Mark Holthe 0:01
Well, welcome back to another episode of the Canadian immigration podcast. This is episode 174 and Alicia and I are going to be talking about express entry, and in particular, the calculation of spousal points, which, lately we've seen a lot of people making a lot of mistakes and just basically not fully understanding how these points are really calculated. So really happy to have this one up and running here and in the podcast episode, which is our first recording of 2026 how are you?
Alicia Backman-Beharry 0:33
Alicia, I'm doing well, Mark. And we've been talking about this Express Entry, getting it right series for some time, and it's because there's questions that come up from our clients and for people that we're doing consultations with over the years, and this is one of the big ones that comes up over and over again, we see people who have filed their own applications and all of a sudden they're getting maybe additional document request, or they are trying to fix something that might be misrepresentation, because there are issues with spouses,
Mark Holthe 1:06
you bet. And to start off with, I just want to direct everyone back to our firm website, and Alicia wrote a great blog post that expands to some extent on how you deal with a Canadian spouse, but we'll get to this. But for our episode today, why don't we just start with a little bit of an introduction? Alicia, so you talked about, sometimes our clients are just making mistakes. Can you, you know, and are really struggling with this? Where do you see the problems arise more most commonly? So the
Alicia Backman-Beharry 1:41
first thing is, really, when we're looking at Express Entry, who's the principal applicant? So who's going to be the person who's creating the Express Entry profile under their name as the principal applicant? And it is possible for both spouses, if you're married or in a common law relationship, for both people to become principal applicants and create their own profiles. But this is the first question is, who's going to create that express entry profile? Is it going to be one person? Is it going to be both? And then the next thing is, do you actually have a spouse, right? And this, this might seem like a self evident thing, but it is not. There are many variations and wrinkles on Do you have a spouse or common law partner? So I really wanted to start with that question.
Mark Holthe 2:27
Well, I can share, really, I can share a personal experience. On this one, it's like you said, it's not so easy to understand whether or not your spouse is really a spouse for immigration purposes. And one of the challenges is when you're trying to figure things out with common law, where IRCC says, at a base level, you need to be living together with a centralized mode of existence for at least 12 months. Well, let's say you've got spouses in Canada who've been together for 11 months, and then, well, lo and behold, one has to travel abroad for work or other purposes for a month, and then they come back the month after that. And so are they common law or not? And let's say one, you know, one spouse has already started the process for Express Entry, because they had not yet hit 12 months. Do you list your spouse as a spouse? Do you list yourself as single? And so all of these problems can arise, and it's really hard to know how to deal with it. Now, letters of explanation can can address a lot of ills, but the way immigration is processing applications right now, it is really hard, because there just is very little room, especially at least that for mistakes when you're trying to figure out whether or not you have a spouse, absolutely.
Alicia Backman-Beharry 3:36
And here's the other thing, immigration is going to take a look at everything that you've told them before, when they are determining if you all sudden say, Oh, hey, I have a spouse or a common law partner, and you've never disclosed or declared that person in the past. On your study permit application, your work permit application, an extension on some of your documents, there's definitely going to be questions. So the first question is, okay, do you have a spouse or common law partner? And this is one of the questions that I go through in our blog article that's on our Holthe Immigration Law website, and the link will be in the description below. But the first question is, okay, legal marriage, that's generally fairly straightforward, as long as it was a legal marriage in either Canada or any other country where it was performed and it was recognized as a legal marriage at the time. So you should have not only that marriage license, but a marriage certificate that was registered with whatever government authority. So legal spouse. Okay, most people get that the second though, just like you said, Mark, are the common law partner scenarios. And some countries, you don't hit a common law partner definition in other countries until you've hit a two year mark. For example, that's not the case in Canada, just like you've said, 12 months continuous cohabitation in a spousal conjugal relationship. So conjugal meaning that you are having relations. Section. Really and representing to the world that you are a common law spouse, and it's only 12 months. But again, you get into situations where there might be misrepresentation if you fail to declare or disclose that person in the past with IRCC or with tax authorities. So this can become a big issue, and maybe mark we can flip to, why does this matter? Like, why is having a spouse really? Really change your points under Express Entry? Yeah.
Mark Holthe 5:29
And you know, one thing I'll add too on the legal marriage concept is that there is one caveat to IRCC, just accepting a marriage that's legal in your country, they they don't like proxy weddings very much. And so if you're in a situation where both, both of the the spouses were not physically present together when they got married, that can also be, you know, immigration can can choose not to accept that as a valid as a valid marriage. It's interesting, because we see, especially through the pandemic, some states in the United States allowed for weddings where the two, you know, the two spouses, did not have to be physically present with the officiator who was, you know, who was doing the ceremony. You know, it could have been like a zoom wedding and those types of marriages, you have to be careful, because they are often not accepted by immigration, okay?
Alicia Backman-Beharry 6:29
And that's a good point mark too, because whenever people are filling out those family information forms, right? There's two different versions of the Family Information Form, either you're filling it out when you're coming over, if your visa required, but there's that goofy little question that says, was your spouse physically present? And a lot of people get really confused. What does that mean? And that's where you're getting at with the proxy weddings. That's why they're asking that. So were you physically in the same room when you got married to your spouse? Is what they're asking. So yes. So the reason that we are talking about spouses, whether they're accompanying, whether they're not accompanying, is the definition that the ministerial instructions are using under express entry. So of course, we know there are the ministerial ministerial instructions respecting express entry, and there's the current version is March 11, 2025, and if we go here, the very first thing under the definitions is accompanying spouse or common law partner. And you can see here that everything is real in relation to the foreign national. So the principal applicant in respect of the foreign national, it means their spouse or common law partner who is accompanying him or her to Canada, and this is important, and who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident. So a lot of people get super confused when they are already married to a Canadian and they're trying to go through Express Entry and they're trying to figure out, well, yeah, I'm living and working in Canada on a work permit. My spouse is here with me. Don't I have to say my spouse is accompanying because they're here, and the answer is no, they're actually not accompanying, because the definition under the ministerial instructions is that an accompanying spouse cannot be already a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident. Why does that matter? Well, it matters because sometimes people think that they can rely on points for having a spouse who has a Canadian sibling. For example, that's usually where people think they might have points and they don't if their spouse is already a Canadian. So determining whether you have a spouse and whether that spouse is accompanying is very important. We've seen incarnations of people trying to fudge this a little bit, right? Because if we go through and maybe mark you can share the CRS points breakdown, and we'll get to the CRS points breakdown in a second. We'll also talk about the Federal Skilled Worker selection grid points, factors. But if we take a look, and we look at the CRS points breakdown, so if you look at the grid, you'll see there are two columns. So if you scroll up, maybe a little bit mark, and you can see it says, All right, we've got two columns under human capital. We've got points with a spouse or common law partner, and then the right hand column is points without a spouse or common law partner, and it is more difficult for people with spouses to get a high enough CRS score. Sometimes, if their accompanying spouse maybe doesn't have quite as strong a language score. Maybe they don't have quite as many years of education. And so this is why sometimes people are trying to figure out, well, do I try to say my spouse is unaccompanied? And I think Mark, we've had a whole discussion about misrepresentation, yeah, in this.
Mark Holthe 10:00
Respect. Yeah. And if you have a spouse that is with you in Canada on a work permit or accompanying you temporarily, you're going to be really, really hard pressed to claim that that spouse is non accompanying for the purposes of a permanent resident application, not just express entry, but others as well. And so you have to be so careful with this situation. Now, there may be circumstances where, legitimately, it doesn't make sense to include your spouse, because very shortly, within weeks or days of filing your permanent residence application, your spouse is going to have to go home because maybe their parents have fallen ill, or there's some work obligation that is going to pull them home and they just won't be able to be here for the next couple of years, or whatever it might be. And so there may be legitimate explanations that you can provide, but when you're filling those in, that information out, and it's asking, Why is your spouse non accompanying? To say, Well, we're just trying to get more points for Express Entry. That's probably not the best answer to provide. And I'll also, I'll also, you know, indicate that when you are going through the process of listing your spouse is not a company, they are going to ask a reason and and people that try to then, lit, you know, add their spouse in after will get to that it can just be really, really problematic. And I have seen procedural fairness letters come back and allege misrepresentation for people whose spouses are in Canada on a work perimeter otherwise, and you have listed them as non accompanying so you have to be very, very careful with it.
Alicia Backman-Beharry 11:38
Yeah. Okay, so where do these spousal points come into effect, and which points are we talking about? So the first one is, let's say somebody is okay, so yes, we have CRS points, and this is where there's a really stark difference between whether you have a spouse or you don't have a spouse, but it also does affect people who maybe don't qualify under CEC, and now we're looking at FSW. So yes, under CEC, we'll talk about this in a second. There is a maximum of 40 points for a spouse under those Section B, spouse or common law partner factors. But even before you get to CRS, sometimes people are having a hard time, especially now, because we know those CRS points are so high that sometimes people can't even get eligibility for FSW if you don't have your one year of Canadian high skilled work, for example. So keep in mind that if the principal applicant has not lived and worked in Canada for one year, and they have accumulated 52 weeks of at least 30 hours per week of work, then you have to be eligible under Federal Skilled Worker to have a chance. And this is where a lot of people, for example, who are getting drawn under Francophone targeted draws. This is how they're getting drawn, sometimes is if they qualify for FSW. In order to qualify for FSW, if you don't have that one year of high skilled Canadian work, make sure that you're hitting your pass mark. And the pass mark is 67 points out of the selection factor grid. And so if you go to the IRCC page, this is where Mark is. You'll look at the selection factors. And this is where, out of the selection factors, really having a spouse matters for a lot of people right now, a lot of my American clients, when I'm talking with them, even though they're highly trained individuals who are senior executives because of age, sometimes they are not able to hit that selection factor grid point unless they include their spouse. So really, where spouses come into effect in the selection factors is under adaptability. And so adaptability has a maximum of 10 points. And this is where sometimes it really matters what your spouse's language level is. And of course, you have to be taking one of the standardized testing if you're looking at English, it's cell Pip, or IELTS General, cell Pip, General, or the Pearson Test for English. So that would give a potential five points, and it's pretty low, right on the selection factor pass mark, spouse only has to have a CLB level four, that is super low. The other under adaptability points, the other section where spouses could help is if the spouse, common law partner, has passed studies in Canada, so that would be another five points, so you could hit your maximum 10 there, and it has to be at least two academic years of full time study in a program at least two years long in a post secondary school in Canada, And 15 hours of classes per week. So good academic standing you have to have passed. So those are key areas where you could get points for having had your spouse have language, or having gone to school in Canada. And then the other thing is relatives, right? So even if your spouse. Spouse didn't actually go to school in Canada. If your spouse has relatives, so living in Canada and that relative is 18 years or older and they are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, it has to be one of these people on the list. So it only has to be parents, grandparents, kids, grandkids, you or your spouse's sibling, or you or your spouse's aunt or uncle by blood or marriage, you are your spouse's niece or nephew. So this is a different definition under the Points grid than it is under the CRS score. So just keep in mind, we're talking about two different points grids here, but these are the points for spouses under FSW,
Mark Holthe 15:39
and it can be kind of frustrating for people, too, when they are filling out their Express Entry application and they're only drawn under the Canadian Experience Class, and they're now realizing the question comes up, do you have a relative in Canada? Well, maybe they have an aunt or uncle. We know for the purposes, as Alicia has indicated, the comprehensive ranking system doesn't award any points for an aunt or uncle. The reason that question is being asked is because of the selection criteria within the Federal Skilled Worker Program. But express entry, the portal does not distinguish. It doesn't just remove that question if you're CEC only, and so when people are drawn under the Canadian Experience Class, sometimes it's kind of frustrating because it almost forces you to then have to get information from your aunt or uncle and provide it in the document checklist in order to satisfy that when you're really not getting any points for it. And some people will say to themselves, well, you know, maybe I'll just say no. Well, I don't know about you, Alicia, but that's definitely not the proper answer. You have to answer truthfully. And then, you know, some people may decide, well, I'm going to put a letter of explanation in there that says, Please note, this is my aunt, and I'm not getting any points for my aunt, and so that is why I'm not providing any information. But it's almost now I, you know, if I don't, if I'm in this kind of a situation, just to make sure I don't run into some officer who's just looking to check a box off and says, Well, you've got an aunt. You didn't provide any information about it, so I'm going to return your application or refuse it because you didn't provide that information. You know, I don't want to expose my clients. And you know, I when I'm teaching people in our Express Entry accelerator class, I don't take any chances anymore, because things are just so volatile. So in some instances, I'll say, well, just go get your, your your aunt's, you know, copy of their passport. You know, get the birth certificate for your aunt and your your parent, whichever one is the sibling, and then, and then, you know, include a copy of the utility bill or something. Just to make sure that we're we're covering that off, even though it's not getting any points, which is a waste of time, and it's frustrating, but sometimes you just don't want to take a chance.
Alicia Backman-Beharry 17:48
Yeah, and and you're right Mark, sometimes it that's going to automatically populate, but sometimes it would make a difference if they're not otherwise, if they were drawn under FSW, and they wouldn't otherwise hit the 67 point pass mark. And so just to circle back on the FSW points, the other factor that we just forgot to mention, too was you can get five points if your spouse or common law partner had at least one year of full time work in Canada on a valid work permit or well authorized to work in Canada. So when we're talking about FSW, you get points for your spouse if your spouse has language so make sure you've got a standardized language test, and it's maximum 10 in this category, so that could give you five points. If your spouse had past studies in Canada, that could be another five. If your spouse had one year of work in Canada, that could be another five points. Or if your spouse has relatives in Canada, that could be five points. So it can be important to hit those adaptability points under FSW. Now we'll turn to CRS, because that's that's really where most people have most of the confusion and the questions. And this is under the CRS scores for spousal points. This is super important. There are only three, only three sections where a spouse, an accompanying spouse, or common law partner, is going to give the principal applicant points under the comprehensive ranking score. And this is where we get tons and tons of questions from people who say, Well, you know, I started filling out my profile, and it asked about my spouse's work history, and I gave 20 years of my spouse's work history. And you do not have to give 20 years of your spouse's work history. You only need to provide your spouse's work history if it is going to result in points for the principal applicant in your Express Entry profile. And the reason for that is the only way your spouse's work history is going to give the principal applicant points is if they have Canadian work experience. So working in Canada for a Canadian employer, you have to be physically pro. Present. So your Canadian spouse is only going to be giving you as principal applicant points if that person has worked at least the equivalent of one year, 52 weeks, 30 hours a week in a high skilled occupation. It has to be a knock 012, or three. So the second digit in your five digit, not code. It cannot be low skilled work.
Mark Holthe 20:24
And it's interesting when you look at this, Alicia, and we hinted at this earlier, you know, when you have a spouse, I really feel like couples are prejudiced compared to single individuals. And you can see a maximum. There's a 40 point swing here, you guys. So education is important, 10, but boy, language is super, super important. Now, if you're outside of Canada and neither you nor your spouse has any Canadian work experience, it doesn't make really a big difference, because neither of you are having any points here. But if you have really good language and your spouse really doesn't. Oh boy, this is one area, if you're really serious about Express Entry, that you need to work hard to ensure that your spouse also can level up their English. Because, like I said, there's a there's a 40 point swing in difference. And those points, interestingly enough, you can see 10 of these points right here are actually stripped away from age. So the age points here, if you have a spouse and you're, you know, you're, you're basically 29 years old, a single 29 year old person is getting 110 points, 10 extra points than you, which is really, well, it is what it is. And I guess in the reality is, on top of this, most times when you're, you know, when you're married, sometimes you do tend to be a little bit older as well. And so you can see the difference in points 10 points difference in education and 10 in language. But it's just really kind of interesting. And then, of course, there's a 10 point swing for Canadian work experience as well. But I just it's interesting to see that they pulled the 10 from age here, instead of taking, you know, making this 140 for language. It's, it's interesting. I've always wondered about that, but you can see the difference. And this is the incentive. This is why people are so keen in trying to find a way if their spouse's human capital is lower, to list them as non accompanying and the one piece of advice I'll give you is, if you truly that's what you want, then your spouse needs to go home. They just need to leave the country and you know, and then you're going to have to consider the significant delays and then trying to sponsor them after,
Alicia Backman-Beharry 22:38
yep, yep. So remember, if you're looking at spousal points under Express Entry, you're only going to get spousal points for your spouse's level of education. Again, just like under FSW selection factor grids under CEC points, you have to have the spouse has to have that education credential assessment. If it was foreign education, if it was education in Canada, they would have their Canadian diploma, degree and transcripts and completion letter. But the level of education, it's not a ton. It maxes out at 10. And it's 10 points for if your spouse has a Master's, it's also 10 points if your spouse has a PhD. There's not a points differential on that. So the maximum you can hit is 10, and so a master's degree would do it. Just like Mark talked about, spousal language is huge, and this is one of the factors where there's not primary and secondary language. It's only whatever your first official language is for your spouse, and so it's maximum of five points per factor, and it maxes out at CLB nine. So as long as your spouse can hit that CLB nine, speaking, reading, listening and writing in either English or French, whatever their first official language is, then that can help your score. But often it's it's it pulls down the score if your spouse does not have fantastic language. And then the last factor is your spouse's Canadian work experience. It maxes out at five. I don't think I've ever seen an accompanying spouse who had five years of Canadian work experience, which is the maximum you could get here. Most of the time you're trying to struggle for about five points for one year of Canadian work experience from your spouse.
Mark Holthe 24:14
And one little thing I want to touch on here is that for those extra 20 points, this is the one shift, the one variation that can actually benefit spouses. So if you are not maxing out your points for, you know, for language, if you have a CLB nine as the principal applicant, if you get a CLB 10, you're actually, you know, there's, there's a few extra points here that it goes from 29 to 32 if you've got a spouse or common law partner between you know CLB nine is 29 points. CLB 10 is 32 so in this case, if you have a spouse, you're losing some here, but a spouse can maximize their 20 points with just a CLB nine. Right? So it's one little kind of variation that not many people are talking about. But at the end of the day, you guys, for all intents and purposes, if you want a chance of getting through Express Entry, you really need to be able to maximize everything, both you and your spouse,
Alicia Backman-Beharry 25:18
absolutely okay? And this is, this is the question we always get, well, what happens if my marital situation changes? What happens if I get divorced or separated while I'm going through my express entry process? What happens if I was not married? I got my profile in, I got an ITA, I submitted my eapr, and then I got married before I came to Canada. Now what?
Mark Holthe 25:44
Well, we've got a little bit of help here, at least from immigration policy.
Alicia Backman-Beharry 25:49
Yeah, there's not a ton of detail here, but this is what IRCC has published under, under their operation manuals, express entry assessing an electronic application under Section A, 11.2 and so if you go here and you scroll down to changes to family composition, this is where the rubber hits the road when they talk about, okay, what happens if there is a change in circumstances? And this also applies to birth of kids. So you will note that when you're signing that declaration page and your eapr, that big, long page where you have to say, I agree, there's a section about notifying IRCC for material changes in your circumstances. Getting married, getting divorced, having a child, are all material changes in your family circumstances. You must declare it now. This is where there's a interesting kind of combination of family law and spousal sponsorships, kind of baked into an Express Entry application, because the rule in terms of Section regulation four, in terms of marriages of convenience also applies when you're looking at all of a sudden a principal applicant says, oh, you know, I submitted my Express Entry application. I got the benefit of an ita as a single applicant. I submitted my application under got my eapr in as a single applicant. And now I'm going to say that five days after I submitted my eapr, I got married, and I want to add that person to my application immigration right away is going to have some questions about whether that's a marriage of convenience, whether you're getting married, and The primary purpose of marrying is to obtain an immigration privilege,
Mark Holthe 27:45
exactly, and you can see here Alicia. And this is also something that people don't fully understand. Sometimes, even if your spouse is listed as non accompanying, you go down that route, all family members must be examined as part of the eapr. So if you've got a spouse that maybe got themselves a DUI or something in a in Canada or abroad, and you're you're applying for permanent residence, that that family member can make you inadmissible, and it can throw everything off. But immigration medicals are also a requirement within this process, and so you can see here, it's just, it's a part this examination has to be, has to be undertaken, whether or not they're accompanying the principal applicant or not. And you know, and one thing we do know is that you can add a family member to your application at any time during the process, including after the visa is issued, but before you complete the landing. But how immigration treats it for the purposes of the comprehensive ranking system eligibility for the permanent resident programs? That's a different story.
Alicia Backman-Beharry 28:54
Yeah, and this is so I talk about this in my article. But again, regulation 117, sub nine, sub D raises its ugly head. And the reason why this is so important, why it is absolutely not an option to try to hide the fact that you got married, is there is this nasty regulation that says, if at the time that the principal applicant becomes a permanent resident, you have not declared a family member, and that family member has not been examined. So that means, you know, medically examined as well as had their police certificates, background security check. Then if, let's say, you sneak by under the radar and IRCC doesn't realize that you are actually married, and you become a PR, and then later on, you try to say, Oh, but I was actually married that family member under regulation, 117, sub nine, sub d, is forever barred from being considered a member of your family class. It is a draconian provision. It is really, really bad, and you need to make sure that you always declare your family members for this purpose, even if. They're not a company.
Mark Holthe 30:01
Yeah, there's nothing worse than realizing that, because you didn't disclose your spouse, that now you're going to be separated from them. And as lawyers, when people come to us, it's really difficult. You know, in some instances there, there are some applications that you can file in very unique circumstances, but generally it is a very, very steep hill to climb to try to overcome the statutory bar. So this is not something to take lightly. And whether it's a spouse or a dependent child, both you need to make sure that you're you're fully disclosing and that they're being examined in accordance with IRCC requirements.
Alicia Backman-Beharry 30:43
Yeah. And then the last thing under a 11.2 is even if you've done it properly, even if, let's say it was legitimate, you were a principal applicant. You got married six months after you filed your eapr. You tell IRCC about it, you add your family, you add your new spouse to your Express Entry application, you basically have to do a mini spousal sponsorship inside your Express Entry application, prove that it was a genuine marriage. It wasn't entered into for immigration purposes. Here's your proof, here's your bona fides, showing that was a legitimate marriage, even if you've done all that properly and it doesn't change your points assessment. That person has to be examined, and you've got to make sure that they are still eligible. If, if that person cannot be included in your application, then just like Mark was saying, you would have to turn around and sponsor them later, right? Sometimes adding a spouse is going to change whether you have to prove settlement funds. So that's something that could affect your application. So be careful with when you add a spouse, is that going to change your eligibility and whether you have to prove settlement funds? Remember, you only have to prove settlement funds if you're not drawn under CEC, so if you're drawn under FSW, and take a look at my article on arranged employment points under FSW, because even though there's no arranged employment points under CRS, score anymore, those arranged employment points, and if you're drawn under FSW, could make the difference of not having to prove settlement funds under an FSW ITA. And if some of
Mark Holthe 32:18
you are wondering, where are all these articles Alicia is talking about, you can just go to our firm website, and when you are there, you can go to our blog and resources, and then within all of these articles are contained within our immigration blog, and you can just search for the keywords and pull up the articles that Alicia is referring to. One thing I want to add as well that a lot of people ask, is okay? Well, what's the difference between, you know, the timing of adding a spouse. So the big issue with listing a spouse as non accompanying is because you are married and you have a spouse at the time in which you receive your invitation to apply and you file your eapr if you list that spouse as non accompanying and submit your electronic application for permanent residence if they truly are not accompanying and you can demonstrate that that's the fact, then the application proceeds forward, but then people will ask, well, what if I change my mind and I want to add my spouse? And it's at that stage that then IRCC, in the beginning, Alicia, they didn't do this, because I remember I had a couple of presentations I gave at our national CBA conferences, and had lots of discussions with the heads of express entry. And they, you know, they, they, they basically allowed people to then add their spouse after, and they didn't reassess the comprehensive ranking system score so someone could list their spouses non accompanying, get the high, the full 40 points as a single individual. And then after they file their eapr, then later say, Oh, I changed my mind. Now I want to add my spouse in. And so people would do that. And it did not take IRCC very long to adjust their policy to then say, Okay, any of you who were who were married or had a common law partner who did listed them as non accompanying and now are changing your mind, they will be reassessed. And it's interesting, because at the time in which you notify them, hey, now I want to add my spouse. Then people ask, Well, okay, can I have them write the language test now and try to add this in? Because I was drawn in a round of invitations that it was so low that if I had included my spouse, I still would have been drawn. So these are some of the these are some of the things that you have to factor in. And so back to that kind of scenario. People will say, Well, if my spouse wrote their language test, I know they would have scored a CLB nine and gotten all 20 points, and my CRS score with them would have been high enough, you know. And so you've got people that are trying to scramble. They're trying to write the tests, they're trying to get ECAs so that they can now add their spouse as a company and things guys are locked in, generally speaking, at the time in which you get your ITA and so express entry does not afford a lot of opportunities for people to just. Add new documents to the mix. Now, there may be some circumstances right where maybe a police clearance isn't ready at the time, in which you submit your eapr, and you've used best efforts. And you know, immigration does have discretion to allow documents after but this becomes a real challenge for people. However, if you decide to get married after you submit your eapr. What this is saying here in the policy is that Section A 11.2 does not apply when an applicant adds a family member to the application after the eapr. However, the family member will, of course, have to be assessed, and the principal applicant must provide IRCC with additional Family Information Form and pay the fee. Well, the assessment is really an examination in the case of adding a spouse who you just married after you submitted the eapr. But like I said, if you were previously married listed originally your spouse is not a company, and then wanted to change that to a company, then they will assess the comprehensive ranking system, and if you fall below your round of invitation score, if your CRS score is assessed at a level lower than that round of round of invitations, then your application will be refused. Yep.
Alicia Backman-Beharry 36:15
So this is why, this is why there are many variations of what can go wrong so it can either make or break your CRS score. To really understand what's happening with spousal points. Who's a spouse? Do you have a spouse or common law partner, making your sure you're correct on that, making sure you're correct on listing whether that person's accompanying or not accompanying, and then having a very solid understanding of how it affects your eligibility under FSW, or how it affects your CRS score, yeah.
Mark Holthe 36:44
And ultimately, if you're if you've made a mistake, your eapr has already been submitted, then you need to take action as quickly as possible, to update through a web form to correct the mistakes. The letters of explanation that we use with our clients and that I teach people in the courses are very, very specific. I don't spend, you know, 10 pages to explain something. It's very focused and really to the point. But if you have made a mistake, then there may be a possibility to to correct things. If you notify IRCC as quickly as possible about the error and then provide whatever is needed to, you know, to rectify it. But understand immigration, they have been very cruel lately, and if they don't accept the explanation, then you can see applications get refused, for sure. All right. Thank you everybody for tuning in with us today. In this episode of the Canadian immigration podcast, our Express Entry getting it right series, if you have a topic that you think we should discuss, something you'd like to learn about, or information that is really current within the world of immigration that you want us to cover, just send an email to mark at Canadian immigration institute.com and I'd be happy to field your inquiry. And we've been receiving a number of requests from other individuals that have been expressing a desire to come join us on the podcast, and we're always open to to having guests as well. All right, thank you, Alicia, for joining us, and we're, I guess, wrapped up for this episode. Okay, take care, everyone.
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