Changes made to the Federal Skilled Worker Class by the Canadian Government in May 2013 have provided applicants with assurances of receiving a decision on their application for Canadian immigration within a timeframe of 6-12 months.

Frequently Asked Questions about Canadian immigration and express entry in the economic class are below. The economic class includes the following:

• Canada Experience Class
• Entrepreneur Class
• Investor Class
• Federal Skilled Worker Class
• Provincial Nominee Class
• Quebec Skilled Worker Class
• Self-Employed Person’s Class

When granted permanent residency, the visa holder and their accompanying dependents are allowed:

• To reside permanently in Canada;
• To work in any of the three territories or ten provinces within Canada;
• To attend public school at primary or secondary level, tuition exempt;
• To have full access to universal health care offered in all provinces.

An application for permanent residency to the Canadian immigration authorities will usually include:

• The applicant;
• The applicant’s spouse or partner (either common-law or conjugal partner) who is at least 16 years old;
• Any dependent children that are unmarried and less than 19 years old.

In special circumstances, it’s possible to include children older than 19 years old. Family sponsorship immigration is quite commonly pursued further down the line once a foreign national has applied to move to Canada.

Sydney, Nova Scotia is the location of the Centralized Intake Office where applications for the Skilled Workers Class are first filed. After they have been approved, applications will be processed at international immigration offices outside Canada, relevant to where the applicant legally resides or else at the office serving the country listed as the applicant’s nationality.

Statistics Canada publishes a threshold report on annual income in the country, which is known as the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO).
When applying for PR through the skilled worker class, it is mandatory for applicants to prove they possess sufficient funds to allow them and their dependents to travel to Canada and get settled, as measure against the LICO.

As a guide, an applicant with a spouse and two dependent children would require approximately $22,000. Exemptions may be made if the applicant has already secured a job offer from a company in Canada.

Adaptability is a factor of the application for Canadian immigration. Should the applicant or their spouse/partner have close relatives already living in Canada, who are a citizen or else permanent resident, then this will strengthen the application. Five points will be awarded to the lead applicant.