Tag: Express Entry Draw

Lowest Express Entry Score in 16 months: 440 for CEC!! Don’t Wait, Act Now!

Author: Cassandra Fultz, RCIC Date: 2020/05/28

On May 28th, 2020, we saw the lowest CRS score regarding Invitations to Apply (ITA) since January 30th, 2019 via the Express Entry system. Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 3515 ITAs only for applicants who are eligible under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). The CRS points of the lowest candidate invited was 440! Yes, I will say it again, 440!

This comes as great news to many applicants who have been disheartened by the ever-increasing CRS score over the last 20 months.

Why are the CRS Points Continuing to Drop?

There are several reasons why the CRS score has continued to drop during the global pandemic. As many of the education assessment credential organizations have either temporarily closed or are operating at a reduced capacity, potential candidates who would normally have a CRS score between 450 – 475, are unable to have their credentials evaluated, therefore they are unable to create an express entry profile and enter into the pool

Furthermore, as the majority of CELPIP and IELTS test centers are temporary closed, this also means that candidates who would expect a high CRS score cannot take a language proficiency exam, therefore they cannot create an Express Entry profile and enter into the pool.

Another important reason why the CRS points have dropped significantly is that IRCC have temporarily paused issuing ITAs under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW).

What Does This Mean For Me?

During the last two years, many applicants who are eligible for the Canadian Experience Class but did not have enough CRS points to receive an invitation, have since left Canada as their status had come to an end. Many of these people have CRS scores ranging from 430-450, and DID NOT submit a profile and/or renew their profile as they thought it was a lost cause.

You do not need to be physically present in Canada or working in Canada to apply under the Canadian Experience Class if you are eligible. Furthermore, if your one year of Canadian work experience in a skilled occupation was within the last THREE years, YOU ARE STILL ELIGIBLE TO APPLY UNDER THE CEC, as long as you meet the other eligibility criteria under the program.

So this means, that if you had at least 1 year of qualifying Canadian experience within the last three years AND you took your language proficiency exam within the last two years, but you did not have enough points to receive an ITA and have since left Canada, there has never been a better opportunity to receive an Invitation to apply for permanent residence by submitting an Express Entry Profile.

What Do I Do Next?

If you think that you’re one of these people, we highly recommend that you submit an Express Entry profile immediately because as soon as the language test centers reopen, ECA organizations resume normal service standards AND IRCC resume issuing ITAs under the FSW program, the CRS points will inevitably increase again.

The Time to Act is Now!

Please contact us to schedule a consultation to assess whether you are eligible and have remained eligible under the Canadian Experience Class.

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Tags: Canadian Experience Class, Express Entry, Express Entry Draw

Top 5 Mistakes When Creating an Express Entry Profile

Author: Cassandra Fultz, RCIC Date: 2020/05/24

Common Express Entry Mistakes

Many people come to us stating that they have created an Express Entry Profile and afterwards their profile has been found “ineligible” or they thought they should have received more CRS points. This is very common, and the reason for this is one of two things:

They do not meet the minimum eligibility criteria of any of the four economic programs, Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), Federal Skilled Trades (FST) or the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
They have made an error when entering their information into the profile.

1. Creating Your Profile Before Assessing if You Are Eligible to Apply

Before you create your profile, you must first assess whether you are eligible to do so by checking the minimum requirements of the CEC, FSW, FST or PNP. Since the introduction of Express Entry, many people only look at their points total and do not look to see if they are actually eligible to apply. There is no use in calculating CRS points if you are not eligible to apply.

2. Creating Profile Before You Receive Your ECA

When creating your profile, you will be required to enter information regarding your education. If your education was obtained OUTSIDE of Canada you will need to have your foreign credential assessed by a designated organization. This is called an Education Credential Assessment (ECA). In your profile, the system will ask you to enter your ECA document number, the organization who issued the ECA, date of issue and the Canadian equivalency.

If you do not have an ECA before you create your profile, you will not be awarded CRS points. Furthermore, your profile may be deemed ineligible if you were applying under the FSW as the system will think that you do not have the necessary education to meet the minimum criteria.

3. Entering Non Eligible Work Under “Work History” Section

When entering your work history, you only need to enter the work experience you intend to use to meet the minimum eligibility criteria and to receive the maximum CRS points available to you. You do not need to enter every job you have ever had. Remember, you will only be able to claim work experience that falls under skill level 0, A or B in the National Occupation Classification Matrix (NOC). Also, you cannot claim work experience that took place more than 10 years ago.

4. Not Re-Submitting Profile After You Make a Change

After your profile is created and submitted, you can make changes to it at any time, as long as you have not received an Invitation to Apply (ITA). Let’s say for instance, that you want to enter more work experience. After you have entered the additional work experience information, you MUST select continue and resubmit your profile. If you do not re-submit the profile after making changes, the system will not acknowledge the new information and you will not be awarded the additional points, if applicable.

5. Manual Error

Manual error is the most common reason that profiles are deemed ineligible and/or the applicant did not receive the maximum CRS points that were available to them. Make sure, that you double check the information you have entered before submitting the profile. After you submit your profile you should also immediately check the status of your profile, especially the CRS points total. If you did not receive the points you should have received you can enter your profile to see if there is a manual error.

Should you need advice or guidance before you submit your profile, please contact us for a consultation.

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Tags: Canadian Experience Class, Express Entry, Express Entry Draw, Federal Skilled Trades, Federal Skilled Worker

EXPRESS ENTRY DRAW- CRS DROPS AGAIN!

Author: Cassandra Fultz, RCIC Date: 2020/05/04

On April 30th, 2020, IRCC issued 3311 Invitations to apply via Express Entry for the Canadian Experience Class. The lowest CRS score was 452, which makes this particular draw one of the lowest since May 2019. This is the third consecutive round of invitations were only applicants under the CEC have been invited. The only other category where IRCC continues to issue invitations is the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

What does this mean for you?

Although this is welcoming news to eligible candidates under the CEC, candidates overseas, who are only eligible for the Federal Skilled Worker category will be left frustrated, as there has not been any invitations issued for the FSW category since March 4, 2020 predominantly due to Covid-19 pandemic. One of the main reasons IRCC have continued issuing invitations for the CEC category is that 99% of all eligible candidates are currently in Canada.

Act Now

Given this news of further decrease in CRS points, any candidates, who are eligible for the CEC but did not submit a profile because they were disheartened by the continuous draws of 470 and above, should immediately submit their profile while the points continue to decrease. It is important to know, that when IRCC resumes issuing invitations to apply under “no program specified”, which also includes eligible candidates under the Federal Skilled Worker program, the CRS points will more, than likely begin to increase.

There has been no update from IRCC as to when they will resume issuing invitations for eligible candidates on the FSW or the FST category.

Let us Help

If you have received an invitation to apply (ITA), Doherty Fultz Immigration continues to offer our Express Entry application review service, where one of our professionals will review your application before you submit, to ensure that you meet the eligibility, minimum CRS points score and that all of the documents you intend to upload meet the mandatory criteria.

Tags: Express Entry Draw