Canada is one of the most aspired immigration destinations in the world. Every year, many Indians migrate to Canada for a better lifestyle, better future for their families, education opportunities, and to get benefitted from its large economy.

Canada welcomes immigrants from all over the world with skills and experience that will benefit their economy as well. To make the migration process easy, the Canada government or IRCC (Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada) introduced a point-based Permanent Residency program or the Federal Express Entry Immigration System in 2015. With the introduction of this system, the Canada Permanent Resident Visa applications can get processed in just six months.

Benefits of a PR Visa in Canada

Migrating to Canada from India has become a relatively easier process over the past few years. Since Canada ranks among the top countries in the world based on the quality of life, it attracts a lot of people to shift permanently.

Also, IRCC has lenient immigration policies and favorable settings for permanent residency for families.

The Canadian Permanent Residency Visa allows the holder and their immediate family to get the following benefits-

• It allows the visa holder to live, work, and study in Canada permanently.
• It allows them to enter or leave the country without the need for any other visa.
• PR Visa holders in Canada can get access to the medical facilities available there.
• Children of the Visa holders can access the Canadian Education System.
• It also allows them to own property rights.
• Besides, PR Visa holders in Canada can also convert their permanent visa to full Canadian Citizenship.

Express Entry system for Canada Migration

Express Entry System is a competitive immigration system that evaluates all the eligible applicants on certain criteria to choose the best among them to apply for Canadian permanent resident status. The express entry system has federal economic immigration programs, under which the candidate has to fulfill the eligibility criteria. 

These immigration programs are-

• The Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC)
• The Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
• The Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC)

The eligible candidates are required to submit an Express Entry profile that acts as an Expression of Interest (EOI) that will be scored, and the candidate will be ranked. The ranking score is based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), out of 1200 points.

Migrating to Canada- Eligibility Criteria

There are different eligibility criteria for the above mentioned Express Entry Immigration programs. However, all these programs require the candidate to have at least one year of skilled work experience, and a certain level of proficiency on an approved language test in either English or French. Canada also monitors all the candidates for any medical history or criminal record, which can lead to the cancelation of the application. 

The other eligibility criteria are as follows-

• Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) from an approved assessing body.
• IELTS Test (or any approved French test) result for English proficiency with minimum band score 6 in all the sections.
• The candidate needs to score a minimum of 67 points under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) category of express entry.
• They need to provide a medical certificate and PCC as and when required.
• Other requirements and documents are based on the program a candidate is applying for.

Migrating to Canada- Steps to Migrate

The candidate needs to follow these steps to migrate to Canada from India-

• Appear for the IELTS exam.
• Register and create a profile in the online Express Entry System, mentioning your details, work experience, education, language skills, etc.
• Get an Educational Credential Assessment evaluation from an authentic assessing board.
• Get an Invitation to apply from IRCC. The candidate needs to arrange the documents for the same.
• Submit the PR visa application along with the required documents within 60 days of receiving an ITA.
• The required documents can be broadly categorized as-
  • Work Experience authentication
  • Documents relating to proof of funds
  • Medical Certification
  • Certificate of Police verification
• Submit medical test results and PCC.
• If the application and documents are verified and deemed correct, the visa will be approved.

Once the Permanent Residency Visa has been given to the immigrant, it is valid for an infinite period as long as the holder accumulates two years of residency in every five years.