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The 15 steps of Express Entry

From eligibility assessment to permanent residence. Click a step to see the details.

📖 Glossary of abbreviations (40)

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NB — Province of New Brunswick

EE — Express Entry — IRCC's online system for managing skilled worker immigration applications. Covers several programs, the best known being PNP and FSW.

TEF — French Evaluation Test

EDE / ECA — Educational Credential Assessment

TCF Canada — Test de Connaissance du Français for Canada — different from the "regular" TCF

ITA / IPD — Invitation To Apply — invitation from a province or the federal government to submit a permanent residence application

PCNB — New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program

PCP / PNP — Provincial Nominee Program

FSW — Federal Skilled Workers (Express Entry)

CEC — Canadian Experience Class — candidates with Canadian experience

NCLC / CLB — Canadian Language Benchmark

DI — Expression / Declaration of Interest — a province-specific step to show interest and target a provincial nomination (up to +600 CRS points)

LOI — Letter Of Interest — a province indicating interest in your profile

POF — Proof Of Funds

PCC — Police Clearance Certificate

IELTS — International English Language Testing System

VMT — Labour Market stream via Express Entry

EPFT — Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour (Government of N.B.)

ONB — Opportunities New Brunswick (Government of N.B.)

RDEE — Economic Development and Employability Network

RP / PR — Permanent Resident

IRCC / CIC — Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (federal)

WES — World Education Services — credential assessment body (ECA)

CNP / NOC — National Occupational Classification

CRS / SCG — Comprehensive Ranking System — the score obtained once your Express Entry profile is created

VM — Medical Exam

IVM — Instructions for the Medical Exam, sent by IRCC

CRP — Confirmation of Permanent Residence

AOR / AR — Acknowledgement Of Receipt

ARDF — Federal File Acknowledgement of Receipt

ADR — Additional Document Request from IRCC or a province

GU — Ghost Update — a silent file update signalling an officer has moved the file to another stage

GCMS — Global Case Management System — a paid PDF report from IRCC detailing your file's processing

BIO — Biometrics — fingerprint collection

VO — Visa Office handling your application (Paris, Sydney, Ottawa…); mostly relevant when reading GCMS notes

EIMT / LMIA — Labour Market Impact Assessment

IUC — Unique Client Identifier, assigned once a first application has been made to IRCC

LSAA — Pre-Arrival Services Letter

PPR — Passport Request — invitation to submit your passport, meaning processing is finalized

CoPR — Confirmation of Permanent Residence — signed at the airport upon arrival

STEP 1

Eligibility assessment

Score out of 100 with the official IRCC tool.

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STEP 2

Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)

Get your credentials assessed by an IRCC-designated body.

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STEP 3

Language test

Choose, prepare for, and take your test — aim for 4×C2.

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STEP 4

CRS score simulation in the pool

Optimize your profile before officially creating it.

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STEP 5

Creating your GCKey account (IRCC)

Your official profile, using your reference code.

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STEP 6

Entering the pool & invitation rounds

Your CRS score determines your chances of being invited.

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STEP 7

Receiving the ITA

60 days to submit your complete application.

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STEP 8

Medical exam (IME)

Mandatory before submission, valid for 12 months.

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STEP 9

Completing the PR application

Forms, documents, and payment = accepting the invitation.

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STEP 10

Preparing your documents

Gather, check, scan, organize.

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STEP 11

Fee payment / Acceptance

The final step of submitting the PR application.

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STEP 12

Biometrics invitation

30 days to provide your biometrics.

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STEP 13

ADR / Procedural Fairness Letter

Not mandatory — at the officer's discretion.

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STEP 14

PPR — Passport Request

The "Golden Mail": your application is approved in principle.

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STEP 15

CoPR validation & PR card

The final step, upon arrival in Canada.