Family Sponsorship
Overview:
Family sponsorship in Canada is an immigration program which allows Canadian citizens or permanent residents to sponsor their eligible family members to come and live, work, and study in Canada as permanent residents themselves.
To be eligible for the family sponsorship, the sponsor:
- Must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
- Must be at least 18 years old.
- Must be financially responsible for the sponsored person for a specific duration (see undertaking).
- Cannot be bankrupt, imprisoned, or subject to a removal order.
The family members who can be sponsored include:
- Spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner.
- Dependent children and children adopted from abroad.
- Parents and grandparents.
- Other relatives (in exceptional cases).
To be eligible for the family sponsorship, the person being sponsored (the principal applicant):
- Must provide all required forms and documents with their applications.
- Must not be inadmissible to Canada.
For parents and grandparents’ sponsorship:
Unlike sponsorship for other family members, sponsorship for parents and grandparents has specific requirements:
- The sponsor must meet the income requirement for the three tax years preceding the application.
- Sponsorship applications are limited both in time and number each year.
- The sponsor should first submit an interest to sponsor form in accordance with the current year’s policy.
- Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will issue a certain number of invitations to those who have submitted an interest-to-sponsor form.
- If an invitation is received, the sponsor can submit the permanent residency application to the IRCC directly.
Note: In addition to the sponsor, the income of the sponsor’s spouse or common-law partner (as co-signer) can also be included in the calculation of the income requirement. If you have any concerns about whether your income meets the requirement, please feel free to contact our consultants!
Undertaking:
Sponsors should be aware of their undertaking responsibilities before submitting applications. An undertaking is a commitment that binds the sponsor to take financial responsibility for the applicant for a specified period. Undertakings do not automatically cancel when a relationship is dissolved.
The length of undertaking varies depending on different sponsorships:
- 3 years for a spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner
- 3 years for dependent children over 22 years of age
- 10 years for dependent children under 22 years of age (or until the child becomes 25 years old)
- 20 years for parents and grandparents
- 15 years for other relatives
Program Summary:
The family sponsorship program is Canada’s commitment to family reunification. The person being sponsored can become a Canadian permanent resident after the application is approved.
For spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner sponsorship, the application should convince the officer that:
- The relationship is genuine, and
- The relationship is not established for the purpose of acquiring status.
For parents and grandparents’ sponsorship, the application should convince the officer that:
- The sponsor has enough money to support the family.
- The family members are not inadmissible to Canada (such as medical inadmissible).
We strongly recommend completing the application form and preparing the documents according to the latest application guidelines and checklist provided on the IRCC website to avoid your application being returned or rejected
Responses