•   
• Share

Good news for FSWP and FSTP candidates; eligible to receive invitations to apply for Canada permanent residence in the first all-program draw since the last draw i.e. March 4.

Canada is all set to welcome all-program Express Entry applicants. The country is now offering invitations to apply to applicants for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP).

Canada's first Express Entry draw since 4th March has released 3,900 invitations for permanent residency applications (ITAs). Candidates require a minimum score of 478 in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to be invited to the invitation round on July 8.

Since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic and travel restrictions were imposed by Canada to deter its transmission, Express Entry draws were limited to applicants for the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). That left candidates in limbo for FSWP and the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSTP).

Most CEC applicants are already in Canada and are therefore not affected by current restrictions on travel in Canada. PNP candidates also continue to be welcomed to allow provinces to satisfy their labour market needs. It is important to note, however, that even when Canada excluded FSWP and FSTP candidates, some of the CEC and PNP candidates invited to the previous rounds were also outside of Canada.

The latest draw was just the same size as all-program invitation round held on 4 March, which released 3,900 ITAs. This is the 22nd draw for 2020 and raises the total number of ITAs released this year to 53,800, a new high for this year.

In this latest draw, IRCC used its tie-break rule. The timestamp used was 11 February at 13:08:31 UTC. This implies that all applicants with a CRS score above 478, as well as those with a score of 478 who entered their profile in the Express Entry pool before the specified date and time, earned an ITA in this invitation round.

The Canadian government has a six-month processing standard for Canada permanent residence applications submitted through the Express Entry system.