Some investment is required for those who wish to prove their worth and submit an application to the Express Entry system.
Canada’s Express Entry is an electronic system used to manage applications for skilled workers seeking permanent residency (PR) in Canada.
Established in 2015, the Express Entry system (which extends to the Canadian Experience Class Program (CEC), the Federal Skilled Workers Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)) represents a path to immigration, with a massive has been seen in traffic. It has helped many skilled foreign workers become permanent residents of Canada since its inception.
While express entry is one of Canada’s most sought-after routes, there are many costs that come with the process.
Profile submission investment
To assemble a profile for Express Entry candidacy, you may need to include the following:
Passport copy/copy of travel document;
Language tests (French for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP); or Test d’Evaluation de Français por le Canada (TEF) and Test de Consonance du Français (TCF)) – listening, to assess the ability to read, write and speak);
- Proof of Canadian education or an Education Certificate Assessment (ECA) (for those who have studied abroad);
- a provincial nomination paper (if received);
- a written job offer letter from a Canadian employer or proof of work experience or a certificate of competency in a trade business (issued by a Canadian province or territory); And
- Proof of settlement funds (only for FSWP and FSTP candidates who do not have a valid job offer in Canada).
Note: All expenses are listed in Canadian dollars
However, these required documents come with their own fee. For example:
- Language Tests – Prices for these tests are likely to vary depending on whether one is accrediting in English or French (and where one is testing):
The cost of the IELTS test is approximately $300 + taxes, depending on where one is taking the test;
CELPIP test cost is approximately $280 + taxes;
If the applicant needs to cancel or reschedule before test day, the cost of the TEF test is approximately $440 + tax (according to Alliance-Française) with an additional $75 non-refundable fee; And
The cost of the TCF test is approximately $460 + taxes (according to Alliance-Française) and has the same non-refundable fee of $75.
- ECA
If you have studied abroad, an ECA is required to determine how your education compares to Canadian equivalent education.
According to the IRCC, in addition to courier fees, the average cost to obtain an ECA is around $200 – although this depends on which Designated Organization (DO) performs the credential evaluation.
- The ECA uncovered another allegation – the cost of translating documents into English or French.
These costs are incurred if your documents were not initially in French or English. Importantly for IRCC applications to be valid, translations must be accompanied by a board-certified translator.
- Additionally, there are costs that you are not required to bear, but that can be of great benefit to your potential success in the applicant pool.
One of the most important in this regard is hiring an immigration lawyer. While the fee here will vary between different law firms, candidates should expect to pay between $2,000 – $5,000. Although this is an additional fee, the benefits are many: expertise in the immigration location and experiential knowledge of crafting applications to the highest standard; Avoiding unnecessary mistakes and misrepresentation (which can lead to heavy fines, including the suspension of applying for immigration for up to five years); Providing you with time and peace of mind in your immigration process, and even maximizing your potential Comprehensive Ranking Score (CRS) scores. The CRS is the main system by which the majority of Canadian immigrants will be assessed for immigration by the IRCC.
While many of these costs may seem high, immigrants who are accepted into the Express Entry pool, and who receive an invitation to apply (ITA), have a stronger chance of succeeding in the labor market – because of their Acceptance is based on human capital factors that Canadian employers highly value.
The cost of application and success
As cited by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), there are costs associated with processing an application for Express Entry.
The application processing fee for anyone applying is $850. With a spouse, this fee doubles to a total of $1,700. in addition.
Yes, any dependent child will have to pay a fee of $230.
This means a family of three (for example) would only have to pay $1,930 to process their applications.
However, if a family of three is successful in their bid for permanent residence, both adults will have to pay an additional right of permanent residence fee (RPRF) of $515 – raising the total cost to $2,960.
In addition, there are associated fees for assembling an application (along with a myriad of required documents and official papers).