Provincial Nomination Programs: Settle in Canada’s Provinces
Canada, with its avidly welcoming federal programs, provincial nominee programs and excellent developmental, educational and healthcare systems, has constantly attracted immigrants. Their Provincial Nominee Program is a way of aiding aspiring immigrants, who are not in a position to satisfy the federal immigration requirements , obtain a PR visa. The Canadian territories and provinces that are a part of this program can choose nominees, who’re looking to work and settle in the provinces in consideration. Each different province and territory have a specified targeted occupations or “stream” that they’re looking for, and only those who have the required qualifications can receive a PNP nomination from that province. Some territories may target software professional , others may target media , banking people and some of them may target engineers , management professionals. The list is endless and varies from one province to the other. The application process depends on the stream , your primary occupation and may either be a non-express entry based offline process, or an online process, through the Express Entry system. A medical exam and police verification are mandatory in both the cases.
Offline non-Express Entry based process:
– Applicant must meet the eligibility criteria for the province that nominates them.
– Once the nomination offer is received, a hard-copy of the filled-out application form must be submitted
to the IRCC.
– Mandatory medical and police checks.
– Application processing time is longer than for the Express entry process.
Online Express Entry Process:
This can be done in 2 ways:
A) Directly go to the website of the province or territory you’re interested to settle in, and apply for
a nomination. This can be done when the applicant does not have an Express Entry profile created. If you get offered a nomination, create an Express Entry profile or update an existing one.
B) First create an Express Entry profile and choose provinces or territories you’re looking to settle
in.
If you receive a notification from any province, directly contact them. They’ll require you to apply through the Express Entry stream of that particular place and your PNP nomination will be awarded online.
All nominations offered under Express Entry are called “enhanced nominations” and their processing time will be 6 months or lesser. The provincial nomination process is faster, than it appears to be.
Things to keep in mind:
– The eligibility criteria for each territory or province varies, and can also change from time to time, with no notice.
– The Northern Territory of Nunavut and Quebec does not participate in the PNP.
– The documentation requirements vary from province to province and you need the help of an RCIC so that you do not make mistakes in the documents as that could cause you additional weeks to months to get your nomination.
SUMMARY:
Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program is an excellent initiative by the provincial government, to aid those seeking to work or settle in one of their territories or provinces. It makes it easier to obtain a PR visa from Canada. This can be applied for through both EE and non-EE methods. They follow a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), based on which nominees are chosen. Those with the highest CRS scores will be offered nominations first. However, being offered a nomination by one of the provinces or territories gets the applicant an extra 600 points of CRS. The eligibility criteria for the applied province or territory must be met. An Express Entry profile is mandatory ( at one stage or the other ) and needs to be submitted to ensure that the applicant meets the minimum eligibility criteria for Express Entry and the PNP.
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