Your e-APR after an ITA

Getting an Invitation to Apply (ITA) is a big moment, and it is completely normal to feel a rush of excitement and nerves at the same time. The next step is your electronic Application for Permanent Residence, usually called the e-APR. It is long, but it is very doable when you take it one section at a time. This guide walks you through it, and our program guides add the details that only apply to you: the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program and provincial nominees.

Your 60-day deadline

Your invitation is valid for 60 calendar days. The message in your IRCC account tells you which program you were invited under and what to do next. Some documents, especially police certificates and medical exams, can take weeks, so it helps to start them right away rather than leaving them until the form is finished.

The e-APR, step by step

1. 01

   Open your application

   Sign in to your IRCC account, go to “Continue my profile / application, not yet submitted”, and choose the blue “Continue application” button on the permanent residency row.

2. 02

   Check what was carried over

   Your e-APR is pre-filled from your Express Entry profile. Check every answer, update anything that has changed, and answer the new questions about your family and your background.

3. 03

   Get your personal checklist

   Once the form is complete, the system gives you a personalized document checklist based on your answers, with an upload field for each document and each family member.

4. 04

   Upload your documents

   Scan clear copies in a format IRCC accepts and upload one into each field. Add translations where a document is not in English or French.

5. 05

   Pay your fees

   Pay online with a credit or debit card. At a minimum you must pay the processing fees, and IRCC asks you to pay the biometrics fee too.

6. 06

   Submit

   The system will not let you submit until every mandatory field is filled in and every required document is uploaded. When you submit, IRCC records the date and sends your AOR to your account.

One question often confuses people: the form asks whether you have applied to IRCC before, and whether you have applied for Express Entry before. IRCC says an Express Entry profile on its own does not count, even if you were invited. Answer “yes” only for full applications you actually submitted, such as a visa, a permit, or an earlier e-APR.

What the form asks about

Documents everyone needs

Your checklist is personal, so it may differ a little from this list. These are the documents IRCC treats as mandatory, or mandatory when they apply to you. An application missing a mandatory document can be rejected as incomplete, which means your fees are refunded but you need a new profile and a new invitation.

Police certificates without the stress

• For the country where you live now, the certificate must be issued no more than 6 months before you submit.
• For any other country, it must be issued after the last time you stayed there for 6 months or more in a row. An older certificate with an expiry date that has passed can still be accepted if it meets that rule.
• You do not need certificates for time before you turned 18 or for time in Canada. After you apply, an officer can still ask for certificates from any time in your life since you were 18.
• Some countries only issue a certificate after IRCC sends a request letter. In that case, upload a document in the police certificate field saying: “I am applying from a country that requires an official request letter from IRCC to get a police certificate”.
• If a certificate will not arrive by your deadline, upload a letter of explanation and proof of your best efforts (a receipt, a tracking number or a note from the agency) in that country’s field. An officer decides whether it is enough.

Your medical exam

For Express Entry, IRCC requires an upfront medical exam: you get it after your invitation and before you submit. Contact a panel physician on IRCC’s list directly (your own doctor cannot do it), and book only one appointment. Bring your passport, glasses if you wear them, and any reports about existing conditions. The physician gives you an information printout sheet or an IMM 1017B Upfront Medical Report form to upload. Results are valid for 12 months, so book as close as you sensibly can to the date you plan to submit.

Fees

• Example: a couple with one child pays $1,590 + $1,590 + $270 = $3,450, plus $170 for biometrics, so $3,620 in all.
• Before April 30, 2026, the fees were $950 for processing, $575 for the right of permanent residence and $260 per child. If you see older amounts quoted elsewhere, they are out of date.
• You can pay the right of permanent residence fee later, but IRCC cannot approve your application until it is paid, so paying it now avoids delays. It is refunded if you withdraw or are refused.
• If your application is incomplete, IRCC rejects it and refunds your fees. Once processing starts, the processing fee is not refunded.

Letters of explanation

A letter of explanation is simply a short, signed note that tells the officer something your documents cannot. Keep it factual and calm, and attach proof where you can. Common reasons to upload one:

• A police certificate is delayed: explain when you requested it and attach the receipt.
• You do not need proof of funds: say you were invited under the Canadian Experience Class, or that you are authorized to work in Canada and have a valid job offer.
• You are working on maintained (implied) status while a work permit extension is pending: IRCC’s help centre says to include copies of your permit application with a letter of explanation.
• A document does not exist in your country, such as a birth certificate: explain why and offer the closest official alternative.
• You used another name, or a period in your history needs context.

If you need to combine several items for one upload field, merge them into one file. Your checklist also has an optional field for documents that do not fit anywhere else.

Organise your e-APR like a pro

IRCC does not tell you how to organise your files, but applicants who stay calm through the e-APR tend to share a few habits. These are good practice from the community, not IRCC rules:

• On invitation day, save your personal document checklist as a PDF and name your folders after its upload fields.
• Make one folder per person (you, then your spouse or partner), split each into mandatory and optional documents, then one numbered folder per upload field, in the order the portal shows them.
• Use one naming pattern for every file, such as Name_DocumentType_Detail, so nothing gets mixed up.
• Merge each upload field into one PDF that opens with a short cover page: the document title and a small contents table with the page range of each part.
• Keep your original scans, and upload a compressed copy marked Final, so you never upload the wrong version.
• Write a Client information letter for each person that lists everything they submitted, and put each letter of explanation inside the upload field whose documents it explains.
• Document every job you declare, even ones that earn you no points, and explain any unusual bank deposit or transfer in a short proof of funds letter.
• If a police certificate is still on its way, upload proof that you applied, your fingerprint receipt and the tracking number, and say you will send the certificate as soon as it arrives.

What a strong reference letter contains

IRCC’s instructions to officers say a reference letter is on company letterhead and shows your name as in your passport, the company’s address, phone and email, the name, title and signature of your supervisor or a personnel officer, every position you held with its duties, your dates, your weekly hours, and your annual salary plus benefits. Letters that go a little further are easier to assess:

• Duties written to match the lead statement and main duties of your NOC code, grouped under clear headings.
• Full-time or part-time status spelled out, and who you reported to.
• Proof of pay alongside the letter, such as pay stubs and, for Canadian jobs, your T4 slips and notices of assessment.

If your name differs across documents

A name can differ between a degree, an old record and your current passport, for example after a legal name change. Explain it before an officer has to ask:

• Upload the legal proof of the change, such as a sworn affidavit and, where your country publishes one, the government gazette notice. If your checklist has a field for a name change document, use it; otherwise upload it with the document it explains.
• Add a short letter of explanation: your name at birth, when and how it changed, and which documents carry which name.
• If a document is not in English or French, upload all three together: a copy of the original, the English or French translation, and the translator’s affidavit. Sending only the translation can get the application refused.

What to save, and why

• Your invitation letter: it shows your score breakdown and your 60-day deadline.
• The submission confirmation page, the payment confirmation and the fee receipt, saved on the day you submit.
• Your Acknowledgement of Receipt letter: its date starts your processing clock, and its application number is what you quote every time you contact IRCC.
• A digital copy of everything you uploaded, in one folder, in case IRCC asks for something again.

Declaring your family honestly

You must declare your spouse or common-law partner and all your dependent children, whether or not they are coming to Canada with you. A dependent child is generally under 22 and without a spouse or partner, or 22 or older and unable to support themselves because of a mental or physical condition, having depended on their parents since before 22. Everyone you declare must have a medical exam, and adults need police certificates, even if they are staying behind.

Misrepresentation: why accuracy matters

Every document must back up what you claimed in your profile and your e-APR. If you are not truthful, IRCC may refuse your application, find you inadmissible and bar you from applying for 5 years. Honest mistakes happen; if you notice one, correct it before you submit, or tell IRCC through its web form afterwards. Never pay anyone to create or “improve” a document for you.

If you were invited in a category round

A category round, such as healthcare, trades or French-language proficiency, invites you, but you still apply under the program named in your invitation (for example, the Canadian Experience Class or the Federal Skilled Worker Program), and you must meet that program’s requirements too. IRCC’s instructions to officers say they check that you met the category’s criteria both when you were invited and when your e-APR was received. For an occupation category, your documents need to show at least the required months of work in that occupation, doing the actions in the NOC lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties, including all the essential ones. Unauthorized work does not count. See our guide to the 2026 categories for each category’s rules.

After you submit

1. 01

   Acknowledgement of Receipt

   The system sends your AOR to your account automatically when you submit. IRCC then checks that your application is complete.

2. 02

   Biometrics

   If you are 14 to 79, you give fingerprints and a photo for every PR application, even if you gave them before. When your application is complete, IRCC sends a biometrics instruction letter, and you have 30 days from the date on the letter to give them.

3. 03

   Requests for more documents

   If an officer needs something, you get a message in your account. Upload it under “Check full application status”, then “View submitted application”. Documents nobody asked for go through IRCC’s web form.

4. 04

   Keep IRCC updated

   Use the web form to report a birth, marriage or divorce, a new address or representative, a changed job or job offer, new language results or a new credential, or if your nomination is withdrawn.

5. 05

   Decision

   IRCC decides based on your eligibility, medical exam, police certificates and background checks. If you are approved, make sure the right of permanent residence fee is paid, and you receive your Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR).

• Withdrawing: if you decide not to continue, tell IRCC through its web form. The right of permanent residence fee is refunded; the processing fee is not once processing has started.
• Your work permit is ending? You may be eligible for a bridging open work permit so you can keep working while you wait.
• IRCC’s service standard is to decide 80% of complete Express Entry applications within 6 months.

Getting ready for the PR confirmation portal

If you are in Canada when you are approved, IRCC invites you to its PR confirmation portal. There you confirm that you are physically in Canada, give your Canadian mailing address and upload a digital photo for your first PR card. Without an address your application is delayed, so have it ready.

• Good habit: before you open the portal, prepare one sheet per person with the details you may be asked for, such as your UCI, your name exactly as in your passport, your email and phone, your address and the dates you entered Canada. Then you simply copy them across.
• Check your photo against IRCC’s permanent resident photo rules before you upload it, so your PR card is not delayed.