Canada offers more than 100 economic class immigration programs to choose from, it is likely to qualify for more than one Canadian immigration program. Thus, it also raises the question of whether you can apply for more than one program at the same time or not. Possibly you can qualify for Express Entry, however, do not necessarily wish to cross your fingers for Invitation to Apply (ITA), as that base Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) looks more interesting- even if it’s a long process. The question is whether you can apply for both or not.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) suggest one may go ahead with two applications at once, however, they have to withdraw one before a decision can be made on the other and one must also know that they will not receive a refund on any processing fees paid. In a case, where the candidate has applied second application while an earlier application is in litigation, both of them will be processed through their respective processes until the final decision is made on one of the applications.

The Immigration and Refugees Protection Act and Regulations do not restrict multiple applications from being filed in the economic stream. Although, before concluding one of the applications, the immigration official must guide the candidate that they should withdraw the other application. Moreover, while multiple applications will be submitted, the candidate must also be cautious that no refund on the processing fees will be offered for the other application once processing has been initiated.

One can have only one Express Entry Profile

Canadian immigration regulations do not permit one to have more than one profile at a time. The IRCC clearly states that having more than one profile will not offer a better chance of being shortlisted, nor permit one to be invited under another program. One may, include their common-law partner or spouse on their Express Entry application. Every application that goes through Express Entry has a principal applicant (PA), who is evaluated through the Comprehensive Ranking System and gets a score. The principal applicant (PA) is permitted to add the spouse and dependent children to the application.

While applying as a couple, only one of the partners can be the PA. The couple can select which partner can be the PA as long as both partners stand eligible for at least one Express Entry-managed program. This rule is essential as one of the partners will definitely have a higher CRS score than the other.

Having an Express Entry profile in the pool does not promise that they will receive an Invitation to Apply. One may receive an ITA if the CRS score fulfills the minimum cut-off in a given draw.