You’ve received an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian Permanent Residency, now what?
Successful candidates under Express Entry receive an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence. ITAs are issued every two weeks.
You must accept your ITA within 60 days of receiving your ITA notification. All supporting documentation must be submitted within this time frame. If you miss the deadline, your application will expire. You will need to submit a new Express Entry profile and be accepted into the pool again to be considered for future round of invitations. To re-enter the pool, candidates will still have to meet the minimum criteria.
Once you receive an ITA, you will need to submit a completed Permanent Residence application to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The following documents must be submitted with your application:
- Valid passport
- Birth certificate
- Language test results
- Documentation supporting your work experience
- Police clearance certificate(s)
- Upfront medical receipt
- Photographs of principal applicant and family members
Depending on the program under which you received your ITA, you may need the following:
- Canadian Education Credential or Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)
- Letter of attestation
- Official transcripts of post-secondary education study program courses taken
- Secondary education documents
- Original letter from a Canadian employer indicating an offer of arranged employment
- Proof of family relationship(s) in Canada
- Proof of settlement funds
- Legal documents showing changes in name or birth
- Marriage certificate(s)
- Signed statutory declaration of common-law union and documents attesting to cohabitation for a period of at least 12 months
- Divorce or annulment certificate(s)
- Death certificate(s) for former spouse(s) or common law partner(s)
- Children’s birth certificates
- Adoption papers
- Proof of full custody of children
- Travel documents (non-passport)
- Certified copy of a certificate of qualification in a skilled trade occupation issued by a Canadian provincial/territorial authority
- Copies of work contracts and/or pay stubs
- Documents relating to income taxation
If your circumstances negatively impact your eligibility since you received your ITA, you are encouraged to decline the ITA. Declining your invitation will not have a negative effect on whether you could be invited to apply at a later date. However, there is no guarantee that you will receive another invitation to apply at a later date.
Examples of changes in circumstances that would impact your Comprehensive Ranking Score are listed below:
Changes that could increase your Comprehensive Ranking Score
- Graduation from a higher level of schooling
- Reaching an additional year of Canadian work experience
- Obtaining a certificate of qualification
- Improved language test scores.
Changes that could decrease your Comprehensive Ranking Score
- New language test score sat a lower level (e.g., original scores expire and candidate retakes the test, with lower results);
- Loss of a qualifying offer of arranged employment.
Changes that could either increase or decrease a candidate's CRS score:
- Addition of a spouse or common-law partner, since an applicant’s CRS score may increase or decrease, depending on the spouse or partner’s own human capital.
Changes for which you are not penalized for losing points:
- When your birthday occurs after an ITA was issued.
