Can you make changes to your profile after getting an ITA for Canada Express Entry?

In an earlier blog, we had focused on the next steps you will need to take once you receive your ITA for your Express Entry application, but what if you find out that you will have to update your profile or make changes to it after you receive your ITA? Ideally it is best to make changes to your Express Entry profile before you receive your ITA, for this you should make changes to your profile as soon as there are changes.

This will avoid the necessity of making changes later on and alsoincrease your CRS score so that you become eligible for any of the Express Entry programs. But making changes in your profile after you receive your ITA may be a little difficult.This is because once your profile is recorded in the Express Entry system, it is automatically in the Global Case Management System (GCMS).

What you can do

Prior to submitting your Express Entry application for permanent residence, you should ensure that the correct information is entered, failure to do so may affect your plans to migrate to Canada. If theImmigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada(IRCC) finds out that you have not provided the correct information, you may be banned from applying for Canada immigration for upto five years.

The IRCC will review your application and provide a decision on your immigration application, before this they will verify if your application is complete and the contents of your documents. If the IRCC finds out that your application is incomplete, it can return your application which is different from refusal of your application.

In case you cannot furnish all the documents that are required to support your application then you can choose to decline your ITA. This is better than not responding to the ITA.

The good news is that even if you decline your ITA your profile will still exist in the Express Entry pool till its validity. Under this rule, you will still be eligible for an Express Entry managed program and if you have the required CRS score in an Express Entry draw, you can be selected.

However, if you do not submit your response in 90 days, your ITA will no longer be valid and be present in the Express Entry pool. In such a case, you can get back into the Express Entry pool but must submit a new profile if you are still eligible for an Express Entry linked program.

In case you are not able to submit all the required documents, you can submit a letter of explanation (LOE) to the government saying that you made every possible attempt to get the required documents on time but it was not possible. The government will consider the LOES on a case-by-case basis and the immigration officer will give the final verdict.

The wise option is not to decline the ITA because by doing so, you will have to re-enter the Express Entry pool and wait for an invitation. Of course, you can try to improve your CRS scoreto increase your chances of getting invited again.

The best advice we can give you is to submit a complete and accurate profile in your first Express Entry application itself so that you are not in a situation where you get an ITA and are compelled to decline it.