Overaged for Canadian PR? New law ups your chances of immigration

Bill C-19 Amendments are primarily aimed at making amends to the Express Entry system in Canada. It brings in a change to the present system of issuing invitations to apply, under the Comprehensive Ra

The Express Entry system of Canada will see several changes and amendments as the Bill C19 secured royal assent, the Economic Times reported. The new law has been introduced to cater to Canada's labour market. The candidates will be chosen based on groupings made by the Immigration minister. 

The Bill C-19 Amendments are primarily aimed at making amends to the Express Entry system in Canada. It brings a change to the present system of issuing invitations to apply, based on Comprehensive Ranking Scores (CRS).

Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and a component of the Provincial Nominee Program, are the categories under the Express Entry programme that will be amended under Bill C-19 in 2023.

The new law expands the scope of the Comprehensive Ranking System that is used to evaluate and rank individuals in the pool.

Under the revised law, the groupings will be based on economic goals, employment experience, academic achievements, and language fluency in English and French. 

Under the new amendments, firstly the candidates will be selected according to new groups and categories. Instead of considering only the immigration class, now the immigration minister will also bring in more filters of groups and categories for the rounds of invites to the Express Entry pool.

These new categories will have specific eligibility requirements a candidate will have to meet to get ranked for the invitation to apply for permanent residency (PR).

For example, if an immigrant qualifies for more than one category, the invitation will specify the categories to which the applicant must apply.

Secondly, the economic goals will also need to be specified with each category. The immigration minister will also have to specify what category will support what economic goal.

Thirdly, the new bill brings in exclusions that can now make candidates who otherwise had received the invitation but got disqualified due to some changes in their personal circumstances. So, if you have applied for a permanent residence visa, and have managed to get the minimum score required to rank for the invitation round, you will now be given the visa even if you have failed the eligible age criteria. 

In June 2022, Bill C-19 was passed in both houses of the Canadian parliament. The bill facilitates the immigration minister to create policy-focused groupings within the Express Entry pool, for example, creating a group focused on in-demand occupations.