A candidate created an Express Entry profile as single (CRS 493), married before receiving the ITA, and asked how to include the new spouse in the PR application. The thread gave a clear decision rule:
- Recalculate your CRS as married. Adding a spouse changes your score (single-applicant points are redistributed). If your recalculated married CRS still meets the cutoff of the draw you were invited in, you can include the spouse in the PR application.
- If the recalculated score falls below the cutoff, you cannot include the spouse in this application. The fallback: complete your own PR first, then sponsor the spouse afterwards through spousal sponsorship.
- You don't need the spouse's WES or IELTS unless you claim their points. Multiple members confirmed an ECA and language test for the dependant are only mandatory when you're claiming spouse education/language points. If your score clears the cutoff without them, the spouse can be included as a non-point-contributing dependant.
- Timing pressure is real: with ~60 days to submit after ITA, getting a spouse's ECA and IELTS done in time is tight — which is why the include-without-claiming-points route (or sponsor-later route) matters.