News

Express Entry FSW and CEC Draws are Back

On April 22, 2022, we had reported that the Express Entry draws will soon resume and that invitations for candidates to apply for permanent residence will begin in early July. When Express Entry draws for (Federal Skilled Worker) FSW and (Canadian Experience Class) CEC restart in July, 2022, the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score cut-off will likely be above 500 points.

We are pleased to report that on July 6, 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) finally resumed it’s All Program Express Entry Draw. IRCC invited a total of 1,500 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence. The CRS cut-off was at a very high score of 557.

CEC candidates were also included in yesterday’s Express Entry draw. This marks the first time since September 2021, that CEC candidates have been included in an Express Entry draw.

Further it is interesting to note that as per the official publication from IRCC, CRS score distribution of candidates in the Express Entry pool as of July 6, 2022 are as follows:

CRS score range	Number of candidates
601-1200	669
501-600	8,773
451-500	58,040

As per these records, it is clear that it going to be very tough for prospective candidates to qualify for the FSW program cut off in the near future. This also presents an opportunity to explore alternate routes for immigration to Canada. One of such options is the Start-Up Visa.

Canada’s Start-Up Visa Program (“Start- Up Visa”) is becoming a widely popular program for Permanent Residency in Canada. Focusing on candidates seeking to start innovative businesses, the Start-Up Visa offers a direct path to Permanent Residency. It’s not like some business programs, where temporary visas are issued. With this program, the visa is permanent and irrevocable for the whole family. This is the only visa program in Canada which offers an expedited pathway to permanent residency regardless of your education.

Contact Donoso & Partners to learn more about the alternate routes to permanent residency in Canada.

Donoso & Partners, a leading immigration law firm based in Washington, D.C., will continue to report on developments regarding the immigration law and policy through our news section of donosolaw.com.