Through the application procedures we come across a high percentage of applicants looking to immigrate to Canada under the family sponsorship banner. However, it is important to understand the strict rules governing both the sponsor and the nominee. The basic requirements for a sponsor:

• The applicant must be a minimum of 18 years of age.
• They must sign a sponsorship agreement that proves sufficient financial support for the sponsored relative if required.
• The sponsor must provide financial support for spouses/common law partners for a span of three years from the date they obtain their permanent residency.
• If the applicant is sponsoring a dependent child, they must provide financial support to the child for 10 years or until the child turns 25 years of age, whichever is earlier.

If the sponsor meets all the above mentioned requirements, he may enroll in the family sponsorship program. Through the program, an applicant is allowed to sponsor various members of the family viz. spouse, common law partner, conjugal partner, dependent children, parents, grandparents, brothers or sisters, nephews or nieces, granddaughters or grandsons (provided they are under 18 years of age, single and their parents are deceased). For each of the categories, the sponsorship rule varies. As it would be impossible to make a comprehensive list of the individual requirements in one article, we recommend you avail of our first free consultation to know more. You can write to us or visit us at our Toronto office with your and your potential sponsor’s details and we’ll work forward from there.

List of necessary documents:

• Proof of Identification
• Immigration forms from IRCC
• Proof of status in Canada
• Proof of relationship
• Additional family information and documents
• Medical certificates
• Police certificates

For candidates immigrating to Canada:

If the applicant is applying for permanent residency through the Express Entry (EE) system or through Provincial Nominee Program, they may nominate their spouse/common-law partner and/or dependent children as a part of the application itself. Once the application is processed and accepted for permanent residency, the candidate may relocate to Canada with their spouse or dependent children.

For permanent residents of Canada:

If the applicant is a permanent resident of Canada, he may sponsor his family members for immigration, provided he/she is over 18 years of age and can undertake the necessary financial support. Although for most cases, the sponsor needs be a permanent resident in the country, applicants who are Canadian citizens can sponsor a member of the family while living abroad as well.

Application for the family sponsorship program includes the following steps:

The application process for each category has its own individual requirements and must be met for the approval of the sponsorship program. The details for individual categories are outlined below:

• Parents/Grandparent Sponsorship Program (PGP):

The immigration policies do not allow parents or grandparents to be included in the initial visa application and can be sponsored only by a permanent resident of the country. Through the family class immigration category, applicants who are permanent residents of Canada can submit an application for immigration of their parents and grandparents. Sponsored parents and grandparents can then go on to become permanent residents of Canada, granting them a variety of benefits like permission to work in the country, getting access to publicly-funded health care and much more. Due to the sensitive nature of this application which can adversely affect important future prospects we advise all our applicants to have their applications thoroughly verified by an experienced professional before proceeding.

Eligibility:

Both the sponsor and the person being sponsored must meet a set of eligibility criteria.

Criteria for sponsors:

• They must be a permanent resident or citizen of Canada
• Must be at least 18 years of age
• Must meet the minimum necessary income requirements (MNI) as per the IRCC specifications (mentioned below)
• Must financially support the sponsored member

Sponsorship agreement:

For the completion of the sponsorship process, the sponsor and the person being sponsored must sign an agreement. The agreement states that the sponsor will provide financial support to the sponsored person(s) for a period of 3 to 20 years, based on their age and relationship to the sponsor. The assistance for financial support must begin on the date the sponsored member becomes a permanent resident. The agreement also states that the sponsored member must make every effort to support themselves independently.

Minimum necessary income:

One of the most important criteria deciding the outcome of this procedure is the Minimum Necessary Income. The minimum necessary income requirements depends on the size of the family unit, which includes the sponsored member as well. The financial records must prove that the applicant met the minimum requirements for a subsequent time period of 3 years before the date of application for sponsorship. The table below highlights the required MNI for applicants living outside the province of Quebec:

• Dependent child sponsorship:

Who qualifies as a dependent child?

A child is considered to be dependent if he or she is less than 22 years of age and not married or in a common-law relationship. A child over 22 years of age is considered as dependent only if they suffer from a physical or mental ailment that prevents them from supporting themselves.

Sponsorship requirements:

• The parent sponsoring must meet all the basic eligibility criteria for family sponsorship. In addition, they will have to present a birth or adoption certificate as proof of their relationship with the child. The sponsored child can either be a biological child or adopted child of the sponsor or the sponsor’s spouse. Even if the child’s adoption process is not yet finalized, the parents may sponsor the child if the adoption process is in its end stage.
• The parents need not meet the minimum necessary income requirement in case of a dependent child sponsorship, provided the sponsored child does not have any children of their own.

There are certain situations where the parents are not qualified to sponsor their dependent children:

• Parents who obtained their permanent residency less than five years prior to the sponsorship application date
• Parents who do not intend to live in Canada with the sponsored child
• Permanent citizens residing outside Canada who do not intend to live with the sponsored member
• Parents convicted of criminal offence
• Parents receiving social assistance

Application process:

To sponsor a child, not only must the parent meet all of the requirements mentioned above, but they must also prove that the child is eligible for sponsorship. Unlike the PGP sponsorship, application for immigration of a dependent child can be done simultaneously with the parent’s express entry profile.

• Spousal/ Common law partner sponsorship

The Canadian government allows the permanent residents and citizens of Canada to sponsor the immigration of their spouses and common law partners through their sponsorship programs. Alternatively, an individual may also apply for sponsorship of their spouse/common law partner while filing for permanent residency through the Express Entry (EE) system.

Who qualifies as a spouse/common law partner/conjugal partner?

Spouse: The spousal sponsorship requires the applicant to be legally married to the person they are sponsoring.

Common law partner: To count as a common law partner, the individual must have lived with their sponsor for at least 12 months and any time spent apart must be because of family/work obligations and should be short and temporary.

Conjugal partner: A conjugal partner is a person living outside Canada, who is in a relationship with their sponsor but could not live with them due to any reason. They must provide sufficient evidence as proof.

Sponsor requirements:

To avail the spousal sponsorship, an individual must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• They must be 18 years of age
• They must be a citizen of Canada or must be a permanent resident
• They should be able to support the person they are sponsoring financially for at least 3 years
• They must prove that they aren’t receiving any social assistance for anything (other than disability)
• They must intend to live in Canada once their spouse/partner becomes a permanent resident

Along with the criteria mentioned above, the applicant must also provide a set of documents like marriage certificates and affidavits, income proof and police records. As opposed to the PGP sponsorship, the individual need not meet the minimum necessary income requirement for spousal sponsorship.

The application for spousal sponsorship depends on whether one’s spouse resides in Canada or abroad. Based on their spouse/partner’s place of residence they can apply for spousal sponsorship under inland or outland sponsorship.

1. Inland spousal sponsorship:

The sponsor can opt for an inland sponsorship when their spouse/common law partner is living with them in Canada with a study permit/work permit or visitor’s visa. The sponsored person may also apply for an open work permit while their spousal sponsorship is being processed, thus allowing them to work while living in Canada.

2. Outland spousal sponsorship:

Through the outland spousal sponsorship, an individual may apply for permanent residence of their spouse/common law partners who are residing outside Canada. The sponsored person may still get to visit the country with a temporary visitor’s visa while their application is under process. The processing time is considerably shorter in the outland spousal sponsorship, which makes it an attractive alternative.

The average processing time for spousal sponsorship is around 12 months although the outland program has faster processing rate (around 6 months).

Inland spousal/common law partner sponsorship open work permit

Individuals applying for inland spousal sponsorship can apply for an open work permit for their spouse/common law partners, which grants their spouses/partners permission to work and support themselves while their spousal sponsorship documents are under review. In order to be eligible, the applicant should submit an appeal for permanent residency through the inland stream. The sponsorship, permanent residency forms and open work permit may all be submitted together to the Case Processing Centre (CPC) in Mississauga, Ontario. However, the foreign national must have a valid work/study/visitor status in Canada to obtain an open work permit.

The good news is that IRCC looks forward to bringing families and loved ones together. They provide a number of options that can be availed depending on your requirement and available resources. The bad news is that family sponsorship is a very detail-oriented procedure that warrants a professional eye. This is where we come in. We specialize in this program and can assist you in fast tracking the process.

We hope this article has provided you some insight into the various factions of the Family Class Immigration Category. For more details, talk to our experts and learn how this program can be customised for you.