Having never applied for a visa before, I felt quite overwhelmed by all of the information out there. Some sources were helpful, some were confusing, and ultimately, a mix of both helped me understand the process.
In this post I will summarise the application and arrival process, and share what my partner and I experienced at each step. This isn’t legal advice—official details are on the Canadian government website—but you can use this as a helpful reference for your own visa application experience.
Creating a profile and submitting it to the pool
Once you have decided to apply for a visa, the first official step is to create an IEC profile and get your name in the pool. The pool operates as a sort of “lottery” system–each week a set of names are drawn and invited to apply for a visa.
There is a separate pool for each eligible county, and the number of names varies each week, making it hard to predict how long you will be waiting in the pool. The pools open at the start of the year (no set date) and will close when all of the visa spots are taken. This year the UK pool opened in mid-January and closed towards the end of October, but this is different for each country.
Once you are in the pool, you should start getting all the documents ready for your application. Some documents might take a while to get, like a police certificate, and once you have been invited to apply you have a limited amount of time to get everything submitted. A full list of required documents can be found on the Canadian government website. Below, I’ll share a bit more about what I needed for my application.
Receiving an invitation to apply
My partner and I were ready and waiting for the pools to open in January. As soon as they opened we created our profiles and got our names in. Two weeks later my partner received his invitation to apply (ITA), and the following week so did I.
You have a set number of days to accept the ITA, and once accepted, you have 20 days to complete your application and submit all documents.
The actual application
First, you need to fill out the online forms on your IRCC profile. They contain all kinds of questions you would expect, personal details etc. Once that is done, you can start to upload your supporting documents.
There is a document checklist on the website that is pretty clear to follow. Most documents are pretty straightforward–passport, digital photo, family information etc–but some are a little bit more nuanced. The requirement for CV/resume, for example, is slightly different from a CV you would use to apply for jobs. The purpose of this CV is to provide a chronological list of your work/study history from the age of 18, with a focus on what you were doing and where, rather than to sell yourself to a potential employer. This will be compared to the job and education history you fill out on your profile so make sure they match!
The final document that might take a bit of time to get is the police certificate, these are needed for any country you’ve lived in for over six months. As the process to get one of these differs per country, I can only talk about my experience in the UK. I was able to order a certificate online on the ACRO website after filling out some personal details, address history, uploading a photo, and paying the fee. After about two weeks, it arrived in the post. I was slightly concerned it wouldn’t arrive before the 20 day deadline, but thankfully there is an option to provide proof you have made a request for a certificate if it doesn’t arrive on time.
Once everything is uploaded and all of the details are filled in, the final step of the process is of course paying the fee (when I applied this cost around £100).
Getting biometrics
Biometrics is just a fancy term for fingerprints, the final thing needed to complete the IEC application. Within 24 hours of submitting your application, you will receive a biometrics instruction letter (BIL) that gives you a bit more information on how and where to give your biometrics. You need to print this letter off and bring it with you, if not they will send you away!
Frustratingly, the only place you can do biometrics in the UK is London. We found that they were super strict with appointment times, and the office was super busy, so make sure you get there on time and have physical copies of everything you need.
Receiving a Letter of Introduction
Application done, biometrics done, now it’s just a waiting game!
On your portal you can track the current processing times, giving you an idea of how long you might be waiting. Depending on seemingly random factors, the processing time fluctuates quite a lot–I’ve seen anything from two to ten weeks. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long. About three/four weeks after applying we both received our Port of Entry (PoE) Letters of Introduction to our accounts (this is the paper work you bring with you, you get the actual visa once in Canada).
Finding medical insurance
Healthcare insurance will probably be your biggest upfront cost. Unfortunately this is unavoidable.
There are a few companies that offer similar coverage/prices and after browsing the options we went with a company named True Traveller. This site offered 3 different insurance packages covering different types of activities. Sadly, none of the packages provided coverage for winter sports (skiing/snowboarding etc), as we planned to work in a ski resort we had to add this coverage on top.
When choosing your insurance, make sure you read the fine print to see what is covered. If you are an adrenaline junkie, you might want to consider a package with greater coverage!
Getting prepared with an arrival checklist
Every person’s arrival story differs. Depending on what airport you fly into, which immigration officer you see, if they have had their coffee or not, it’s impossible to predict exactly what documents they will ask for. So, as a general rule, make sure you have them all!
According to the official guidance you need:
- Port of Entry (PoE) Letter of Introduction
- Proof of sufficient financial resources (minimum C$2,500)
- Proof of valid health-care insurance
Let’s break these down a little bit.
IRCC will send a PoE letter to your account if your application has been successful. You need to bring a printed copy of this letter with you, I recommend downloading this letter once you receive it, ready to print when you can get access to a printer. Word of warning: the IRCC website has a tendency to crash so don’t leave it until the last minute to download and print your POE letter!
For proof of financial resources, a recent bank statement will do the job. If you have online banking you can easily download and print off a statement from the last month. Don’t forget the minimum value required is in Canadian dollars, if you are from the UK this is about £1,330 (based on exchange rate in Oct 2025).
And finally, proof of healthcare insurance. This is hugely important to get right. You will only be given a visa for the length of your health insurance coverage. For example, if you are eligible for a two-year IEC visa but your health insurance is only for one year, you will only be given a visa that lasts for one year. We saw a very frustrated person make this mistake when we arrived in Calgary–they had only purchased three months of health insurance coverage. Thankfully, the immigration officer was understanding and gave them the chance to buy additional coverage. But this would be a hefty unexpected sum of money to spend at the start of your Canadian adventure!
My final word of advice: make sure you have all of these documents printed off and in your hand luggage (I don’t think I need to go into the risks of checked luggage getting lost).
Deciding where to fly
As we didn’t have jobs lined up before we flew to Canada, we weren’t restricted to any specific city. We ultimately decided to fly into Calgary for a few reasons.
Firstly, the affordability. The short term rentals in Calgary and overall cost of living is much cheaper than places like Vancouver, making it a great base to stay while we figured everything out.
Next, the location. We had a rough plan to spend the summer exploring the Rockies and British Columbia, being located just to the east of the Rockies Calgary was a great place to start.
The final deciding factor was flight options. We had read advice against flying through the US when trying to activate a visa, ruling out some options. And we understood that wherever you land in Canada will be where you need to go through immigration. So, with the uncertainty of immigration wait times, we didn’t want to risk missing a connecting flight and decided a direct flight would be the safest option. With direct flights from the UK, Calgary it was.
Our arrival story
With all the required documents ready in my trusted wallet (and some extras we definitely didn’t need), my partner and I were as ready as we could be for a smooth immigration process.
When we landed, we were funnelled into the arrival area with everyone else and directed to one of many passport scanning machines. After entering in a few details it printed us off tickets to show to an officer at the exit of the area, who then directed us to the immigration office. After collecting our bags, that is where we headed.
We collected a number ticket at the office entrance and waited to be called. It was fairly quiet with only a few other people waiting, and after about 20 minutes we were called to the desk. The officer was straight to the point–she asked for our POE letters, passports and insurance (not for proof of funds) and told us to sit back down. After about 10 minutes, she handed us our visas. Easy!
We double checked all the details were correct (we had been warned to do this before leaving the airport) and everything was correct. We breathed a sigh of relief, and off we went.
If you are considering applying for an IEC visa I hope you find my story helpful, and I wish you the best of luck!