For skilled workers, the federal route from India to Canadian permanent residence (PR) is Express Entry: you take a language test, have your degree assessed, create an online profile, and, once invited, apply with police certificates, a medical exam and, where needed, proof of funds. IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Canadian government's immigration department) calls Express Entry "an online system that we use to manage immigration applications from skilled workers" (IRCC: Express Entry). The steps below are in order, each linked to the official page that decides it.

Who this is for

You live in India, you have a degree or diploma and a few years of skilled work, and you keep hearing IELTS, ECA, CRS and ITA without anyone explaining the order. A permanent resident "can live, work or study anywhere in Canada" but is not a Canadian citizen (IRCC: understand PR status).

Our page on moving to Canada from India sets out what changes because you apply from India.

Step 1: Check which program fits you

Express Entry manages three programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program and the Canadian Experience Class (IRCC: Express Entry). The Canadian Experience Class counts only work done in Canada (IRCC: Canadian Experience Class), so if you have not worked there, the program for you is usually the Federal Skilled Worker Program, or the Federal Skilled Trades Program if you work in a skilled trade.

The Federal Skilled Worker Program's minimum requirements include (IRCC: Federal Skilled Worker Program):

• at least 1 year of continuous work, or 1,560 hours in total, in the last 10 years, in Canada or abroad, in a job at TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. TEER is how Canada sorts jobs by the "training, education, experience and responsibilities" they need (IRCC: find your NOC), and our guide to NOC and TEER shows how to find yours;
• a language test result of at least CLB 7 in all four abilities: reading, writing, listening and speaking. CLB, the Canadian Language Benchmarks, is Canada's scale for English ability (step 2);
• a completed education, with an ECA if you studied abroad (step 3);
• proof of funds (step 9);
• and at least 67 points out of 100 on IRCC's selection factors.

Our free Express Entry eligibility checker tests your answers against them, and our guide to Express Entry explains all three programs.

Step 2: Take an accepted language test

IRCC accepts three English tests, IELTS General Training, CELPIP-General and PTE Core, and two French tests, TEF Canada and TCF Canada (IRCC: language test results). IELTS Academic and PTE Academic do not count.

IELTS and CELPIP both have test centres in India (IELTS: find a test centre; CELPIP: India).

Your results must be less than 2 years old on the day you complete your Express Entry profile, and again on the day you submit your permanent residence application.

Our guides to the English tests Canada accepts and which test to take compare them, and our language score converter turns a result into a CLB level.

Step 3: Get an ECA for your degree

An ECA (Educational Credential Assessment) is a report that says what your foreign degree is equal to in Canada. If you studied outside Canada, you need one to be eligible as the main applicant under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and to earn points for that education (IRCC: education assessed).

IRCC has designated these organizations: Comparative Education Service (University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies), International Credential Assessment Service of Canada, World Education Services, International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS) and International Credential Evaluation Service (British Columbia Institute of Technology). Doctors, pharmacists and architects get their ECA from the body for their profession that the same page names.

Your ECA must be less than 5 years old on the day you complete your profile, and again on the day you submit your application. Our ECA guide covers the process.

Step 4: Work out your CRS score

Every Express Entry candidate gets a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score out of 1,200, built from factors such as skills, education, language ability and work experience (IRCC: check your score). Our free CRS calculator works out your score, and our guide to the CRS score shows where the points come from.

There is no pass mark: in each round, IRCC invites the highest-ranking candidates who are eligible for that round's type (IRCC: rounds of invitations). Our Express Entry draws page shows past cutoffs, the lowest score invited in each round.

Step 5: Create your Express Entry profile

You create the profile in your IRCC online account, and you have 60 days to complete and submit it (IRCC: create your profile). Once submitted, your profile enters the pool of candidates.

IRCC charges nothing for the profile: its fees come with the application, after an invitation (IRCC: Express Entry fees).

IRCC suggests you consider asking for police certificates as soon as your profile is in the pool, because they can take time (step 7; IRCC: police certificates for Express Entry).

Step 6: Get an invitation to apply

IRCC holds rounds and sends candidates in the pool an invitation to apply, called an ITA. Some rounds are for one type of candidate only (IRCC: rounds of invitations); our guide to category-based draws explains the rounds held for particular groups.

Your invitation is valid for 60 days only, and if you do not apply in that time it expires (IRCC: apply for permanent residence). Everything in steps 7 to 9 has to be ready within those 60 days.

Below recent cutoffs? Our guide on how to raise your CRS score explains what can change it.

Step 7: Get your police certificate from India

You, and each family member aged 18 or over, need a police certificate from every country you stayed in for 6 months in a row or longer during the last 10 years (IRCC: police certificates for Express Entry).

For India, IRCC asks for a Police Clearance Certificate and lists where to get one: your local district police station, the passport office (applying online through Passport Seva, the Ministry of External Affairs' passport website), an Indian embassy or consulate, or a BLS International centre. A Character Certificate is not accepted (IRCC: police certificate from India).

Step 8: Have a medical exam with a panel physician

For Express Entry, the medical exam comes after your invitation but before you apply; IRCC calls it an upfront medical exam (IRCC: medical exams for permanent residence).

Your own doctor can't do it. You must see a panel physician, a doctor IRCC has approved for immigration exams: choose India in IRCC's panel physician search. The results are valid for 12 months.

Our post on police certificates and medical exams covers both steps in full.

Step 9: Prepare your proof of funds

The Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trades programs ask you to show "enough money for you and your family to settle in Canada" (IRCC: Federal Skilled Worker Program).

The amount depends on the size of your family and is set in IRCC's table (IRCC: proof of funds). You can't borrow the money from another person, and the value of a house or land you own does not count.

Our free proof of funds calculator shows the amount for your family size, and our guide to proof of funds explains how to show it.

Step 10: Submit your application and pay the fees

In your IRCC account you fill in the form, upload your documents, pay the fees and submit, all within the 60 days (IRCC: apply for permanent residence). Any document that is not in English or French, such as a certificate issued in Hindi, also needs a translation by a certified translator, uploaded with a scan of the original.

Our guide to what Canada PR costs from India sets out the fees and other costs.

Step 11: Give your biometrics

Once your application is found complete, each applicant aged 14 to 79 gets a letter asking for biometrics, meaning fingerprints and a photo, and has 30 days from the date on the letter to give them (IRCC: after you apply).

Outside Canada, you give biometrics at a visa application centre (VAC), by appointment. Appointments are free, so do not pay anyone to book one (IRCC: where to give your biometrics).

Step 12: The decision, and arriving in Canada

IRCC tells you its decision through your account (IRCC: after you apply).

If you are approved and have not yet paid the right of permanent residence fee, you pay it then. IRCC then sends you a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) and, because citizens of India need a visa to travel to Canada, a permanent resident visa as well (IRCC: if your application is approved; IRCC: entry requirements by country).

Travel to Canada before your COPR expires, because IRCC can't extend it, and show it to the border services officer when you arrive.

Our guide to processing times explains how long each stage can take. You can take every step yourself: IRCC says that "Hiring a visa agent will not help your application get processed any faster" (IRCC: know the rules before you apply from India).

Another route: a province's nomination

Through the Provincial Nominee Program, Canada's provinces and territories nominate people for permanent residence, and "Each province and territory has its own requirements" (IRCC: Provincial Nominee Program).

Some provincial streams, a province's routes with their own rules, are linked to Express Entry, and a nomination through one adds 600 points to your CRS score; the rest run outside Express Entry. Our guide to the Provincial Nominee Program and provincial streams comparison explain the difference.

Next step

Answer the free questionnaire to see how your details compare with the Canadian routes we check.