Submit Initial Express Entry Application

Well, you have made it through the tough parts and are one step closer to your dream of living in Canada! Now that you have your final IELTS score and ECA completed, it is time to file the initial application to enter the Express Entry Pool. Once you are in the EE pool, you will be eligible in every draw that CIC conducts, usually once every 2 weeks. If you meet the cutoff for a draw, you will be sent an Invitation to Apply (ITA) at which point you will have to provide your detailed documents for the final application. Ready for the next step?

Let’s get started on the initial application. The application is very similar to what you had completed when testing out your eligibility earlier in the process, so we will use that.

Step 1: Open this and click on “Check your Eligibility”

Step 2: Fill out the forms step-by-step:

• Q1: Which province or territory do you plan to live in?
  • Ontario (where Toronto is) and British Columbia (which has Vancouver) are the most common destinations. Read up on the various Provinces here and pick one
• Q2: Canada’s official languages are English and French. You need to submit language test results for all programs under Express Entry, even if English or French is your first language. Which language test did you take for your first official language?
  • Pick IELTS since you already have the score. If you decided to go with CELPIP, pick that here
• Q3: What date did you take this test?
  • Pick the date of the test you took
• Q4: Enter the test scores
  • Enter your scores for Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing here
• Q5: Do you have other language results? Which language test did you take for your second official language?
  • If you have a second language test result, select it here. Else, pick “None”
• Q6: In the last three years, how many years of skilled work experience do you have in Canada? It must have been full-time (or an equal amount in part time)
  • Enter the number of years you worked in Canada (this has to be full-time)
• Q7: During this period, which National Occupation Classification (NOC) level is most of the experience in? If you do not have any Canadian work experience during this period, please choose “None of the above”
  • Pick your NOC code. If you are not sure, look here

Step 3: Once you have complete this questionnaire, on the next page, you get confirmation of your eligibility to apply. Also, at the top of the page you will find your personal reference code. Save this code safely, as you will need this to start applying!

Step 4: Now that you have the personal reference code, it’s time to open a new Canada.ca account. Go here and click on “Continue to GCKey” to start registering an account.

Step 5: Fill out a username, password and questions to complete your registration. Please save this information as you will need them in every step of the process. This includes the questions and answers!

Step 6: At this point, you should be able to login to your immigration account here

Step 7: Near the bottom on the left on your account homepage, click on “Apply to come to Canada”. Enter your personal reference code here to get started.

At this point, you have successfully started the application process. Next step is to fill out the application and start getting the documents uploaded. Look out for the next post to explain the process!

Thanks for reading!

The Eagles