Cost of Canada PR from the UAE (2026)

Canada PR from the UAE costs roughly AED 8,000 to AED 11,000 for a single applicant and AED 19,000 to AED 25,000 for a family of four, covering government fees plus mandatory tests, credential assessment and medicals. Separately you must show settlement funds of CAD 15,263 for one person or CAD 28,362 for four. That money is proved, not spent.

Those two numbers get confused constantly, and the confusion is expensive. The first is money that leaves your account. The second is a bank balance you demonstrate to IRCC and then take with you to Canada. Below, both are broken out line by line, in Canadian dollars as IRCC charges them and in dirhams at a stated rate.

All conversions on this page use 1 CAD = 2.61 AED, the rate on 5 August 2026. Currency moves, so treat the AED figures as indicative and the CAD figures as the ones IRCC will actually charge.

Cosmos Immigration is a CICC and MARA-licensed immigration consultancy serving clients across the UAE and India, with a 4.8/5 rating from 2,500+ Google reviews. This page is educational. Your own costs depend on your family size, your route, and the rules in force when you file.

IRCC adjusts permanent residence fees every two years. The most recent increase took effect on 30 April 2026, so any figure you read that still shows a CAD 950 processing fee or a CAD 575 right of permanent residence fee is out of date. The current amounts for Express Entry and Provincial Nominee Program applicants are:

• Processing fee, principal applicant: CAD 990 (about AED 2,584). Was CAD 950.
• Processing fee, accompanying spouse or common-law partner: CAD 990 (about AED 2,584). Was CAD 950.
• Processing fee, each accompanying dependent child: CAD 270 (about AED 705). Was CAD 260.
• Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF): CAD 600 per adult (about AED 1,566). Was CAD 575. Dependent children are not charged this fee.
• Biometrics: CAD 85 per person (about AED 222), capped at CAD 170 (about AED 444) for a family applying together.

The RPRF is what makes you a permanent resident once you are approved. You can pay it upfront with your application or wait until IRCC asks for it. Paying upfront avoids a delay later, and it is refundable if you never become a permanent resident.

These amounts apply to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, Canadian Experience Class, Provincial Nominee Program, Atlantic Immigration Program, and Quebec-selected skilled workers. Confirm them on the official IRCC fee list before you pay.

For a single applicant, the government portion is CAD 1,675, about AED 4,372:

• Processing fee: CAD 990
• Right of Permanent Residence Fee: CAD 600
• Biometrics: CAD 85

For a family of four made up of two adults and two dependent children, the government portion is CAD 3,890, about AED 10,153:

• Processing fee, principal applicant: CAD 990
• Processing fee, spouse: CAD 990
• Processing fee, two dependent children: CAD 540
• Right of Permanent Residence Fee for two adults: CAD 1,200
• Biometrics, family maximum: CAD 170

Nothing else in this section is optional. If you are applying, you are paying these.

These go to test centres, assessment bodies, clinics and police authorities rather than to IRCC. They are set by those providers, not by the Canadian government, and IRCC does not publish or cap them. Prices below are the ones published by the providers themselves as at 5 August 2026.

• English language test: IELTS General Training in the UAE is AED 1,470 for the standard computer-delivered test, rising to about AED 1,620 for the computer test with paper writing. Some centres list AED 1,570. CELPIP General at the Dubai test centre is AED 1,200. You need one accepted test, not several, and the result must be less than two years old when you apply.
• Educational Credential Assessment (ECA): mandatory for the Federal Skilled Worker Program. World Education Services, the body most UAE applicants use, lists Course-by-Course pricing from CAD 242 (about AED 632). Document-by-Document reports cost less. Add courier charges and, for some countries of study, a document verification cost charged by your university.
• Immigration medical exam: you pay the IRCC-approved panel physician directly. IRCC does not set or publish this fee, so the clinic quotes you at booking. Ask for the full price including any required X-ray and blood work, and remember that children are usually charged less than adults.
• UAE police clearance certificate and attestation: obtained from the Ministry of Interior or your emirate's police authority, then generally attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Fees are set by those authorities. You will also need a police certificate from every other country where you lived for six months or more since age 18, each with its own fee.
• Certified translations: any document not in English or French must be translated by a certified translator and accompanied by an affidavit. Cost depends on page count, so it varies widely between applicants.

For planning purposes, a single applicant in the UAE should budget roughly AED 8,000 to AED 11,000 all in, and a family of four roughly AED 19,000 to AED 25,000. Those ranges include the IRCC fees above plus an allowance for the clinic-set and authority-set items, which is why they are ranges rather than exact figures. Get written quotes for the medical exam and police certificates early, because they are the two lines that move most between applicants.

Proof of funds is the single largest number on this page, and it is not a cost. It is a requirement. IRCC needs to see that you can support yourself and your family after you land. You show the money, you are not charged it, and it remains yours. The amounts were updated on 7 July 2025 and scale with family size:

• 1 family member: CAD 15,263 (about AED 39,836)
• 2 family members: CAD 19,001 (about AED 49,593)
• 3 family members: CAD 23,360 (about AED 60,970)
• 4 family members: CAD 28,362 (about AED 74,025)
• 5 family members: CAD 32,168 (about AED 83,958)
• 6 family members: CAD 36,280 (about AED 94,691)
• 7 family members: CAD 40,392 (about AED 105,423)
• Each additional family member beyond 7: CAD 4,112 (about AED 10,732)

The funds must be readily available to you, not tied up in property, and not borrowed. IRCC will not accept money you cannot legally withdraw or that carries a debt obligation. Your family size counts your spouse or common-law partner and every dependent child, even if they are permanent residents of Canada already or are not coming with you.

Two important exemptions apply. You do not need to show settlement funds if you are applying under the Canadian Experience Class, or if you already hold a valid job offer and are authorised to work in Canada. Check the current table on the official IRCC proof of funds page before you file, because the amounts are revised periodically.

A provincial nomination adds 600 CRS points, which is why many UAE applicants pursue one. It also adds a cost that sits outside the IRCC fees above. Each province and territory sets its own application fee, and they differ substantially. Some charge nothing to register an expression of interest and then charge for the full application. Others charge a fee at both stages, or charge nothing at all.

Because these fees are set provincially and change without a common schedule, check the fee on the official website of the specific province you are applying to, at the time you apply. Do not budget from a figure quoted on a third-party site, including this one. The federal fees on this page still apply on top of whatever the province charges, since a nomination is a route to the federal application rather than a replacement for it.

If you are weighing a provincial route against a general Express Entry round, the Express Entry and CRS guide for UAE residents explains how the 600-point nomination boost changes your position in the pool.

This is the question people ask once the total sinks in, and the answer is narrower than most expect.

• The Right of Permanent Residence Fee is refundable. If you do not become a permanent resident, whether because your application is refused or you withdraw it, IRCC refunds the RPRF. This is the main reason some applicants choose to pay it later rather than upfront.
• The processing fee is generally not refundable once processing has begun. IRCC states plainly that if it has already started processing your application, you will not get all your fees back. If you withdraw before processing starts, you receive a full refund.
• The biometrics fee is not refundable once your biometrics have been collected, because the service was delivered.
• Third-party costs are never refunded by IRCC. Your language test, ECA, medical exam, police certificates and translations were paid to other organisations. IRCC has no involvement in those transactions and will not reimburse them if your application is refused.

Eligible refunds are usually issued automatically and can take between two and eight weeks to appear. The mechanics are set out on the official IRCC refund page.

You are not required to use a representative. IRCC accepts applications filed directly by applicants, and plenty of straightforward Express Entry files are handled that way. A representative earns their fee when the file has complications: gaps in work history, credentials that are hard to document, a refusal on record, a spouse whose experience needs to be evidenced, or a provincial route that has to be chosen carefully.

Cosmos does not publish a single professional fee, and we are wary of anyone who does. Scope varies too much between files for a headline price to mean anything, and a number quoted before anyone has looked at your profile tends to change once they have. We quote a fixed fee in writing after an assessment of your actual situation, so you know what you are paying for before you commit to anything.

Whatever you decide, verify that any representative you speak to is authorised. In Canada that means a member in good standing of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) or a Canadian lawyer. Cosmos is an immigration consultancy, not a law firm, and holds CICC and MARA licensing. Our guide to verifying an immigration consultant in Dubai shows you how to check any firm's registration yourself, including ours.

The total on this page assumes you qualify and file once. Two of the most common ways UAE applicants overspend are testing before they know which test they need, and paying for an ECA on a credential that was never going to score well. Both are avoidable.

• Confirm your likely score first. A realistic CRS estimate tells you whether Express Entry alone is viable or whether you should be planning around a provincial route, which changes both your timeline and your cost. Start with the Canada PR points calculator.
• Check that your route is the right one. Express Entry is not the only skilled pathway to Canada, and the cost profile differs by programme. The Canada skilled migration visa page sets out the options.
• Order documents in the right sequence. Police certificates expire, medicals expire, and language results expire after two years. Ordering them too early means paying twice.

If you want your own numbers rather than a planning range, contact our licensed team for an assessment. We will tell you which fees apply to your family size and route, what you will need to show in settlement funds, and what our professional fee would be for your file. Outcomes depend on IRCC decisions and your individual profile, and no result can be promised by any representative.

What does Canada PR cost from Dubai?

From Dubai or anywhere in the UAE, budget roughly AED 8,000 to AED 11,000 for a single applicant and AED 19,000 to AED 25,000 for a family of four. That covers IRCC government fees plus mandatory third-party costs such as the language test, credential assessment, medical exam and police certificates. Professional fees, if you use a representative, are separate.

How much are the IRCC fees for Express Entry in 2026?

After the increase on 30 April 2026, the processing fee is CAD 990 for the principal applicant, CAD 990 for an accompanying spouse, and CAD 270 for each accompanying dependent child. The Right of Permanent Residence Fee is CAD 600 per adult, and biometrics are CAD 85 per person capped at CAD 170 per family.

Do I need to show settlement funds, and how much?

Yes, for the Federal Skilled Worker Program and Federal Skilled Trades Program. The amounts updated on 7 July 2025 are CAD 15,263 for one person, CAD 19,001 for two, CAD 23,360 for three, and CAD 28,362 for four. You show this money, you do not pay it. Canadian Experience Class applicants and those with a valid job offer plus work authorisation are exempt.

Are Canada PR fees refundable if my application is refused?

Only partly. The Right of Permanent Residence Fee is refunded if you do not become a permanent resident. The processing fee is generally not refunded once IRCC has started processing your application, and the biometrics fee is not refunded after your biometrics are collected. Costs paid to test centres, assessment bodies and clinics are never refunded by IRCC.

How much is the IELTS test in the UAE?

IELTS General Training in the UAE is AED 1,470 for the standard computer-delivered test, and about AED 1,620 for the computer test with paper writing. Some centres list AED 1,570. CELPIP General at the Dubai test centre is AED 1,200. You need one accepted test, and the result must be under two years old when you apply.

How much does a WES credential assessment cost?

World Education Services lists Course-by-Course pricing from CAD 242, about AED 632, with Document-by-Document reports costing less. Add courier charges and any document verification fee your university charges. An ECA is mandatory for the Federal Skilled Worker Program and is valid for five years from the date of issue.

How much is the Canadian immigration medical exam in the UAE?

IRCC does not set or publish a fixed price for the immigration medical exam. You pay an IRCC-approved panel physician directly, and the clinic quotes you when you book. Ask for the full price including any required X-ray and blood work. Children are usually charged less than adults, and the fee is not refunded if your application is later refused.

Do I pay extra for a provincial nomination?

Yes. Each province and territory sets its own application fee, and these vary widely. Some charge nothing to register an expression of interest but charge for the full application. The federal IRCC fees still apply on top, because a provincial nomination is a route into the federal application rather than a replacement for it. Check the fee on the province's own website when you apply.

Do I have to pay the Right of Permanent Residence Fee upfront?

No. You can pay the CAD 600 Right of Permanent Residence Fee with your application or wait until IRCC asks for it after approval. Paying upfront avoids a delay at the approval stage. Either way it is refundable if you do not become a permanent resident.

Do I need to hire an immigration consultant to apply?

No. IRCC accepts applications filed directly by applicants. A representative is most useful where a file has complications such as gaps in work history, hard-to-document credentials, or a previous refusal. If you do use one, confirm they are a member in good standing of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants or a Canadian lawyer.