Requirements to Sponsor a Family Member From Out of Country

Sponsor your Family unit to Immigrate to Canada

Final updated: 28 Feb 2022

Canada Family Sponsorhip V2

Canada welcomes more than 100,000 immigrants through family sponsorship each year.

IRCC (formerly CIC) welcomes about 80 per cent of these immigrants under the Spouses, Partners, and Children Programme, and the remaining 20 per cent nether the Parents and Grandparents Program. This comprehensive CanadaVisa page provides an overview on how to sponsor your family for clearing to Canada.

Notice out if you are eligible to sponsor your family unit

Tabular array of Contents

Overview of Canadian Clearing Family Sponsorship
How to Apply for Family unit Sponsorship
Sponsor your Wife, Married man, or Common-law Partner
Sponsor your Dependent Children
Sponsor your Parents or Grandparents
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact the Cohen Clearing Law Firm for Help

Overview of Canadian Immigration Family Sponsorship

Family unit reunification is one of the pillars of Canada's immigration arrangement. Since the end of the 2nd Earth State of war, Canada has sought to welcome immigrants to strengthen its economy, bring families together, and on humanitarian and empathetic grounds. The family class is the 2d largest category of newcomers welcomed past Canada under its Immigration Levels Plan. Canada is pursuing the highest levels of immigration in its history to support its post-COVID economic recovery. As such, Canada aims to welcome over 400,000 new immigrants per year, of which, over 100,000 immigrants per year fall under the family class.

The country'south clearing system is managed by the Department of Clearing, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or IRCC for short. The department was previously known equally Citizenship and Immigration Canada, or CIC for short. IRCC establishes and administers Canada's family unit sponsorship program. This entails establishing program criteria, accepting and reviewing family sponsorship applications, and providing permanent and temporary resident visas.

What is Canadian family unit sponsorship?

There are 2 main aspects to sponsorship:

1) It allows your family fellow member to immigrate to Canada and go permanent residence (PR).

2) It requires you, equally an individual, to brand a delivery to provide for basic needs and to support that person financially.

How is COVID-19 impacting family sponsorship?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is however accepting family sponsorship applications.

While the processing of sponsorship applications has been affected past the coronavirus pandemic, the Canadian government continues to look for innovative and empathetic ways to reunite families.

Here are some of the steps that have been taken:

IRCC has increased the number of staff who volition review spousal sponsorship applications by 66% to reduce look times and process applications more quickly.
IRCC is also implementing a pilot project that will use new applied science to digitize paper applications for faster processing.
IRCC has indicated that it may implement biometric facilitation measures and introduce technology to conduct interviews with applicants remotely.
If y'all received Employment Insurance and Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), you tin still sponsor your spouse, parent, grandparent, child or other family member as long as y'all meet all the requirements to be a sponsor.
If the person you have sponsored received Employment Insurance (EI) or CERB during the undertaking menstruum, this will not crusade y'all to accept to default on your obligations.

Visit our COVID-xix folio to get the latest updates on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting family grade immigration sponsorship.

Tin can I be a sponsor?

To sponsor a family unit member, y'all are required to run into several requirements such as beingness:

a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
18 years of age or older
able to support the sponsored person for several years

Who can I sponsor?

Spouses and common-law partners
Dependent children
Parents and grandparents

There are exceptions to this dominion, notwithstanding, and it may be possible to sponsor a not-immediate family member (for example, a sister, niece, or uncle) if:

you exercise not accept any other immediate family members you could sponsor, or
you have legally adopted them and they meet the definition of a dependent child.

What are the income requirements to sponso r?

As a sponsor, you are required to sign a Sponsorship Agreement with your sponsored family unit member. This is a delivery by you to provide financial back up for the basic needs (nutrient, vesture, shelter, and health needs not covered by public health services) of the person you lot are sponsoring.

For some types of sponsorships, yous volition too have to run across or exceed the Low Income Cut-off (LICO), for instance if:

you are sponsoring a spouse or partner who has a dependent child and that dependent kid has 1 or more children of their ain, or
y'all are sponsoring a dependent kid who has one or more dependent children of their ain, or
you are sponsoring a parent or grandparent.

If you reside in Quebec, you lot will have to meet Quebec's sponsorship requirements and your income will be assessed by the Quebec immigration ministry.

What is a sponsorship undertaking?

Yous will exist required to sign an "undertaking" making you legally responsible for the family unit fellow member you are sponsoring. If that family fellow member should need government social assist, yous will take to repay this money.

The undertaking will stay in effect for a period of time based on the family unit fellow member you are sponsoring and volition not exist cancelled even if circumstances modify (i.east. if the person you are sponsoring becomes a Canadian citizen, if you divorce or separate, if you have financial problems).

The length of the undertaking y'all will exist required to sign will depend on the family member you are sponsoring and, in the case of children, their age:

Sponsored person	Length of undertaking (excluding Quebec)
Spouse, common-law partner or bridal partner	3 years
Dependent kid	x years, or until age 25, whichever comes first
Dependent child 22 years of age or older	3 years
Parent or grandparent	20 years
Other relative	10 years

For Quebec residents, the length of the undertaking as well depends on the family fellow member you are sponsoring and, in the case of children, their age:

Sponsored person	Length of undertaking
Spouse, mutual-police partner or bridal partner	3 years
Dependent child nether 16 years of age	Minimum 10 years (or until age 18), whichever is longer
Dependent child 16 years of historic period and older	Minimum 3 years (or until historic period 25), whichever is longer
Other relatives	ten years

How to Utilise for Family Sponsorship

Step 1: Ensure yous meet eligibility criteria to be a sponsor.

Step 2: Ensure that the relatives you intend to sponsor run across eligibility criteria.

Step three: You volition need to apply at the federal level to the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and, if you are a Quebec resident, at the provincial level to the Ministry of Immigration, Francization, and Integration (MIFI). You must submit your sponsorship application and the permanent residence (PR) status applications of your family unit members or relatives together. Once you take been deemed eligible to sponsor, your PR application will be reviewed.

Footstep 4: You will be required to pay the family sponsorship application fee.

Step 5: Send your awarding to the right accost. Y'all volition detect this information in the sponsorship guide that is bachelor for download on the government website.

Observe out if yous are eligible to sponsor your family

Sponsor your Wife, Husband, or Common-law Partner

Spouse or Mutual Police-Partner Sponsorship

If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada yous may sponsor:

your spouse (you lot are legally married)
common-law partner (you are non legally married but have been living together for at least 12 months in a bridal relationship).
bridal partner (you lot are not legally married or in a common-police force relationship and they are living exterior Canada)

To exist eligible for spousal or common-law partner sponsorship, you must:

exist 18 year of age, a Canadian permanent resident living in Canada or Canadian citizen,
demonstrate that you lot can provide for the basic needs for yourself and your spouse or partner,
Prove your relationship with the sponsored person is genuine past providing supporting documentation.

To exist eligible for spousal or common-police partner sponsorship, the sponsored person must:

be at least 18 years of age and non besides closely related to you.

Find out if you are eligible to sponsor your partner

In that location are 2 types of spousal or common-law sponsorship applications:

In fifty and: The awarding can be made from inside Canada considering the person you wish to sponsor is currently in Canada. This type of sponsorship allows applicants to continue to live in Canada while their application for permanent residence is being processed.

If the application is fabricated from within Canada, the person you are sponsoring may apply for an open work permit that would allow them to work for any employer in Canada while the sponsorship application is being processed.

Information technology is possible for spouses or partners to come to Canada past showtime applying for a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV).

Outland: The application is fabricated from abroad through an Embassy or Consulate.

In this case, the person you are sponsoring and who resides away volition normally expect for permanent residence outside of the land but may visit yous in Canada.

Sponsor your Dependent Children

Dependent Child Sponsorship

You tin can sponsor your dependent children, whether natural or adopted, to live with you as permanent residents in Canada.

Children must meet the following definition of a dependent child to be eligible for sponsorship:

A child is considered a dependent if he or she is not married or in a common-police force human relationship and is under 22 years of age.
If a kid is over 22 years of historic period, they may exist considered a dependent if they have a concrete or mental status that prevents them from beingness able to back up themselves.

To exist eligible under this program , you lot :

and your child away must exist canonical by Clearing, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to receive a visa,
must show your relationship with the kid you are sponsoring, either by a nascency or adoption certificate.

Sponsor your Parents or Grandparents

Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship

The Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Program (PGP) and the Super Visa Program are two programs that offer Canadian citizens and permanent residents the opportunity to bring their parents and grandparents to Canada.

To be eligible under t he Parents and Grandparents Program , you must:

be a Canadian denizen or permanent resident living in Canada,
be at to the lowest degree 18 years of historic period,
be the kid or grandchild of the person(s) yous are sponsoring,
run across the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) required for the size of their family unit of measurement and provide Canada Revenue Agency issued notices of assessment as proof,
sign a sponsorship understanding that acknowledges your hope to provide for the basic needs of family fellow member(s) for a period of 20 years,
sign an additional agreement if you alive in Quebec.

Your spouse or common-police force partner can help yous meet the income requirement past co-signing the undertaking.

If a co-signer is helping you meet the MNI requirements, the co-signer must run into the aforementioned eligibility criteria every bit you, the sponsor. In add-on, your co-signer must:

not exist the person being sponsored,
have cohabited with y'all in a conjugal human relationship for at least one year.

Learn more nigh sponsoring your parents and grandparents

Super Visa Programme

The Super Visa program allows parents and grandparents to come up to Canada on extended multiple-entry visas that can last upwards to 10 years in total. This program is always open, and information technology is possible to utilise at the same time as the to PGP.

To be eligible under th e Super Visa P rogram , yous must :

be the parent or grandparent of a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada,
take signed a letter of invitation from your child or grandchild,
accept medical insurance
employ for the super visa from exterior Canada.

In addition, your Canadian child or grandchild will have to prove that their household meets the minimum necessary income.

Oftentimes Asked Questions

Under family sponsorship programs, the following individuals tin can be included in the sponsored person's awarding for a Canada immigration visa:

The spouse, common-law partner, or bridal partner of the sponsored person
The dependent children of the sponsored person
The dependent children of the sponsored person's spouse, mutual-law partner or bridal partner
The dependent children of the sponsored person's dependent children
The dependent children of the sponsored person's spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner'south children.

The income required volition vary depending on the type of sponsorship you undertake and the number of family unit members you already take in your care. You will exist required to sign a hope to provide for the basic needs of the family unit member yous are sponsoring.

Some sponsorship options will also require yous to demonstrate that y'all take a minimum income in gild to be eligible to sponsor. This is for example the case with the Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Programme.

You must exceed the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) requirement set by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for each of the past 3 tax years before the date that y'all submit your application. Your MNI is assessed based on your Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Cess.

Sponsors living in the province of Quebec must encounter different income requirements.

The sponsor must undertake to provide the sponsored family members with:

food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities of life
dental and centre care and other health needs not covered by public health services available to all Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

The obligation to provide for the bones needs of the sponsored person(south) will only ascend if the sponsored person(s) are unable to provide for these needs on their own.

Yes, the undertaking to provide "Essential Needs" tin can be shared by a co-signer, but only by the sponsor's spouse, common-police force partner or conjugal partner.

You and your co-signer, if applicable, are required to sign an undertaking with the Regime of Canada, and if you alive in Quebec with the authorities of that province, promising to provide for the bones needs of the sponsored person(south) for a flow of fourth dimension post-obit the arrival of the sponsored person(s) in Canada.

The purpose of this agreement is to ensure that sponsored family members do not become dependent on Canadian social assistance or welfare.

The period during which yous volition be financially responsible for the person you are sponsoring begins on the day they get a permanent resident and varies depending on the type of family unit member:

Sponsored person	Length of undertaking (excluding Quebec)
Spouse, mutual-law partner or conjugal partner	3 years
Dependent child	10 years, or until age 25, whichever comes first
Dependent child 22 years of age or older	3 years
Parent or grandparent	20 years
Other relative	10 years

For Quebec residents, the length of the undertaking also depends on the family member you lot are sponsoring and, in the case of children, their age:

Sponsored person	Length of undertaking
Souse, mutual-law partner or bridal partner	3 years
Dependent kid under 16 years of historic period	Minimum x years (or until age 18), whichever is longer
Dependent kid 16 years of age and older	Minimum three years (or until age 25), whichever is longer
Other relatives	x years

The undertaking, once fabricated, cannot be cancelled or modified past the sponsor at whatsoever time after the Sponsored family unit members have arrived in Canada.

Failure to see any of the commitments provided for in the undertaking may event in legal activeness being taken confronting the sponsor and the co-signer.

If the sponsor does not have the required financial ability, the spouse, common-constabulary partner or conjugal partner of the sponsor may act as a co-signer to the undertaking. In such example, their combined financial abilities will be assessed, and the co-signer will exist equally liable in case of default.

If the combined fiscal abilities of the sponsor and the co-signer still do non meet the minimum requirements, then the Family unit Sponsorship Application volition be refused.

The financial power requirements do not apply if the sponsored person is a spouse, common-police force partner or bridal partner or a dependent child of the sponsor.

The sponsor is obliged to enter into a sponsorship Agreement with the sponsored person(southward). By signing this agreement, the sponsor agrees to provide for the "Essential needs" of the sponsored person(southward), and the sponsored person(south) promise to make every effort to become self-supporting.

Yes, it is possible for the sponsored person to work, equally long as they have a work let. While spousal or mutual-law partner applications are being candy, sponsored persons must maintain their legal status in Canada (visitor, student or worker).

The spouse or partner you lot are sponsoring may utilize for an open up piece of work permit and must obtain authorization before starting piece of work. It takes approximately 4 to 5 months to process this application. An open work permit does non chronicle to either the employer or the chore and allows the holder to work for almost any Canadian employer without beginning obtaining a confirmed job offer.

Yes. Your spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner can be of either sex.

Fees	In Canadian dollars
Sponsorship Fee	$ 75
Principal bidder processing fee	$ 475
Right of Permanent Residence Fee	$ 500
Biometrics	$ 85
Total	$ ane, 135

If you are sponsoring your spouse and he or she has dependent children, an additional payment of $150 will be required for each child included in the application.

If the sponsor resides in Quebec or intends to reside in Quebec when permanent residence is issued, an additional fee of $289 CAD volition likewise be required.

No. Once you are married or in a common-constabulary relationship, you can and then apply for a spousal sponsorship. The married spouse will just become a permanent resident of Canada after your sponsorship awarding is approved.

The sponsorship procedure can brainstorm when the adoption is in its last phase. However, your application will not be processed until a last adoption decision has been made.

No, but whether they are accompanying the sponsored person or non, all of the sponsored person'south dependents are required to pass applicative law and security clearances, and medical examinations.

In rare cases, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada may desire to run into with y'all and your sponsored family fellow member. This may happen if there is no documentation to support the human relationship, or if there is conflicting information on the forms and documents submitted, for example, age and religious difference, or little or no cohabitation.

In well-nigh cases, you will non have to submit proof of income when sponsoring your spouse for immigration to Canada. Even so, an immigration officeholder may enquire you to attend an interview and ask how you lot will support yourself and your spouse.

Yep. To practice so, you will need to submit split applications for each person (or couple) you lot are sponsoring. Applications volition be candy separately.

Yous may be ineligible for sponsorship if you:

are in prison
have non paid your child support payments
take declared defalcation and have not yet been discharged
has defaulted on an clearing loan, made belatedly payments, or defaulted on payments
have sponsored some other relative in the by and have not complied with the terms of the sponsorship agreement
were convicted of a vehement crime

To apply to sponsor your relative, y'all must go through the following steps:

Get the application parcel from the government website and read the instruction guide, fill out the forms.
Pay your application fee (including processing fees, biometrics and 3rd-party fees).
Ship your application to the mailing address indicated in the application guide.

Spousal sponsorship applications take approximately 12 months to process.
The processing of applications for dependent children varies by land.
The processing of PGP applications takes between xx and 24 months.

IRCC provides guidelines on how to demonstrate proof of human relationship in your awarding.

The requirements vary based on the person you are sponsoring. For case, a birth certificate can be used every bit proof when yous are looking to sponsor a parent, grandparent, or kid.

A marriage certificate can be used when yous look to sponsor your spouse. Other documents that tin can help you with respect to spousal sponsorship include photographs, travel itineraries, bank accounts, emails, wedding ceremony invitations, and more.

According to Clearing, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the bear witness you submit to IRCC should include:

a completed version of the IMM 5532 questionnaire which is called the "Human relationship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation" (it is included in your application packet)
a wedlock certificate and proof that the marriage has been registered with a government potency
proof of divorce if a spouse was previously married
if the couple have children in common, long-form nativity certificates or adoption records containing the names of both parents
wedding invitations and photos
couples are also expected to provide documents from at least two of the following. They need to provide a written explanation if they cannot provide a minimum of ii of the following sets of documents:
- show of joint ownership of residential holding
- rental agreement showing the couple are occupants of the property
- testify of articulation utility accounts (such as electricity, gas, phone, internet), articulation credit cards or depository financial institution accounts
- auto insurance showing the couple have both been alleged to the insurance company as residents of the same address
- authorities issued identification showing the same address (such equally a driver's license)
- other documents issued to the couple showing they have the aforementioned address (such equally cellphone bills, pay stubs, fiscal statements, tax records, insurance policies, etc).

IRCC says your show should include:

a completed IMM 5532 questionnaire (this is included in your application package)
show of separation from a quondam spouse if either member of the couple was previously married
a completed IMM 5519 course if either member of the couple was previously in a mutual-law relationship with someone else
long-form nascency certificates listing the names of both parents if both members of the couple accept children in common
photos of the couple together
at least two of the following sets of documents (or a written explanation if yous are unable to provide documents from at to the lowest degree two of the post-obit):
- documents showing the couple is recognized equally being in a common-law relationship (such as employment or insurance benefits)
- evidence of shared expenses or financial support among the couple
- bear witness that the relationship is recognized by friends and/or family unit (letters, social media information showing the human relationship is public)

If the couple is living together, they demand to provide evidence of at least two of the following sets of documents (or a written explanation as to why they are unable to provide at least two of the following sets of documents):

prove of articulation buying of residential property
evidence of joint ownership of residential belongings
rental understanding showing the couple are occupants of the property
bear witness of joint utility accounts (such as electricity, gas, telephone, cyberspace), articulation credit cards or bank accounts
auto insurance showing the couple accept both been alleged to the insurance company as residents of the same address
government issued identification showing the aforementioned accost (such every bit a driver's license)
other documents issued to the couple showing they take the aforementioned accost (such equally cellphone bills, pay stubs, financial statements, tax records, insurance policies, etc)

If the couple is not living together, they need to show testify they previously lived together for at to the lowest degree 1 yr via the following:

evidence they have been in contact together via letters, text messages that have been printed, email, social media conversations, or other documents showing they accept been in contact. This should be a maximum of ten pages of testify.
Evidence that the Canadian citizen or permanent resident has visited their partner via flight tickets or boarding passes, passport photocopies with stamps. If visits did non take place, an explanation needs to exist included by the sponsored individual in the IMM 5532 questionnaire (Part C, question 4).

Contact the Cohen Immigration Police force Firm for Assistance

Cohen Clearing Police is ane of Canada'southward leading immigration law firms. We have over 45 years of feel and feature a team of over sixty Canadian immigration attorneys, paralegals, and other dedicated professionals.

Cohen Immigration Law uses its expertise to bring families together in Canada. We provide professional person legal services in areas such equally sponsoring spouses, partners, children, parents and grandparents, too as the Super Visa.

CanadaVisa.com was founded in 1994 as the online presence of Cohen Immigration Police force. Since then, CanadaVisa has grown into ane of the earth's most trusted resources on immigration to Canada. Please connect with united states and so we can support your family sponsorship needs:

Find out if you are eligible to sponsor a loved one, or be sponsored.

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Source: https://www.canadavisa.com/canadian-family-sponsorship-visa.html