Permanent Residence
EXPRESS ENTRY
Express Entry is a system that allows to apply for Permanent Residence under one of the following three federal economic immigration programs: Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades, Canadian Experience Class.
Federal Skilled Worker
The FSW category is for skilled workers, who may become permanent residents based on their ability to become economically established in Canada, and who intend to reside in a province other than Quebec.
A “skilled worker” is a foreign national who has worked in 1 of these National Occupational Classification TEER categories: TEER 0, TEER 1, TEER 2, and TEER 3.
Federal Skilled Trades
The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) is for people who want to become permanent residents based on being qualified in a skilled trade. Skilled trades for the Federal Skilled Trades Program are organized under these groups of the National Occupational Classification (NOC):
(1) Major Group 72 – technical trades and transportation officers and controllers (excluding Sub-Major Group 726, transportation officers and controllers)
(2) Major Group 73 – general trades
(3) Major Group 82 – supervisors in natural resources, agriculture and related production
(4) Major Group 83 – occupations in natural resources and related production
(5) Major Group 92 – processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors, and utilities operators and controllers
(6) Major Group 93 – central control and process operators and aircraft assembly assemblers and inspectors, excluding Sub-Major Group 932, aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors
(7) Minor Group 6320 – cooks, butchers and bakers
(8) Unit Group 62200 – chefs
Canadian Experience Class
The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is for skilled workers who have Canadian work experience and want to become permanent residents. A foreign national is not eligible for the Canadian Experience Class if:
(1) he/she is a refugee claimant in Canada
(2) he/she is working without authorization
(3) work experience was gained without temporary resident status in Canada
Skilled work experience means work experienced gained in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 of National Occupational Classification (NOC).
The Express Entry system consists of the following steps:
(1) Evaluating your chances for one of the Express Entry programs
(2) Creating your Express Entry profile
(3) Submitting your Express Entry profile
(4) Your profile will be raked based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).
(5) Receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Permanent Residence if you scored enough points on the Comprehensive Ranking System
(6) Apply for Permanent Residence within 60 (sixty) days of receiving an ITA.
PROVINCIAL NOMINEE PROGRAMS (“PNPs”)
Provincial Nominee Programs (“PNPs”) are run by provinces/ territories to nominate qualified workers, graduates and experienced business professionals for Permanent Resident status, provided they will work and live as Permanent Residents in the nominating province/territory. Each province/territory sets minimum eligibility requirements for nomination.
Please note, receiving a nomination from a province/territory does not grant Permanent Residency in Canada. Once an applicant for PNP is approved by the province and receives a nomination, he/she must apply for Permanent Residence to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which will make the final decision.
A foreign national can qualify under a PNP by proceeding through either (1) through Express Entry or (2) by applying directly to the Provincial Nomination Program:
(1) Apply through Express Entry
(2) Apply directly to the PNP
A foreign national should apply directly to the province/territory for nomination under a non-Express Entry stream. If he/she meets the minimum eligibility requirements of the province/territory, the province/territory will issue a certificate of nomination, which the applicant must submit to IRCC along with the application for permanent residence, including all the necessary documents.
Please note, when applying directly to the PNP, application processing times are longer than through Express Entry.
FAMILY SPONSORSHIP
The following members of family class can be sponsored:
• spouses, common law partners, and conjugal partners
A “common law partner” (also known as a “common law spouse”) is a person who is cohabiting with the person in a conjugal relationship for at least 1 year; the year of cohabiting must be a continuous 12-month period.
A “conjugal partner” is a person outside Canada who has had a binding relationship with the sponsor for at least one year but who did not live together continuously for one year, usually because of legal or social obstacles, such as a separation due to war, natural disasters, and other extreme circumstances.
• dependent children
A “dependent child” is the child who is:
(i) is less than 22 years of age and is not a spouse or common-law partner, or
(ii) is 22 years of age or older and has depended substantially on the financial support of the parent since before attaining the age of 22 years and is unable to be financially self-supporting due to a physical or mental condition.
• children intended for adoption
• parents, grandparents, and their dependent children
• brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, and grandchildren who are orphaned, who are under 18, and who are not a spouse or common law partner
• any relative, if the sponsor is alone in Canada without family members and has none of the above family members to sponsor.
The following family members cannot be sponsored:
(1) the foreign national applicant is the sponsor’s spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner and is under 18 years of age;
(2) the sponsor is already sponsoring a spouse, common law partner, or conjugal partner, and the undertaking has not ended;
(3) the foreign national is the sponsor’s spouse and
(4) the sponsor or the foreign national at the time of their marriage was the spouse of another person;
(5)the sponsor has lived separate and apart from the applicant for at least one year and is either (A) the common law partner of another person or the conjugal partner of another foreign national, or (B) the applicant is the common law partner of another person or the conjugal partner of another sponsor; or
(6) the marriage was performed without both spouses being physically present.
(7) the applicant was a non-accompanying family member of the sponsor and was not examined when the sponsor previously applied to Canada as a permanent resident.
To qualify as a “sponsor,” a person must:
(1) be either a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident,
(2) be at least 18 years old,
(3) reside in Canada (see the exception* below),
(4) prove that you are not receiving social assistance for reasons other than a disability,
(5) be able to show that you can provide basic needs for himself/herself, his/her spouse or partner, his/her spouse or partner’s dependent child(ren) (if applicable), his/her dependent child(ren) (if sponsoring only his/er dependent child)
(6) file an application to sponsor a member of the family class.
*Generally, the sponsor must reside in Canada. An exception is made when a Canadian citizen residing outside Canada satisfies immigration officials that he will resume residence in Canada when the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident. However, permanent residents, while living abroad, may not sponsor.
A person cannot be a “sponsor” if he/she:
(1) is in default on an immigration loan or a performance bond
(2) did not pay court-ordered alimony or child support
(3) has declared bankruptcy which has not been discharged
(4) were convicted of an offence of a sexual nature, a violent crime, an offence against a relative that caused bodily harm or threatened or attempted to commit any of the above offences
(5) are sponsoring a spouse or partner and you were previously sponsored as a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner and became a permanent resident of Canada less than five years ago,
(6) are under a removal order,
(7) are in a penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison,
(8) have already applied to sponsor your current spouse or partner and haven’t received a decision.