Family Sponsorship

Family Sponsorship

The Family Sponsorship Program allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor eligible family members for permanent residency in Canada.

Eligibility Criteria:

Sponsors: Must be at least 18 years old, reside in Canada or plan to return once the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident, and demonstrate the ability to support the sponsored person financially.

Sponsored Persons: You can sponsor:

Spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner

Dependent child (or a child you plan to adopt): must be 21 and younger

Parents and Grandparents: Father, mother, grandfather or grandmother

Orphaned Relatives: brother, sister, nephew, niece, grandson or granddaughter, who are orphaned, under the age of 18, and not married or in a common-law relationship

Other relatives:   *only Lonely Canadians are eligible to sponsor (have no other family living in Canada)

Application Process:

Sponsors begin the process by submitting a sponsorship application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Once the sponsorship is approved, the sponsored person can apply for permanent residency.

Updates:

The Family Sponsorship Program may undergo changes or updates, such as modifications to application intake periods or processing times. Staying informed about program updates is essential.

Spousal Sponsorship:   Spouse and Common-law partner

All applications for both Inland and Outland Sponsorship are submitted online. Once an application is deemed to be complete with all required forms and documents, and the sponsor is eligible, the application is forwarded then forwarded to the responsible visa office for further processing. Incomplete applications are returned a few months later.

You can sponsor the following persons and their dependent children for Canadian Permanent Residence (Canada recognizes same-sex marriages and partners and is eligible to apply under these 3 categories)

Spouse - You are a spouse if you are married to your sponsor and your marriage is legally valid

Common-law partner - You are a common-law partner, either of the opposite sex or same sex if you have been living together in a conjugal relationship for at least one year in a continuous 12-month period that was not interrupted. You will need proof that you and your common-law partner have combined your affairs and set up a household

Conjugal partner - This category is for partners, either of the opposite sex or same sex, in exceptional circumstances beyond their control that prevent them from living together and therefore cannot qualify as common-law partners or spouses

Dependent children - A son or daughter is dependent who is less than 22 years old

There are two types of applications for Spouse and Common-Law Sponsorship

Outland Sponsorship:   your application will be processed through the visa office in the sponsored spouse's country of citizenship or where they legally reside (if outside Canada).   If you and your Spouse/Common-law partner live together in Canada, you can still apply under this category.   Applying under this category will make you eligible to appeal a refusal at the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD).

Inland Sponsorship (Spouse or Common-Law in-Canada category): your application will be processed in Canada and you and your sponsor MUST live together at the time of applying and during the process. The sponsored partner may also be eligible for an Open Work Permit if they have valid status in Canada.   For individuals that do not have valid status, they are still able to be sponsored for PR via a special public policy, or by using H&C inside the application (in cases where they have been issued a removal order by CBSA).   Inland sponsorship does not have the right to appeal if it is refused.

Sponsors living outside of Canada

Canadian citizens living outside of Canada may sponsor their spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner or dependent children without dependent children of their own, who have not been convicted of an offence causing bodily harm, provided that they are able to demonstrate that they will reside in Canada after their sponsored landing(s).

Permanent residents residing abroad may not sponsor their family from outside Canada. Furthermore, a spouse or common-law partner in Canada may only file an in-Canada application to sponsor their spouse or common-law partner if they are cohabiting in Canada; otherwise, the application must be filed through a visa office.

Requirements that must be met in order to qualify for Sponsorship

Your relationship is genuine (real) and was not entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring Permanent Residence

If your spouse or common-law partner is applying in the Spouse or Common-law Partner "In Canada class", he or she must cohabit (live) with you in Canada

Requirements AFTER sponsorship

The sponsor is financially responsible for the person sponsored for three years after the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident.

Individuals who come to Canada as spouses are themselves barred from sponsoring a spouse in turn for five years after receiving Canadian permanent residence.

Sponsorship obligations

All sponsors are required to sign an undertaking to provide the sponsored person with the basic requirements from the day they enter Canada until the term of the undertaking terminates. The undertaking is a contract between the sponsor(s) and IRCC that the sponsor will repay the government for any social assistance payments made to the sponsored person. Sponsors remain obligated to the undertaking agreement for the entire period of the contract, even in a change of circumstances such as marital breakdown, separation, divorce, or a financial change in circumstances.