On November 11, the government made publicly available its proposed amendments to the Ministerial Instructions that regulate Canada's Express Entry system. You can see the amendments here: http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2016/2016-11-12/html/notice-avis-eng.php#na1
The first change that is worth noting is that permanent residence applicants will now have 90 days to submit an eAPR after receiving an Invitation to Apply. This is great news as many of us have experienced the struggle of putting together an application for permanent residence in 60 days, particularly when documents such as police clearances can take longer than two months to be issued.
In addition to the points that the system already awards for the candidate's highest level of education, the new scoring system will award the following points for a candidate's Canadian degree (if applicable):
- 15 points for a Canadian post-secondary degree of 1 or 2 years
- 30 points for a Canadian post-secondary that is either
- 3 years or longer
- A Master's degree
- A PhD degree, OR
- An entry-to-practice professional degree for a NOC level A occupation for which licensing by a provincial regulatory body is required
It is worth nothing that these points are not cumulative but only awarded to a candidate's highest Canadian degree. Moreover, these points, combined with the extra points that can be awarded for a provincial nomination and an eligible offer of arranged employment, cannot exceed 600 points. This means that a provincial nominee, who is already awarded 600 extra points, cannot claim the extra points for Canadian degrees.
