The Total Government Fee Bill for Wholly a Family of Chiefly Four Applying Through Express Entry
A couple with two children sits down to budget for their Express Entry application, having seen the figure “$1,590” quoted online as “the Express Entry fee” and assuming that covers the family. It doesn’t. Express Entry government fees for a family of four, added up line by line as IRCC actually charges them, come to more than double that single-person figure — and knowing the real total before you start saving matters more than knowing the headline number.
Myth: the quoted fee is a per-family number
It isn’t. The $1,590 figure floating around online is the processing fee plus the Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) for one adult applicant. It was never meant to represent a household total, and treating it as one is the single most common budgeting mistake families make going in.
The actual bill, line by line
At rates published as at 2 August 2026:
| Line | Amount (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Principal applicant (processing fee + RPRF) | $1,590.00 |
| Spouse or partner (processing fee + RPRF) | $1,590.00 |
| Dependent child × 2 (at $270.00 each) | $540.00 |
| Biometrics, family cap of two or more | $170.00 |
| Total IRCC fees | $3,890.00 |
That’s the federal government’s own bill for a family of two adults and two dependent children applying together through Express Entry — a fixed, published total rather than a rough estimate. Consider this the IRCC fees family of four worked example you can actually plan a budget against, rather than a single-applicant figure stretched to cover people it was never meant to include.
Myth: this total is the full cost of immigrating
It isn’t that either, and it’s worth saying plainly. This figure covers IRCC’s own processing fees, the RPRF, and biometrics only. It excludes language test fees, educational credential assessment fees, medical exams, police certificates, document translations, courier costs, and anything paid to a consultant or adviser. For most families, those additional costs add up to a meaningful sum on top of the $3,890 government total — sometimes more than the government fees themselves.
Why the per-child fee looks small but shouldn’t be ignored
At $270 per dependent child, it’s easy to treat the children’s line as an afterthought next to the adult fees. But it’s still a real, compounding cost — a family with three or four children rather than two would see that line grow accordingly, while the two adult fees stay fixed. Count every dependant individually rather than assuming the family total scales the same way per person.
What to do with this number
Treat $3,890 as your family’s federal government floor, not your total moving budget, and build the rest of your cost estimate around the categories this figure deliberately excludes. Fees change, so confirm the current published rates before finalising a budget rather than working from a figure you saw somewhere months ago.
Cape2Canada’s cost guides walk through the categories this fee bill leaves out, useful for building a fuller picture of what the move actually costs.