IRCC will resume FSWP and CEC invitations in July

Canada’s immigration minister Sean Fraser announced today that IRCC will resume FSWP and CEC invitations in July 2022. Aside this, Minister Sean Fraser made several other major announcements such as that IRCC will be offering an open work permit extension of up to 18 months to Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) holders.

What was announced today?

• Express Entry invitations to FSWP, CEC, and FSTP candidates will resume in early July.
• IRCC will process new Express Entry applications within the six-month service standard.
• 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.”.
• Applicants will no longer need to remain in Canada throughout the entire time that IRCC is processing their application.
• 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 IRCC finalize all permanent residence applications 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.

Other things you need to know

IRCC is looking to land 55,000 Express Entry permanent residents in 2022, which is about half of its 2021 target. The main reason for the temporary decline is to allow IRCC wind down its Temporary to Permanent Residence (TR2PR) program and accommodate other priorities. Between May and November 2021, IRCC invited up to 90,000 international graduates and essential workers to apply for permanent residence through the TR2PR program.

Also, Express Entry landings will increase over the next two years with IRCC seeking to welcome more than 110,000 newcomers through Express Entry by 2024.

As at March 2022, IRCC has cut the Express Entry backlog by more than half from nearly 112,000 people in September 2021 to 48,000. Aside this, it has doubled the number of permanent resident decisions made in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. IRCC finalized 156,000 permanent residence decisions between January 1st and March 31, 2022. In addition, IRCC has processed over 100,000 work permit applications in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 58,000 during the same period last year.

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