Step 1
Reference Code

Step 2
GCKey Account

Step 3
Create Profile

Step 4
Invitation

Step 5
Application

Step 6
Biometrics

Step 7
POE

Step 8
Activate

Step 4: Wait for an invitation

What are my chances to receive an invitation?

  • It always depends on the number of applicants in the pool and how many spots are left. That’s why you can’t calculate the chances. At the beginning of the season, the chances are very good. The later in the year, the lower the chances, because there are fewer and fewer spots.
  • An invitation can come right in the first round of invitations, only in the next round, after several weeks, several months or never. It’s just a lottery. 
  • Only the first round and last round of invitation in the season is announced. During the season there are many rounds where a number of invitations are sent out, usually weekly. 
  • During the entire season of about 11 months, the pool numbers will fluctuate and from experience there are always more invitations than there are spots available. For example for the UK pool in the IEC 2022 season, there were more than double the invitations. The reason is, that many applicants:
    • decline an invitation
    • miss the deadline of an invitation or application
    • withdraw their application
    • are getting refused for any reasons

Every week on Friday, the pool is updated with the new numbers.

To find out the chances for your country

Click here

Prepare for the application

A good preparation is half the work! To save you time with the application, you can make a few preparations before receiving the invitation.

Passport

  • From your current, valid passport, scan the photo page and all pages where there are marks, dates or stamps into a PDF file.
  • You will only have one upload spot for the passport, so merge all pages into one PDF file. 
  • You can do this online with PDF Merge.

Police Certificate

  • Apply for a police certificate from all countries in which you have been for more than 6 months in a row since the age of 18.
  • No matter if you were there as a tourist, student or worker. The time of stay counts.
  • Wait with the police certificate from your home country or where you currently live, because it is valid for only 6 months.
  • You can find out how to apply for the police certificate from the respective countries >here< on the official website.
  • You will only have one upload spot for all police certificates, so merge all certificates into one file if you have more from several countries. You can do this online with PDF Merge.
  • You can find many more questions about the police certificate >here< in an extra info post.

Work History:

  • On a piece of paper create an informal, monthly, complete list of your jobs. Then you only transfer the data into the application when time comes. 
  • Start with the most recent job and go back up to your 18th birthday. 
  • The Work History in the application will ask about your jobs in the last 10 years. But you should list everything back to the age of 18. So that there is no misunderstanding or missing information. 
  • List everything without any gaps. 
  • If you have been to school or studied, traveled or were unemployed, list everything and month by month. The selection in the application will then be “Student” and “Unemployed”. There will be no “Travelling” as a choice in the drop down list.
  • Part-time jobs that you had during school or university can be omitted because your main occupation was “student”. 
  • You can also leave out jobs that only lasted a few days. Specify everything that went on for more than a month. 
  • Be aware, if there are gaps in the work history or in the CV/résumé, the processing agent will request a more extensive travel history via a special form. This is a very annoying form to fill out and will delay the application by weeks. You should definitely avoid that…. Therefore, the emphasis again:
    • Do not leave any gaps in the work history!

An example of the work history, you start with the latest (most recent) entry:
05/2022 – ongoing Unemployed
02/2021 – 05/2022 Customer Service
06/2020 – 01/2021 Unemployed
09/2016 – 06/2020 Student

CV/résumé

  • This is a document that you need to upload. Either in PDF or Word. 
  • Create your CV that goes back to the age of 18.
  • Start with the most recent date.
  • It must match the information in the Work History.
  • There is no specific required format for the Resume, there are many Resume templates on the Internet you can download.
  • This CV/résumé is not intended to apply for a job. The government just wants to see what you have been doing since the age of 18 and where you have been. 

  • IRCC processing officers do not judge your resume or work history. You could have been unemployed for 10 years and it won’t matter. 

Photo:

  • The official requirement as a screenshot for you below.
  • Taking the photo at a photographer is safest, because the dimensions are set correctly.
  • But it doesn’t necessarily have to be a professional photo. There are “Passport Photo Apps” for mobile phones. There you select the settings for Canada, stand in front of a white background and another person should take the photo.
  • Then crop the photo exactly to the required dimensions, if necessary.

Family Information Form:

  • This form is part of the required documents, but this form should not be filled out in advance!
  • You’ll have to wait, because you always have to download the latest version. Only when you have received an invitation, you will receive the download link to the current version in the document list of your application.
  • To check out what the Family Information Form IMM 5707 looks like, you can download the current version > here <
  • If you are having trouble downloading or opening the Family Information Form IMM 5707 or any PDF, > here < are some tricks and settings. 

A few more words that will hopefully put your mind at ease. 

  • Don’t be intimidated by all the required documents and information.
  • The entire process with its many questions is a combination of your time of “working” and “travelling”, i.e. an overview of your life. The government mainly wants to know where you have been.
  • If the processing officer is not satisfied with something, or needs more information, they will request more documents.
  • The Canadian government or processing officer doesn’t judge or make application decisions based on your personal life.
    • It doesn’t matter if you worked your entire life or were unemployed most part of it.
    • It doesn’t matter if you just finished High School or have many years of experience on a job or even have a PhD. 
    • Every applicant in the International Experience Canada (IEC) is treated equally. 
Next Step: Application
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