Immigration to Canada is relatively fast compared to many other countries. In 2015, Canada introduced Express Entry that made the whole process go a lot faster. We applied around the end of 2015 through the Express Entry and we landed in August 2016. Prior to that we had heard stories of people waiting for over 2 years to get their PR through the old system, while we got our PR in less than a year from the date the thought of immigration first crossed our minds.
The duration of the overall process can vary from case to case depending on your situation or even your sense of urgency but it is safe to assume that you can get your PR in less than 12 months, subject to meeting certain conditions. Speaking from our own as well as others’ experience, we’ll share how long it takes an average person to complete each step in their journey to PR.
1. Language test and Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) | 2 months
You will need to prepare for your English (or French) language test, the most popular being IELTS and that may take a month or so. Also, there might be a waiting list for the test and the next available slot may be a couple of months away. It takes 13 days to get your test results, so this process should be over in approximately 2 months.
During this time, you can also get your educational credential assessment done by first getting sealed transcripts from your University and then sending them over to an educational credential evaluation agency like World Education Services (WES) for assessment. Your university/school/college may have their own process and timelines may really differ. However, WES normally takes 30 days to assess your degrees, so you can get this entire process done in 2 months, hoping that your university cooperates.
After 2 months or so, you should have your IELTS test scores and your ECA report completed and ready to be submitted.
2. Creating Express Entry profile and waiting for ITA | ½ month
Next, you will be creating an Express Entry profile and that takes only a few hours. You will need to enter your IELTS test scores and your ECA evaluation in this step. Once the profile is created, you may get an Invitation to Apply (ITA) within 2 weeks if your CRS score is good enough.
3. Submitting your application | 1 to 2 months
Once you receive your ITA, you will have up to 60 days to submit your application but you can submit as soon as you want. It all depends on how fast you can arrange the documents that are required and get the medical tests, police check, etc. done. We did ours in about 50 days.
4. Application processing | 6 months
Once your application is submitted, it will be reviewed by an immigration officer and you can sit back and relax for a while now. IRCC processes most of the applications in under 6 months and ours got processed in 4 months and 20 days. This timeline can vary a lot and we have seen some applications getting processed in under 2 months and some taking 8 months. If your application is successful, you will get a Confirmation of PR (COPR) and then you can land in Canada as soon as you want.
Why it may take longer than this for some people?
Some people may get stuck at one of the following steps and it may make their journey longer. Some of these delays can be predicted while some others are hard to anticipate. Let’s explore some of the reasons that may delay your application.
- IELTS – Some applicants may not get good enough scores in their first attempt and may want to try again to improve their scores.
- ECA – Depending on your university, it may take some time in getting your transcripts ready. Also, depending on which agency you choose to go with, timelines may differ drastically.
- ITA – The cut off scores for ITA keep varying and if your score is below the cut off, you will have to wait longer until the cut off drops below your CRS score.
- Processing time – It may take longer to process your application if there are complexities. For example, if you have lived in multiple countries, it may take longer to check your background records.
Related Topics
Process of PR application
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