a long time to submit a report.

If you are using an authorised representative, you must provide a completed use of representative form (IMM5476). You may select only one person to be your representative, whether paid or unpaid.

This list is not exhaustive, so I recommend that you contact an authorised Canadian immigration lawyer to guide you further.

Deidre S. Powell is a lawyer, mediator and notary public with office located in Ottawa, Ontario. Submit your questions and comments to Email: info@deidrepowell.com Subject line: Immigration Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Tel:613-695-8777/ 876-922-4092.