Canada to resume Express Entry- FSW, CEC, and FST draws in Early July

In a recent announcement, Sean Fraser, the minister of Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has confirmed that the IRCC will resume the Federal High Skilled (i.e. FSW/CEC/FST) draws of Express Entry system in early July 2022. The applicants, registered under these categories are desperately waiting for an all-program draw, which can issue ITA (Invitation to Apply) for Canadian Permanent Residency (PR) Visa. For last few months, the IRCC is holding draws only for the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) category candidates. Find out more about this latest update.

All Program Express Entry draws to resume in July

The processing time of overseas applications delayed due to the travel restrictions during most of 2020 and 2021, which in turn led to a rise in the size of the processing inventory. Now, to manage this huge backlog, the IRCC temporarily paused issuing ITAs under the federal high-skilled streams (i.e. Canadian experience class, federal skilled worker class and federal skilled trade class).

However, as per the latest update from Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the ITAs (Invitations to Apply) will now resume in early July, and it further assures processing the huge majority of new applications within the 6-month service standard.

Application backlog reduced drastically

Courtesy temporary pause, the federal high-skilled application backlog cut by more than half, declining from roughly 111,900 people in September 2021 to just 48,000 people by March 2022. This backlog of applications will be further decline by July 2022, which will likely to allow the IRCC to return to the expected service standards.

Temporary policy for International Students

The Immigration Minister also announced a new provisional policy, which will give fresh international graduates with expiring temporary status a chance to live in Canada longer, helping them continue to gain work experience and have a better opportunity at qualifying for PR (permanent residency) status.

Beginning in summer 2022, ex foreign students who are in Canada and have a post-graduation work permit expiring between January and December 2022 will be eligible for an extra open work permit of up to 18 months. The government is exploring a streamlined, speedy process for this, and details of the same one can find in coming weeks.

Also read- Latest Update- Working on Campus with Canadian Study permit

This extra open work permit will let candidates to continue contributing to the Canadian economy, helping address Canada’s labour shortage while acquiring valuable work experience and preparing their Express Entry profiles.

Double number of PR applications processed in 1st Quarter of 2022

In order to invite increased number of skilled workers to Canada rapidly the IRCC have doubled the number of PR decisions made in the 1st quarter of 2022, compare to the same period last year. Between January 1, 2022 and March 31, 2022, IRCC made over 156,000 final decisions on PR applications and, with these efforts, Canadian government received over 113,000 new permanent residents in the 1st quarter of 2022. The IRCC also processed over 100,000 work permit applications in the 1st quarter of 2022, almost doubling the number processed over the same period last year.

New measures for Temporary to PR pathway

Lastly, the Minister Fraser declared new measures for those who applied for PR via the temporary resident to PR pathway in 2021. The limited-time pathway launched in 2021 to invite a wide range of candidates already working in Canada to apply to live permanently.

Also read- Canada to continue accepting temporary visa & study permit applications online until March 31, 2023

Key announcements by the Immigration Minister

Find below the key announcements by the Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser. The policy changes announced on 22 April, will take effect this summer, which include:

• Candidates will no longer require remaining in Canada while their application is being processed.
• Candidates who apply for an open work permit while waiting for their PR (permanent residence) application to be finalized will be able to get work permits valid until the end of 2024. This will make certain that all PR applications will be finalized before applicants will require applying to extend their temporary status again.
• To support family reunification, immediate family members, staying outside Canada, and who were included in a principal applicant’s PR application will be eligible for their own open work permit.

To get further insight to above updates or to apply for relevant visa in Canada this year, you may call Visas Avenue Canada immigration expert on Toll-Free No. 78-18-000-777 or you can drop us an e-mail at info@visasavenue.com.

- Rajneesh Kumar