IMMICASEImmigration document checklist, with the expiry dates worked out
Pick a stream, tick what applies to the file, and get a checklist you can print, download or hand to a client. Enter the date a language test or police certificate was issued and it tells you whether it still stands on the day you plan to submit.
Runs entirely in your browser. No account, no upload, and no client detail reaches us.
Step 1 · Pick the stream
Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades and Canadian Experience Class. The stream where validity windows cause the most trouble.
Step 2 · What applies to this file
These add or remove whole sections. Leave them all off and you get the common core.
Step 3 · Your checklist
0 of 12 collected
Express Entry (FSW / FSTP / CEC) — document checklist
Identity and civil status
Should stay valid through processing and ideally beyond expected landing.
Obtain several certified copies early — originals get needed more than once.
Language testing
- valid 24 months from issue
Valid two years from the test date. If it lapses before an ITA or before submission, the client retakes it.
- valid 24 months from issue
Also valid two years from the test date.
Work experience
Duties must address the NOC duties claimed. Generic letters that only confirm employment are a common refusal cause.
Admissibility
- valid 12 months from issue
Generally valid 12 months from issue. Some countries take months to produce one, so order the slowest first.
- valid 12 months from issue
Treat the same 12-month window as any other certificate.
Usually completed after an ITA, inside the 60-day window. Panel physician wait times vary by region.
valid 12 months from issueResults are typically valid for 12 months.
Read this before you send it to a client
This is a working template, not IRCC's official document checklist. It is assembled from guidance we publish on this site and is deliberately generous — some items will not apply to your file, and a specific application may need documents that are not here. Verify against the IRCC checklist for the exact application, and confirm current fees, financial thresholds and form editions on canada.ca. Fee amounts and funding thresholds are left out on purpose, because they change and a stale number is worse than none.
Running this for more than one client?
In Immicase the checklist is generated when you open the case, the expiry dates are tracked for you rather than typed in here, and the client uploads straight against each item through their own portal — so “what is still outstanding” stops being a question you have to go and answer.
Knowing which documents you need is the easy half
IRCC publishes the lists, and any experienced practitioner carries most of them in their head. What causes the delay is a document that was collected correctly and then went stale while the file waited — so this tool treats validity as the point, not an afterthought.
| Document | Valid for | Where it catches people |
|---|---|---|
| Language test results | 2 years | The window runs from the test date, not the profile date. A client who tested early in their planning loses the result partway through an Express Entry profile that has not yet drawn an invitation. |
| Educational Credential Assessment | 5 years | Long enough to feel safe and long enough to be forgotten. The assessment organisation also takes weeks to issue a replacement, so discovering it late costs more than the fee. |
| Police certificates | 12 months | The worst of the set, because you need one per country lived in for six months or more since 18, and the slowest country sets your timeline. Order that one first. |
| Medical examination | 12 months | Usually done after an invitation, inside a 60-day window, and panel physician availability varies by region. An early medical on a file that then stalls can expire before a decision. |
| Biometrics | 10 years | Rarely the problem, but worth recording, because a client who gave biometrics for an earlier application may not need to repeat them. |
Validity windows are the general rule rather than a guarantee for every case — an officer can ask for a fresh certificate at any point, and rules change. Confirm against IRCC's current guidance for the application in front of you.
Streams in this tool
Seven, chosen because they are the ones we already publish detailed document guidance for and can therefore stand behind. The platform itself covers 11 streams; the rest will appear here as we write them up properly rather than guess.
Express Entry (FSW / FSTP / CEC)
Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades and Canadian Experience Class. The stream where validity windows cause the most trouble.
Spousal / common-law sponsorship
Documents from both parties plus the relationship evidence package, which is where these applications are actually decided.
Parent / grandparent sponsorship (PGP)
Three years of sponsor income documentation, plus the applicant package. Income evidence is the usual blocker.
Study permit (SDS and regular)
The requirements split sharply between the Student Direct Stream and the regular stream, so pick one before generating.
Work permit (LMIA and LMIA-exempt)
An LMIA-based permit and an LMIA-exempt permit need almost entirely different employer-side evidence.
Visitor visa (TRV) and super visa
Financial capacity, purpose of travel and ties to the home country. The super visa adds its own set.
Post-Graduation Work Permit
Programme completion evidence plus an unbroken study history. Gaps in status are what sink these.
What this is, and what it is not
It is a working template. The lists are assembled from the document guidance published across this site, and they are deliberately generous — it is easier to delete an item that does not apply than to notice one that is missing.
It is not IRCC's official document checklist, and it cannot be. Requirements turn on facts about the specific applicant, officers ask for more, and rules change. Use it to structure the collection, then check the final package against IRCC's own checklist for that application. Fee amounts and funding thresholds are left out on purpose, because they are revised and a stale figure would be worse than none.
If you are an applicant rather than a practitioner, this is still useful for getting organised — but it is not immigration advice, and it is not a substitute for a licensed consultant or lawyer reviewing your file.
Related, on this site
- Free PDF merge & compressGet the collected package under IRCC's upload limit, also in your browser.
- Express Entry checklist, explainedThe reasoning behind each item, including what makes a reference letter sufficient.
- Checklists inside a case fileGenerated per case, with expiry tracked and client uploads against each item.
- Deadline and expiry trackingThe version of this that warns you without being asked.
Useful once. Tedious on the thirtieth file
Typing issue dates into a form is fine for one case. Across a caseload you want the checklist created with the case, the expiry dates watched for you, and the client uploading against each item themselves. That is the product this tool came out of — from $49/month, with a 14-day trial.