For a principal applicant deciding whether their spouse's foreign work experience needs a detailed roles & responsibilities letter for Express Entry (EE):
- Know that only your spouse's Canadian work experience earns Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points — foreign work experience declared for a spouse does not add points the way it does for the principal applicant.
- You don't need to include a detailed roles & responsibilities letter for the spouse's foreign work experience in the initial EE profile, since it isn't scored.
- After receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA), you can still mention the spouse's foreign work history under personal history — this is a factual disclosure requirement, separate from the CRS scoring process.
- If your spouse does need to submit documentation post-ITA, a basic employment/work certificate is generally sufficient rather than a full roles & responsibilities letter, since no points hinge on the details.
Requirements can vary by officer discretion, so always check current IRCC document checklists once you have your ITA.