Receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) through Canada’s Express Entry system is a major milestone for skilled workers aiming for permanent residence. However, accepting an ITA when you’re not fully eligible can lead to refusal, wasted time, and future complications.
In some cases, declining an ITA is the smarter and safer decision. Below, we explain when declining makes sense, how it protects your profile, and what happens next.
Understanding the Express Entry ITA
An ITA is issued to top-ranking candidates in the Express Entry pool based on their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. Once invited, candidates have 60 days to submit a complete and accurate permanent residence application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Submitting an application that does not meet eligibility or documentation requirements can result in refusal — which is far more damaging than declining the invitation.
If you discover errors in your Express Entry profile — such as overstated work experience, education credentials, or language scores — your CRS score may drop once corrected.
If the corrected score falls below the cut-off for your draw, you should decline the ITA to avoid misrepresentation.
Some candidates receive an ITA just weeks before completing the required number of workdays. Immigration authorities calculate experience by exact days worked, not rounded months or years.
If you won’t meet the eligibility threshold before submitting your application, declining allows you to stay in the pool and qualify later.
Language test results must be valid at the time you submit your permanent residence application. If your IELTS, CELPIP, or TEF scores expire before submission — and you cannot retake the test in time — your application will be deemed incomplete.
Declining the ITA prevents automatic refusal and gives you time to update your scores.
Life changes such as marriage, divorce, or adding a dependent can significantly impact your CRS score. If these changes reduce your points below the draw threshold, proceeding with the application may no longer be valid.
Updating your profile and declining the ITA keeps your application truthful and compliant.
Provincial nominations add 600 CRS points, often making the difference between receiving an ITA or not. If your nomination is withdrawn before application submission, your score may no longer qualify.
In this case, declining the ITA is necessary.
Declining an ITA:
Important: If you ignore the ITA and miss the deadline, your profile is removed from the pool and you must create a new one.
An ITA is exciting — but accuracy, eligibility, and readiness matter more than speed. Declining an ITA when you’re not fully prepared is a strategic decision that protects your immigration future and increases your chances of success in a future draw.
No. Declining an ITA does not reduce your chances or penalize your profile in any way.
Yes. As long as your profile remains valid and competitive, you can receive another ITA in a future draw.
There is no official limit, but repeatedly declining without improving your profile may delay your application unnecessarily.
Absolutely. A refusal or misrepresentation finding is far more harmful than declining and waiting.
Yes. You can update work experience, language scores, education, or family details at any time while remaining in the pool.
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