Reuniting and maintaining families is one of the most significant roles played by Canada’s immigration system as immigrants attempt to start over in a new nation. Which family members can be sponsored to come to Canada?
In reality, next to economic immigration, family sponsorships are the second highest category of new permanent immigrants to Canada.
Continue reading to find out if you can sponsor your spouse, kids, parents, grandparents, or other family members. To find out if your family member is eligible to enter Canada, utilize the government’s Come to Canada tool.
Who can sponsor their family?
You can sponsor certain relatives to come to Canada if you’re at least 18 years old and a:
- Canadian citizen; or
- a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act; or
- permanent resident of Canada.
Additionally, other eligibility requirements can apply depending on which program you are applying under.
Spouses, common-law, and conjugal partners
You can apply for a Spousal Sponsorship if you want to sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal companion.
In order to qualify as a common-law (or even conjugal) partner, the foreign national to be sponsored must be either legally married to the sponsor or have lived with them for a minimum of 12 months in a manner like to marriage. This includes same-sex relationships as well as heterosexual ones.
The sponsor is required to give the sponsored individual three years of financial support; in addition, the sponsor cannot receive any other form of social assistance other than disability benefits or has ever filed for bankruptcy. Other requirements might be relevant in a certain situation.
In-land and out-of-land sponsorship are two further variations in this type of sponsorship. They differ in that both need the residence of both partners during the application procedure, but they have the same objective.
In an Outland Sponsorship, the Canadian sponsor resides in Canada, and the foreign spouse or partner typically dwells overseas. If the sponsored person has a passport that does not require a visa or has obtained one, they are free to enter and exit Canada. The Canadian sponsor must, however, remain in Canada for the duration of the application procedure. Applications for out-of-country sponsorship are handled by the visa office associated with the sponsored spouse’s home nation or the nation in which they have been living for a minimum of a year.
However, during the entire application process for Inland Sponsorship, both spouses must reside in Canada. The foreign spouse or partner must already be a worker, student, or visitor with temporary resident status in Canada. The name comes from the fact that these petitions are filed in Canada. Furthermore, while their application for sponsorship is being handled, foreign spouses with temporary resident status may also be qualified to apply for an Open Work Permit (OWP). The goal of this tactic is to avoid financial hardship brought on by perhaps long processing timeframes.
Dependent children
You are able to apply for a dependent child sponsorship if you would like to sponsor your child or other dependents. This holds true for kids who are adopted as well as biological.
In order to qualify, the sponsor needs to be in Canada, be at least eighteen years old, and agree to provide for the dependant for ten years, or until the child becomes twenty-five, whichever comes first. The child must not be married or in a common-law partnership, and they must be under 22. If the child is older than 22, they have to have been enrolled in school full-time, had a disability, or have been reliant on the sponsor for some other reason since before they reached 22.
In order to prevent age-based rejection, parents are urged to submit their sponsorship application before their child turns 22. In order to apply for permanent residence on behalf of your dependent child, you must first submit a sponsorship profile to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), as is the case with most family-class sponsorships.
Parents and grandparents
The Parents and Grandparents program (PGP), which opens once a year, is one of Canada’s most well-liked immigration routes for family sponsorships. It enables citizens and permanent residents of Canada to sponsor their parents or grandparents for permanent residence in Canada. Sponsors who meet the eligibility requirements can submit a “interest to sponsor” form to be added to a candidate pool and the program will operate on a lottery-style basis. They must apply on behalf of the individual they are sponsoring if their application is chosen. A commitment by the sponsor to cover the recipient’s accommodation, food, medical costs, and other pertinent charges is also a requirement of this process.
Parents and grandparents can become permanent residents of Canada through the PGP. They can now join their family in Canada and take advantage of all the social benefits available to permanent residents thanks to this. However, this approach may need a significant amount of processing time—typically many years.
Citizens and permanent residents of Canada have access to the Super Visa program in addition to the PGP. Parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens or permanent residents are eligible for the Super Visa, which allows them to enter the country several times without having to renew their visas for up to five years at a time. Families who live far apart may find the Super Visa to be a useful alternative as it is good for up to 10 years. The Super Visa offers a quicker, more flexible path for family visitation than the PGP.
Most applications for the Super Visa are handled in a matter of weeks, which is a much faster processing period. Families can now come together faster than they could with the PGP. However, the Super Visa—unlike the PGP—does not offer a road to PR, instead granting sponsored individuals with tourist visas that allow for longer stays in Canada, and which may be renewed quite easily.
Brother, sister, nephew, niece and grandchildren
In addition to the above, there are also special cases in which a Canadian permanent resident or citizen may sponsor siblings, nephews, nieces, or grandchildren.
Sponsoring an orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild is allowed on the condition that:
- they have a blood relation or adopted connection with you;
- both of their parents are deceased;
- they are below the age of 18; and
- they are without a spouse (without being married or in a common-law or conjugal partnership).
- Sponsorship of your brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild is not permissible if:
- either of their parents are still living;
- the whereabouts of their parents are unknown;
- they have been abandoned by their parents;
- care is provided by a person other than their parents, with one or both parents still alive; and
- a parent of theirs is incarcerated or otherwise detained
Any other relative
In addition, under certain conditions, Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor any member of their family related by blood, or adoption. In these cases, the sponsor must not have any other living relative they could potentially sponsor, such as a:
- spouse;
- domestic partner;
- conjugal partner;
- child or children;
- mother or father;
- grandmother or grandfather;
- orphaned siblings;
- orphaned nieces or nephews; or
- orphaned grandchildren.
Additionally, the potential sponsor must not have any other relatives (aunt, uncle or any other mentioned relative), who is either a:
- Canadian citizen;
- Canadian permanent resident; or
- registered Indian according to the Indian Act.
Should the relative you want to sponsor have a spouse, partner or dependent children who are looking to accompany them to Canada, you must incorporate them within the same sponsorship application.
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