Express Entry : CRS drops to 397 second-lowest score requirement of 2021
Canada held a surprise Express Entry draw on May 20. it was a surprise draw for all of us and the more surprising is the CRS score of today’s draw, CRS score of this draw is 397 and it is second-lowest score requirement of 2021 so far.
We have not seen an Express Entry draw with a score requirement this low since the historic February 13 draw where the cutoff score was just 75.
A total of 1,842 CEC- candidates are invited by Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in the April 29 draw and they needed a minimum score of 397.
Invited candidates needed to be eligible for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and have a score of at least 397 in order to receive an Invitation to Apply. Basic eligibility requirements for the CEC include one year of full-time skilled work experience in Canada, and intermediate official language skills among other criteria.
Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) applied a tie break rule in today’s draw; candidates had to have submitted their profiles before April 24, 2021 at 12:09:24 UTC., This means that all candidates with CRS scores above 397 , as well as those with scores of 397 who entered their profile in the Express Entry pool before this date and time, received an ITA.
There have been 68,317 candidates invited so far in 2021. The number of invitations issued this year is far out-pacing last year’s rate. This could be because IRCC is holding larger draws, sometimes up to 6,000. Plus, 0n February 13, IRCC invited every single CEC candidate to apply for permanent residence.
How does Express Entry System work?
Canada’s main three categories are managed under the Express Entry System are: –
In the Express Entry system, eligible candidates for the FSWC, FSTC, CEC programs, and some Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates are scored based on the Comprehensive Ranking System, or CRS.
Candidates are ranked in the pool based on the CRS that considers 4 main factors: –
- Age
- Education
- Skilled work experience
- Proficiency in English or French
Express Entry is a two step process. In step one, candidates who are eligible under at least one of the three aforementioned skilled worker programs upload their profile onto IRCC’s website. They then get a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score based on their human capital such as their age, education, language skills, and work experience.
In step two, IRCC holds Express Entry draws approximately every two weeks and issues Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence to candidates with the highest CRS scores. If a candidate receives an ITA, they can go ahead and submit a permanent residence application to IRCC.
While a job offer is not required in order to be eligible under the Express Entry system, the CRS does award additional points to candidates who have one.