If you are interested in becoming a Canadian Permanent Resident you must have heard of Express Entry (EE) Program. Through EE thousands of foreign nationals get the chance to apply for permanent residence by being ranked according to their age, language skills, educational background, work experience and adaptability. Express Entry Program uses a comprehensive ranking system (CRS) to check your eligibility by scoring you and allowing you to enter the pool of candidates. As you might guess, getting a high score brings you one step closer to being invited to apply for permanent residence. The real question is how to improve your CRS score if your score is low.
Do not forget, every point matters when it comes to Express Entry. There are few ways you can improve your score to increase the chances of being invited. Now, if we look at the sections that you are scored against, you will know that you cannot change your age, but the remaining selection criterias can always be improved!
Let’s explore how you can work to increase your score
- Completing Education Programs
The Express Entry system truly cares about your education background and awards you up to 150 points, in addition to the skills transferability scores you receive depending on your educational background. In a case where your score is low, you can always explore further study options inside or outside Canada to boost your overall CRS score. If however, you do study in Canada, you can also be eligible for other programs/provincial nominations and have another pathway to Permanent Residency.
- Improve your Language Score
Language is one of the quickest ways to improve your score as languages tests are usually available to be taken every few days to weeks, unlike completing a higher education. Each program under Express Entry has different language levels to be obtained, although this does not mean that you will not get higher points if you score higher. If you think you can achieve a higher score, it is strongly recommended that you prepare in advance and retake the test. You will be surprised how much this would help you improve your score!
Did you know that Canada gives you additional scores if you also speak French. This means that, if you have done English language testing, you can also consider taking a French proficiency test to increase your scores as each language gives you more points.
- Get a Job Offer
Another way to improve your score would be to get an offer of employment. Getting a job offer would get you 50-200 points depending on your NOC Code. If you are already working in Canada, you may have your employer to extend you an offer of employment to support your application. If you are outside Canada, we recommend you to visit Job Bank and reach out to employers for available jobs that are relevant to your experience. Getting an LMIA approved job offer is important to get additional points on this one.
- Provincial Nomination
Through Provincial Nominee Programs, a candidate can dramatically increase their Express Entry score if they get nominated by a province or territory. Under the Express Entry aligned Provincial Nominee Programs, a candidate gets 600 points if nominated.
While the above are some key points to improve your CRS score, getting professional help to create your profile may just be the next step to make sure that your profile is as strong as possible.
If you are still worried that you do not meet the cut-off score, do not worry, you can contact us at any time and we will assist you to explore numerous other options.