IMPORTANT

You must be sure you meet the requirements and have the necessary score before starting you apply for a Skilled Worker Permanent Resident Visa. You minimum score must be 67 points (January-2008), which can be assessed in these three ways:

iEvaluation online with CIC

iPre-assessment at the Canadian Embassy in your country.

iBy using the self assessment in this e-book (Chapter 4 )

Remember that the fee for the assessment  to get a visa ARE NOT REFUNDABLE.

 APLICATION PROCESS - STEP by STEP

iSTEP #1 – To get the application forms.

Following are the application forms for the Skilled Worker class:

1.- IMM-0008e_SW . Application for Permanent Resident - Federal Skilled Worker Class –Simplified Application Process

2.- IMM-5476. Use of a Representative (Opcional, if you want to hire a Consultant).

 i STEP #2 – FILL IN THE FORM

The form IMM- 0008-SW – Application for Permanent Resident must be filled out as best as possible with the required information, clear and accurate. Write the information that you can support or prove with valid documents, which may be required in the future.

To see an example of how to fill out this form step by step see Chapter 7.2

i STEP # 3 – MAKE CONTACT WITH THE CANADIAN EMBASSY

With the aim to know how you must pay for your visa application assessment (bank, address, etc.), you must contact the Canadian Embassy in your area.

To know the necessary payment instructions in Latin America or any other place in the world see Chapter 7.5

i STEP #4 – PAY THE PROCESSING FEES

The total cost of the visa application varies according to the number of people you include in it. To estimate this amount, use the following table:

The cost of the processing fees is in Canadian dollars or its equivalent in other currencies and may vary at any moment. It must be paid at the place set by the Canadian Embassy in your country. NEVER SEND CASH WITH YOU APPLICATION DOCUMENTS.

iSTEP #5 – SEND FORM AND RECEIPT

Once your form IMM IMM- 0008e_SW / Application for Permanent Resident – Federal Skilled Worker Class – Simplified Application Process is ready with all the information and the receipt for the processing fees are ready, you can send them by post to the Canadian embassy in your country, or turn them in at the office.

After sending the initial application form, you are not supposed to contact the embassy, even though your marital status may have changed, you may have given birth to other child, changed your job, or got a new grade or diploma. All this information will be updated on the following stage.

However, you should contact the embassy in the following cases:

1.      If you change you immigration representative

2.      If you move

3.      If you decide to retract and cancel you application (fees will be refunded)

4.      If you have been nominated by a province (Quebec, Manitoba, etc.) in a provincial immigration program

5.      If you get a contract or job offer in Canad

iSTEP # 6 – PREPARE ALL SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS, ACCORDING WITH YOUR APPLICATION

After you send the application form IMM-0008SW and the receipt, you should wait for several months until a Visa Official informs you what documents you must turn in for the final assessment of your application. The documents you should have ready are:

1.     ID cards and birth certificates

2.     Certificates of Studies and Diplomas

3.     Job Certificates

4.     Results of the languages examinations(English and French)

5.     Marriage, divorce, adoption certificate, etc.

6.     Police certificate or crime record

7.     Proof of solvency

8.     Any other document the Visa Official may require

iSTEP #7 – PREPARE AND SEND NEW APPLICATION FORMS AND DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY THE VISA OFFICER (Supporting Documents).

When the Visa officer is ready to assess you application he will contact you and will ask you:

1.     To update and fill in the final application forms. He will  provide you with those if they are necessary)

2.     Additional payments (if you got married or had a child)

3.      All the supporting documents (identification, education, job, languages tests, police certificate, etc.). You will also have to send photographs. You will be given a list of all the documents you must turn in (check list).

iSTEP # 8 – INTERVIEW (Some times)

If the Visa Official from the Canadian Office finds it necessary, the applicant and his family may be called to an interview. In some cases this is done to check some information, which allows for scoring the candidate properly. Being called to an interview doesn’t  mean that there is something wrong with your application. In general terms it may have the following purposes: 

1.      Verify the information tuned in by the applicant.

2.      Give information to the family for their settlement in Canada.

REMEMBER: Apart from the minimum score, you must prove that you have the solvency to get by in Canada for the first 6 months. It is a compulsory requirement to be able to produce this evidence of solvency:

NOTE: To receive the Permanent Resident Visa, the applicant must pay the Right to the Permanent Residence Fee for him as main applicant and for his wife or permanent partner if applicable

Right of Permanent Residence Fee is in Canadian dollars and the Visa Official will inform you how and where to pay for it.

iSTEP #9 – DELIVERY OF VISAS  (If you are accepted)

If you have the necessary score and all the family members pass the medical exams, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will give your visas to you and the members of family included in the application form. This visa, along with some of the documents used for the application, may be turned in face to face to the applicant, in the offices of the embassy if the Visa Official decides to do so, or, in other cases they will be sent by post to the address in your documents.

All visas have an expiry date, a year from the medical exams. They are not extended and, in case you cannot travel before that date, they will not be valid anymore.