Express Entry Guide · Updated October 2026
Pregnant During Express Entry: The Medical Exam, the Deferred X-Ray and What Happens to Your Timeline (Real Cases)
Pregnancy does not stop an Express Entry application. It can pause it. The pause comes from one part of the medical exam, and whether to take it or wait is your decision.
Being pregnant during Express Entry raises two worries at once. The first is medical: the immigration medical exam includes a chest X-ray, and many people do not want one while pregnant. The second is about time: invitations expire in 60 days, medical results last a year, and a baby will arrive in the middle of all of it.
IRCC’s answer to the first worry is short and fairly kind. You still need the exam, and part of it can be postponed until after the birth. The cost of postponing is the second worry: the application is not assessed until the medical is complete. So the real question for most couples is not whether they are allowed to wait, but what waiting does to their dates.
We read IRCC’s Help Centre answer on pregnancy and the medical exam, its instruction sheet for pregnant clients whose X-ray is deferred, and its pages on updating an application, along with five public forum threads from 2016 to 2023. This post covers the immigration side only. Whether to have an X-ray during pregnancy is a medical decision for you and your doctor.
Quick answer: can I do the medical exam if I am pregnant during Express Entry?
Yes, and you have to. IRCC’s Help Centre says you still need a medical exam even if you are pregnant, but some parts may be postponed until after you give birth, and in that case your application will be assessed only after all mandatory medical requirements are met. It tells you to discuss the options with the panel physician. In practice the part that is deferred is the chest X-ray. After the birth you complete it, and you report the new baby: see baby born after ITA.
Key takeaways
Pregnant during Express Entry: what IRCC says about the medical exam
The Help Centre question is “I’m pregnant. Can I wait until after I give birth to take the medical exam?” The answer begins with “No.” You still need a medical exam. It goes on to say that some parts of the exam may be postponed until after you give birth, that the application will then be assessed only after all mandatory medical requirements are met, and that you should discuss your options with the panel physician.
IRCC also publishes a one-page instruction sheet that panel physicians give to pregnant clients when the X-ray is deferred (form IMM 5733, dated July 2018). It tells the client to make sure the X-ray is completed as soon as possible after the pregnancy, to take the letter and requisition to the radiology clinic when they go, and it recommends letting the visa office know about the deferral.
Question | What IRCC says | Source |
|---|---|---|
Can I wait until after the birth for the whole exam? | No. You still need a medical exam | Help Centre |
Can any part wait? | Some parts may be postponed until after you give birth | Help Centre |
What happens to my application meanwhile? | It is assessed only after all mandatory medical requirements are met | Help Centre |
Who decides what is postponed? | Discuss your options with the panel physician | Help Centre |
When must the X-ray be done? | As soon as possible after pregnancy | Instruction sheet IMM 5733 |
Should I tell IRCC? | The sheet recommends notifying the visa office | Instruction sheet IMM 5733 |
Our summary of the IRCC Help Centre answer on pregnancy and the medical exam and the instruction sheet for pregnant clients (IMM 5733, July 2018).
Two paths, and what each does to your timeline
In practice a pregnant applicant, or the pregnant spouse of an applicant, has two ways through the medical. Either way you attend the panel physician and complete everything else in the exam.
The two paths
The second path adds the rest of the pregnancy, plus the time to add the baby, to your processing. The first path avoids the wait but means the baby is born while the file is in process or after approval, and still has to be added. Neither path avoids the paperwork for the child, unless the baby is born in Canada.
Real case: deferred at 32 weeks, completed two months later (March to June 2017)
An applicant had submitted everything except their spouse’s chest X-ray, deferred at 32 weeks of pregnancy. They asked how the medical would be completed afterwards and what the baby would need. Members quoted IRCC’s line that parts of the exam can be postponed and that the file is assessed only when the medical is complete, and said the clinic would send the X-ray result directly. In April the applicant reported that the baby had been born, the X-ray was done, and IRCC had sent a request to complete the medical by a date in May. In June they uploaded the remaining papers, including the family information form with the new child.
Real case: “will my file wait for the baby?” (April 2018)
A man who had just been invited learned his wife was pregnant before either of them had done the medical. Members told him that if the X-ray is deferred, the medical is on hold, and the file is held with it, though other checks can go on. After the birth the family would send the baby’s birth certificate, passport and medical along with the child’s fee. One member described their own sequence: the X-ray was done about eight days after delivery, the medical passed the next day, and the final request came about a week after the baby’s documents went in. At least one family in the thread went on to receive their confirmation of permanent residence.
Both families chose to defer, both were delayed by the length of the pregnancy, and both finished. The second account shows how quickly things can move once the X-ray is in.
What a deferral means for the 60-day deadline
A deferred X-ray does not stop you submitting on time. You attend the panel physician within your 60 days, complete what can be completed, and upload the proof the clinic gives you, with the deferral letter. Members in a 2017 thread described a “pregnancy deferral letter” being submitted in place of the completed medical.
Add a short letter of explanation giving the due date and saying the X-ray will follow. Do not leave the medical slot empty: an application with nothing in a required slot risks being treated as incomplete. See Express Entry ITA deadline and our medical exam guide.
Real case: one applicant’s notes for others (November 2017)
An applicant who became pregnant after being invited wrote up what they had learned. The X-ray can be deferred with a letter from the clinic. If the baby is born before you submit, the child must be disclosed, and leaving them out would be misrepresentation. If the baby is born after the acknowledgment of receipt, you open an enquiry to add the child with a passport and birth certificate, and they said IRCC typically gave 30 days to gather documents. One reply described receiving permanent residence about a month after sending the newborn’s papers.
Pregnant during Express Entry: the dates to watch
Keep these on one page
If approval arrives while you are still pregnant, tell the visa office your due date before you make travel plans. A baby born after the documents are issued and before you land has to be added first.
Do you have to tell IRCC you are pregnant?
The application forms do not ask whether you are pregnant. In a 2016 thread, members told an applicant there was no obligation to announce a pregnancy on the forms, and that the panel physician would record it at the exam in any case. What IRCC’s “Update your application” page does require is that you report a new child once there is one, with proof.
If the X-ray is deferred, IRCC knows why, because the deferral is part of your medical file, and the instruction sheet recommends telling the visa office. There is nothing to gain from keeping it quiet and no penalty for pregnancy itself.
Real case: on hold until the X-ray, in a sponsorship file (November 2023)
This was a spousal application made inside Canada, not Express Entry. A pregnant applicant wanted to defer the chest X-ray and asked whether that would delay only the medical or the whole file. Members said the whole application would be on hold until the medical was complete, and that the approval stage they were hoping for could not come first. They suggested talking to the obstetrician or midwife about the X-ray before deciding, because deferring had real drawbacks in that applicant’s situation. No outcome was posted.
That is the trade-off stated plainly. IRCC lets you wait. Waiting has a cost in time, and only you and your doctor can weigh it.
Maternity leave and work experience
Applicants who work in Canada often ask whether time on maternity leave counts toward their year of Canadian experience. IRCC’s public pages on the Canadian Experience Class describe paid, skilled work and hours worked. They do not say how periods of leave are treated. Count conservatively: build your 1,560 hours from weeks you actually worked, and treat any leave as a question to raise with a licensed adviser before you rely on it. See Canadian work experience points.
Five mistakes people make when pregnant during the process
Five mistakes from the rules and the threads
Pregnancy changes your dates, not your points. If you are still in the pool, check your score in the CRS calculator against the latest draw cut-offs, and think about where a due date would fall if you were invited next month.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I apply if I am pregnant during Express Entry?
Yes. Pregnancy does not affect eligibility or points. You still need the medical exam, and IRCC says some parts may be postponed until after you give birth.
Do I have to have a chest X-ray while pregnant?
IRCC allows parts of the exam to be postponed until after the birth, and applicants report this is the chest X-ray. Discuss the options with the panel physician and your own doctor.
Will deferring the X-ray delay my application?
Yes. IRCC says the application is assessed only after all mandatory medical requirements are met. In forum cases, files waited until the X-ray was done after the birth.
Can I still submit within 60 days if the X-ray is deferred?
Yes. Attend the panel physician, complete the rest of the exam and upload the proof and deferral letter you are given, with a short explanation.
Do I need to tell IRCC I am pregnant?
The forms do not ask. The panel physician records it, and IRCC’s instruction sheet recommends telling the visa office if the X-ray is deferred. You must report the baby once born.
What happens when the baby is born?
Complete the X-ray as soon as possible, and report the new child to IRCC with proof. A baby born outside Canada has to be added to the application. A baby born in Canada is normally a citizen.
Planning around a due date? Know your score first
See how your points compare with recent Express Entry cut-offs, then plan the dates that follow an invitation.
Final Thoughts
Being pregnant during Express Entry is manageable. You attend the medical exam, you and your doctors decide whether the X-ray happens now or after the birth, and if it is deferred the file waits for it. Then the baby is reported and added. The families in the threads we read all reached the end, some within weeks of the X-ray.
If your due date falls near your invitation deadline, near the expiry of your medical results or near the date on your confirmation, speak to a licensed consultant or lawyer about the order of steps. For the X-ray itself, speak to your doctor. Those are two different questions, and each has the right person to answer it.
