CRS Score of 438 Points Sees IRCC Issues 11,150 Invitations in First Month of 2019

With the latest express draws CRS cut-off set at 438 points, January sees the maximum number of invitations issued in the first month of year since the last five years of express entry’s history with the total number of invitations issued totaled to 11,500 Invitation to Apply (ITAs).

Invitations were issued to the candidates with the lowest CRS score of 438 points that is five points lower than the previous express draw (January 23rd) CRS cut-off which was 443 points. It is the lowest CRS score since October 4, 2017 for the express draws. Duration of one week between the two consecutive express draws let to the decrement in the CRS cut-off as it gives less time for replenishment of the number of higher-scoring candidates in express pool.

Candidates who have applied under the federal government’s express entry program were issued the invitations in the latest express draw held on January 30th. Express entry is a program that manages the profiles of the candidates who have applied under Canada’s skilled Immigration programs – Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC). With the help of the CRS ranking system, candidate’s profile are ranked according to their CRS scores. Highest ranked profile has then issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA) via which candidates can apply for permanent residence visa to the Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Latest express draw issued a total of 3,350 ITAs which brings the total of invitation issued to 11,150 ITAs which is the highest number of invitations issued in month of January since the introduction of express entry program in 2015. This keeps in line with the Canada’s higher admission targets for 2019 and 2020 as they look to invite more skilled and capable immigrants via the skilled economic immigration program s. IRCC is looking to issue more invitations than the last year 2018 which was a record breaking year for the maximum number of invitations issued in a single year with 89,800 invitations issued.

Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada (IRCC) used their tie-break rule in the latest express draw. Time stamp that used was April 26, 2018 at 05:00:46 UTC. This means that the candidates who have applied under express entry program and submitted their profile in the express pool before the time stamp used and were able to score points equal to or more than 438 points were issued the ITAs to apply for a permanent residence visa.