As you may be aware, the new “Comprehensive Ranking System” is coming online for all economic applicants to submit their profiles into this ranking system and to be “invited” to make an application.
What happens to FSW (Federal Skilled Worker), FSTW (Federal Skilled Trade Worker), CEC (Canadian Experience Class) and PNP(Provincial Nominee Programs) with Express Entry on Jan.1, 2015?
Unfortunately, there are more questions than answers:
- Current occupation lists, which supposed to be valid until April 30, 2015, may not be valid at all by Jan.1, 2015. Then, how do you know if you are qualified under each class? I am not sure how this will change and there was no clear answer from Citizenship and Immigration Canada so far.
- Each candidate will be ranked on some criteria that I am not sure exactly – what points are given for education, for example. If you rank high enough, you will get an invitation to apply under the above noted classes. But, without knowing how to get rank high, it is difficult to advise what you should do right now.
- Successful candidates should have a job offer from a Canadian employer. But, I am not sure if it is just a simple job offer or an offer validated with Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). If latter, then foreign nationals on post graduate work permit or LMIA exempted work permit, they would not be qualified under this ranking system; therefore, they could not be able to apply under Canadian Experience Class, as they do now. But, these people are already in Canada – they do not need to get “express entry”!
So what can be done?
- Get your application done as soon as possible and submit before Dec 31, 2014. Although it is not certain what impact upon those last-minutes applications in light of 2008 and 2010 Federal Skilled Worker application changes, still get your application done, especially if you are qualified under Canadian Experience Class or Provincial Nominee Program. For others, it is uncertain how your late application may be treated.
I am not sure if Citizen and Immigration Canada will be able to work this all out, even though we got less than 3 months to start this new system.
Please stay tuned for more information.
If you have any individual questions or concerns, please contact our office for more customized consultation for your unique situation. Please note that this posting is for general information only and is not to be considered binding or official legal counsel since situations will vary and can be complicated. The content in this post is current as of the day of entry. Due to the changing nature of Immigration law, the information in this entry may or may not still be applicable.