Every document the Express Entry application stage asks for after an ITA, who needs it, the rule that decides acceptance, and an order of work for the 60 days.
An Invitation to Apply starts a 60-day clock, and most of what can go wrong in those 60 days is not eligibility; it is paperwork that took longer to obtain than anyone planned. This is the working checklist: every document the Express Entry application stage normally asks for, who needs it, the rule that decides whether it is accepted, and which items take weeks rather than days. It tells you what to prepare and in what order. Why applications fail when they do is covered in our guide to why applications are rejected after an ITA, and our free after-ITA application plan walks the same stage step by step with your own answers. Every IRCC rule below was checked against IRCC's pages on October 1, 2026, which are listed at the end.
How the 60 days work
IRCC states that an invitation is valid for 60 days only. If you neither submit a complete application nor decline within that time, the invitation expires and your profile is removed from the pool. There is no extension to plan around, which is why the order of work below matters more than the speed of any single step.
- The checklist is personalized. IRCC issues your document checklist after you complete the online application form, so the form is not the last step; it is the step that tells you exactly what to upload. Start it early
- The documents are the ones from your profile, plus more. IRCC asks you to upload copies of the documents your profile relied on, together with police certificates, proof of funds, civil-status documents and any representative form
- You can still decline. If you will not apply, declining is cleaner than letting the invitation lapse
The master checklist
This is the general list. Your personalized IRCC checklist is authoritative for your file; use this table to start the slow items before it arrives.
| Document | Who needs it | The rule that decides acceptance | Time risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passport or travel document | You and each family member | IRCC says to renew a passport that expires within 6 months of the day you apply | Low to high, depending on your issuing country |
| Language test results | Principal applicant (and spouse if claimed) | Less than 2 years old when you complete the profile and again when you submit the application | High if a retest is needed |
| Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) | Anyone claiming foreign education | Issued for immigration purposes and still inside its 5-year validity, as explained in our rejected-after-ITA guide | Medium; a new report takes weeks |
| Proof of work experience | Anyone claiming experience points or eligibility | Employer letters with duties, dates, hours and pay; contracts, pay stubs and tax documents can support them | Medium to high; depends on employers |
| Police certificates | You and each family member aged 18 or over | Every country with a stay of 6 months in a row or longer in the last 10 years; time before 18 and time in Canada excluded | The longest item on most files |
| Immigration medical exam | Per your personalized checklist | By a panel physician; results must be valid when you submit and when permanent residence is granted | Medium; appointment availability varies by city |
| Proof of funds | Federal Skilled Worker and Skilled Trades unless exempt; not Canadian Experience Class | Bank letter with specific contents; funds must be yours and available; borrowed money and property equity do not count | Medium |
| Civil-status documents | As applicable to your family | Birth, marriage, divorce or common-law evidence that matches the forms exactly | Low to high |
| Translations | Any document not in English or French | Translation, translator's affidavit and a certified copy of the original together | Medium |
| Provincial nomination, trade certificate, job offer | Only if you claimed them | The document that supports the claim in your profile | Low |
| Representative form | Only if you use a representative | Submitted with the application | Low |
A suggested order of work
IRCC does not publish a schedule inside the 60 days; this order is ours, built around which items depend on third parties. Adjust it to your own list.
- Days 1 to 3 — start everything with a waiting list. Request every police certificate, book the medical with a panel physician, check that your passport, language test and ECA are all still valid, and ask your employers for letters
- Days 3 to 14 — civil status, funds and translations. Gather birth, marriage and divorce documents, order the bank letter, and send foreign-language documents for translation
- Days 10 to 30 — complete the online form. This generates your personalized checklist; reconcile it against what you have gathered and fill the gaps
- Days 30 to 50 — upload and pay. Scan every document clearly, upload against the checklist items and pay the fees
- The last 10 days — review, then submit with margin. Run a completeness review on the whole package, not item by item. Do not plan to submit on day 60
Police certificates: start first
IRCC requires a certificate for you and each family member aged 18 or over, for every country where you stayed 6 months in a row or longer in the last 10 years. Time before you turned 18 and time spent in Canada do not need one. For the country where you currently live, the certificate must be issued no more than 6 months before you submit; for other countries it must have been issued after the last time you stayed there for 6 months in a row or longer. Because the list is built from your address and travel history, an omitted stay hides a missing certificate: declare the history first, then derive the list.
- If a certificate cannot be obtained in time, IRCC asks for two things: a letter of explanation, and proof that you made your best effort to get it on time. Receipts, payment confirmations, delivery notices, tracking numbers or an agency's explanation of its delay all count as proof
- An officer then decides whether the effort was adequate. IRCC states plainly that an incomplete application may be rejected, so this is a fallback, not a plan
The immigration medical exam
IRCC treats a medical exam by a panel physician as a requirement for permanent residence. For an Express Entry applicant who has never had one, IRCC says to get it after you are invited. The panel physician gives you an information printout sheet or an IMM 1017B Upfront Medical Report form, and you provide one of those when you apply online. Results must still be valid when you submit and when permanent residence is granted, so IRCC suggests having the exam as close as possible to the date you apply. If you completed an exam in the past 5 years, for example for a work or study permit, and are living in Canada, you may not need another; provide a copy or your IME number. If IRCC cannot use old results, it sends instructions after you submit. Panel physician availability differs a great deal between cities, so book in the first days rather than the last.
Proof of work experience
IRCC accepts employment contracts, pay stubs, tax documents (T4s and notices of assessment) and reference letters, and expects a letter to state your duties, dates and salary. In practice a letter that carries the claim names the employer, contact details and the person signing; every position held; exact start and end dates for each; the main duties in enough detail to match the NOC; whether the job was full-time or part-time; hours per week; and pay and benefits. A letter that copies the NOC's wording verbatim, or leaves out hours, is the pattern we see most. Match the duties to a code with our NOC finder before you ask for the letter, so the employer can describe what you did rather than what the NOC says.
Proof of funds
Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trades applicants must show settlement funds unless they are exempt: Canadian Experience Class applicants are exempt, and so is an applicant who is authorized to work in Canada and holds a valid job offer. The bank letter must be on the institution's letterhead with its contact information, your name, any outstanding debts and, for each account, the account number, the date it was opened, the current balance and the average balance for the past 6 months. The funds must be available to you when you apply and when your visa is issued; borrowed money and the equity in property do not count, and a joint account with your spouse counts in full. The required amount changes with family size and over time, so we do not quote it here: check the current figure in our proof of funds checker. If your money is held in Iran, read proof of funds when your money is in Iran before the bank letter is ordered.
Translations and civil-status documents
Unless IRCC tells you otherwise, every supporting document must be in English or French. A document in another language goes with three things: the English or French translation, an affidavit from the person who completed the translation, and a certified photocopy of the original. A translation on its own, with no original behind it, is incomplete. Civil-status documents (birth certificates for children, a marriage certificate, divorce or separation documents, evidence of common-law cohabitation) must match what you declared in the forms exactly, down to name spellings and dates. Every family member has to be declared, whether accompanying or not.
If you cannot get a document in time
IRCC's own instruction for a missing document is to write a letter explaining why you cannot get it, or why it is taking longer, and to include supporting evidence such as a receipt. For online applications you upload the letter in an accepted file format. IRCC then says that each case is different: the officer decides whether your application is complete without that document, and without it the application could be delayed, returned or refused. The officer can approve it, but nothing is promised. The practical consequence is to know which documents are at risk early enough to start the evidence trail on day one.
Fees, submission and what follows
IRCC's system will not allow you to submit until the processing and biometrics fees are paid, and IRCC advises paying every fee, including the right of permanent residence fee, to avoid delays. Total them for your family size with our IRCC fee calculator. Once you submit, IRCC checks completeness: if the application is not complete it rejects it and refunds the processing fees, and as our guide to rejections explains, the invitation generally cannot be revived. If the application is complete, IRCC sends a letter confirming you must give your biometrics, and you have 30 days from the date on that letter. After you submit, changes to your family, contact details, employment, education or language results go to IRCC through its web form; our IRCC webform guide explains when and how.
Using the free tools for this stage
Our free IRCC document packager helps you order, label and combine your files in the form IRCC expects, and runs in your browser. The after-ITA plan keeps your checklist, your fees and your completeness review in one place. Neither replaces your personalized IRCC checklist.
When a professional review is worth it
Most applicants with a clean history can assemble this package themselves. A review before you submit is worth considering when something on the list is uncertain: a police certificate that may not arrive, an employer letter that may not carry the claim, a gap in the history, a family member who was not declared on an earlier application, or a name that differs between documents. A completeness problem is cheap to fix before submission and usually impossible to fix after it. Our Express Entry application review has a licensed consultant check the package against your checklist before you press submit.
Official sources used in this guide
Every IRCC rule above was checked against these pages on October 1, 2026. IRCC changes instructions without notice; if a page below differs from this guide, the IRCC page is right.
- Apply for permanent residence through Express Entry (updated 2026-06-22) — the 60-day invitation, the personalized checklist, documents to upload, translations, fees
- Police certificates (updated 2026-06-22) — who needs one, which countries and dates, the best-effort fallback
- Immigration medical exam (updated 2026-06-22) — timing, the documents you provide, validity, previous exams
- Proof of funds (updated 2026-06-22) — bank letter contents, availability, borrowed money, joint accounts, exemptions
- Express Entry documents (updated 2026-06-22) — the document categories and the passport 6-month rule
- Supporting documents (updated 2026-04-23) — contracts, pay stubs, reference letters and tax documents as proof of work
- After you apply (updated 2026-08-04) — the completeness check, refund, biometrics within 30 days, and changes by web form
- IRCC Help Centre: a document you cannot provide and language of supporting documents — the explanation-letter procedure and the translation package
