Canada’s immigration minister Sean Fraser has just announced Express Entry invitations to FSWP and CEC candidates will resume by “early July.” Minister Sean Fraser made several other major announcements, such as that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will be offering an open work permit extension of up to 18 months to Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) holders.
Major announcements summary:
- Express Entry invitations to FSWP, CEC, and FSTP candidates will resume in early July.
- The vast majority of new Express Entry applications will be processed within the six-month service standard. According to IRCC, currentExpress Entry processing times range from seven months to in excess of 20 months.
- Those with an expiring PGWP between January and December 2022 will qualify for an additional open work permit of up to 18 months beginning this summer. IRCC is working on a simplified process and will provide further details “in the weeks ahead.” IRCC notes about 95,000 PGWPs will expire in 2022, and it estimates as many as 50,000 PGWP holders could benefit from this new open work permit.
- Applicants will no longer be required to remain in Canada throughout the entire time their application is being processed.
- Applicants who also apply for an open work permit while they wait for their permanent residence application to be processed will be able to get work permits that are valid until the end of 2024. This will ensure all permanent residence applications will be finalized before applicants need to apply to extend their temporary status again.
- To support family reunification, the immediate family members included in a principal applicant’s permanent residence application who are outside of Canada will be eligible to get their own open work permit.
