Affected by US halt on immigration applications from 19 countries? Consider Canada’s Express Entry

On December 2, 2025, the Trump administration put an indefinite pause on the processing of immigration applications submitted by nationals from 19 countries deemed “high risk.”

Included in this pause are green card applications, meaning nationals from affected countries such as Haiti, Somalia, and Venezuela—who applied for US permanent residence (PR)—will see their applications in limbo for an indeterminate period.

Skilled workers from the impacted countries may find a viable immigration alternative in Canada’s points-based Express Entry system, which remains open for all nationalities.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry streams

Which countries are subject to the US’s application processing pause?

Expand the list below to see the complete list of countries subject to the application processing pause.

How to be considered under Express Entry

Express Entry is Canada’s flagship system for selecting skilled workers for PR.

You cannot directly apply for PR through Express Entry; rather, you must receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) from the federal government.

This requires creating an Express Entry profile and entering the Express Entry candidate pool, which is dependent on meeting the eligibility criteria for one of these three programs:

• Canadian Experience Class* (CEC);
• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP); or
• Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

*Under CEC, you need at least one year of skilled Canadian work experience in the last three years. Visit this webpage to learn about Canadian work permits.

Canada evaluates your strength as an Express Entry candidate using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which assigns points based on factors such as your age, education, language proficiency, and both Canadian and foreign work experience.

You can score up to 1,200 points under the CRS. The Canadian government routinely holds Express Entry draws, inviting candidates with the highest CRS scores to apply for PR.

But you can still get an invitation with a lower score if you are invited through category-based draws, as these generally have lower CRS cut-off scores than other draw types. In fact, if you don’t have Canadian work experience or a provincial nomination, this route may offer the best chance at receiving an ITA.

This year, the government has primary held program-specific draws or category-based draws.

To quickly and easily calculate your CRS score, you can use CanadaVisa’s free CRS calculator tool.

For a more in-depth breakdown of the CRS, visit our article on the topic.

*If you get a provincial nomination through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), you receive 600 points toward your CRS score in Express Entry and benefit from accelerated application processing. Most PNP streams, however, require you to have a connection to the province to be considered for a nomination—such as having worked or studied there.

What are category-based draws?

Category-based rounds target candidates who meet Canada’s immigration objectives, as identified by Canada’s immigration minister and immigration department.

Canada currently has six Express Entry categories—five of which are occupational and one that is language-based:

• Healthcare and social services;
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM);
• Trade;
• Agriculture and agri-food;
• Education; and
• French-language proficiency.

To be eligible for an occupational category-based draw, you need to meet the minimum criteria for Express Entry, including being eligible for one of its three immigration programs.

In addition, you need to have at least six months of continuous, full-time (or equivalent part-time) work experience in a single eligible occupation within the last three years. This experience can be gained inside or outside Canada.

To see which specific occupations are eligible under each category, visit our dedicated webpage on category-based selection.

To be invited in a French draw, you need to have French-language test results showing you meet a Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) level 7 or higher across all four language abilities—reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

As previously mentioned, category-based draws typically see lower CRS cut-off scores compared with other draws. They have also made up the bulk of ITA issuances in 2025 thus far (60,250 out of 94,476 total issuances).

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) may introduce three new occupational categories in 2026, including leadership and management roles, research and academia, and military personnel.

You can view the table below to get a sense of the CRS cut-off scores by draw type in 2025 thus far, both for category-based draws and other draw types.

See how competitive your Express Entry profile is

Fictional profiles that would qualify to immigrate through Express Entry

Example 1

Cenalia is a single 29-year-old Libyan national who has worked in Libya as a secondary school teacher for the last five years.

She has two educational credentials, including a two-year diploma and a four-year Bachelor of Education.

Cenalia has excellent English language skills but does not know any French. She also has no Canadian work experience.

Her goal is to immigrate to Alberta through category-based selection to live closer to her brother who is a Canadian permanent resident.

Core human capital for a primary applicant with no spouse: 374/500

Skill transferability: 100/100

Additional factors: 15/600

Based on her qualifications, Cenalia has a CRS score of 489.

With this CRS score, Cenalia could have qualified for both the Education draws held by IRCC  this year. If she had a valid Express Entry profile at that time, Cenalia would have likely received an ITA.

Example 2

Khin is a 31-year-old male Myanmar national living in the US under temporary protected status, where he has been working as a cybersecurity specialist for three years.

He is proficient in both English and French, though has slightly better English-language abilities.

He has a PhD in computer science, and no Canadian work experience.

He hopes to immigrate to Canada through a STEM or French-proficiency draw.

Core human capital for a primary applicant with no spouse: 385/500

Skill transferability: 100/100

Additional factors: 50/600

Based on his qualifications, Khin has a CRS score of 535.

With a CRS score of 535, Khin could have qualified for any of the eight French draws conducted by IRCC this year if he had a valid Express Entry profile, and would have likely gotten an ITA.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry streams