Citizenship and Immigration Canada has officially announced that it will start accepting applications under the Express Entry Program for Skilled professionals interested in migrating to Canada, starting from January 1st, 2015. Candidates whose applications are picked up from Express Entry Pool must also meet the requirements of selection criteria under the federal skilled worker program in which he filing the application. One can file under one of the three programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker Class
• Federal Skilled Trades class
• Canadian Experience class

Remember this selection criteria is applicable after the candidates application has been successfully picked up from the express entry pool. It is also true that unless the Candidate does not meet FSW selection criteria, an invite to apply will NOT be issued to the Candidate. Please do not confuse the selection criteria and pass-mark under the FSW with point system under Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) - Express Entry points Criteria. Purpose of CRS and points mentioned therein is limited to ranking the candidate against other prospective migrants and choosing the best possible suited to

Here is the applicable point system and related selection Criteria which candidates chosen from the Express Entry Pool MUST meet:

To be eligible for Permanent Residence under the Federal Skilled Worker Visa, you must:

• have at least 1 year of continuous full-time or equivalent paid work experience in the past 10 years in a skilled occupation National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill lever 0, A or B); or
• qualify for Arranged Employment in Canada with a LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment) and a full-time, permanent job offer from a Canadian employer; or
• have completed PhD or two years of study in Canada towards a PhD
• language ability in English or French

Moreover, as a professional Federal Skilled Worker applicant you also need to obtain at least 67 points out of a total of 100 points in the FSW point test comprising the selection factors stated by the Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) immigration.