Got an Invitation to Apply? What to Do in Your 60 Days

The message in your IRCC account tells you which program you have been invited under and what to do next. From that moment you have 60 days to submit a complete application. IRCC says the invitation is valid for 60 days only.

If the 60 days pass and you have neither applied nor declined, the invitation expires and your profile is removed from the pool. Getting back in means a new profile, meeting the eligibility rules again and being accepted into the pool again. So the first job is to decide, quickly, whether you are applying or declining.

You were invited on the score your profile showed. If anything has changed for you or your spouse, IRCC says to recalculate before you apply. The usual culprits: a provincial nomination that lapsed, or language results that expired or came back lower on a retest. A job offer no longer adds CRS points, but one that falls through can still affect your eligibility, for example the Federal Skilled Trades requirement or the exemption from proof of funds.

If your real score is now below the lowest score invited in your round, IRCC says to decline. Apply anyway and the application may be refused, and the fee may not be refunded.

If you decline, you go back into the pool and are considered in future rounds, as long as you are still eligible. IRCC is clear that declining does not count against you later. It is also clear that there is no guarantee of another invitation, because the cutoff moves from round to round. Update the profile to show the change, then work on what would lift the score.

Police certificates. You need one from every country where you or a family member aged 18 or over stayed for six months in a row in the last ten years, except Canada. The one for the country you live in now must be issued no more than six months before you submit. Some countries will only issue one when IRCC sends a request letter. Order these on day one, or better, as soon as you enter the pool.

The medical exam. Permanent residence needs an immigration medical exam from a panel physician, for you and for every family member even if they are staying behind. You contact the physician directly and they give you an information printout or an IMM 1017B form to upload. Do not book more than one appointment. If you had an exam in the last five years for a study or work application and you live in Canada, you may be able to reuse it by giving the number.

Once the online form is complete, the system gives you a personal document checklist. Expect it to ask for copies of everything your profile relied on: language results, your educational credential assessment, reference letters for your work, and your passport.

Most applicants also upload police certificates, proof of funds, and birth certificates for any dependent children. Your marital status brings its own paper: a marriage certificate, the common-law union form IMM 5409, a divorce certificate and separation agreement, or a death certificate. If someone is representing you, the Use of a Representative form IMM 5476 goes in too.

Any document that is not in English or French needs a translation stamped by a certified translator, or one accompanied by an affidavit if a certified translator cannot be found, plus a scan of the original the translator worked from. Stamps and seals on the original must be translated as well. You, your family members and your representative cannot do the translating, even if one of you is a translator.

The system lists the fees: the processing fee for you and each family member, the right of permanent residence fee, and the biometrics fee. You pay through your account by card. IRCC says you must pay the processing fee at a minimum when you submit, and that paying everything at once avoids delays later.

For a police certificate that is still on its way when the deadline comes, IRCC allows a letter of explanation plus proof that you did your best to get it on time: a confirmation or payment receipt, a delivery notice, a tracking number, or a note from the issuing agency about the delay. Upload it in that country's police certificate field. An officer decides whether the effort was real, and if not, the application can be rejected as incomplete. This is a fallback, not a plan.

In the first week we confirm the score still clears the cutoff, list every certificate and exam with its lead time, and read each reference letter against the claims in the profile. In our experience, problems at this stage are rarely about eligibility. They are about a letter that says the wrong thing or a document that arrived on day 61.