Canadian citizens or permanent residents may sponsor selected immediate family members who contain a foreign citizenship to join them in Canada as permanent residents under the Family Class. The fundamental requirements to meet the criteria as a sponsor are that a person must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, be at least 18 years of age, reside in Canada, and maintain an adequate salary to provide for their relatives upon entering in to Canada. A sponsor must enter into a written agreement with the Canadian government to support their relatives for a period of three years for spouses, common-law partners, or married couples and ten years for supplementary relatives. The amount of salary a sponsor is required to disclose depends on how many family members there are, and how many family members are sponsored by that same individual. For example, if a sponsor has a family living in Canada, such as a spouse and two children and would like to sponsor the parents of their spouse, this individual would then have to disclose a sufficient income in order to support a total of six people, including themselves. Please note that there is no obligation to disclose a minimum level of income to sponsor a spouse, common-law partner, wedded partner or child; the income requirement only applies to supplementary sponsored relatives.

The types of relatives who may be sponsored under the family class include the following:

Spouse.
A spouse is a husband or wife, legally bound together. If the marriage did not take place in Canada, presented that the marriage is legal in the country where it occurred, therefore it would be accepted by the Canadian immigration authorities.

Common-law partner.
A common-law partner is a person who the sponsor has lived together with for a minimum of a one year period in a conjugal relationship. A conjugal relationship is a marriage-like relationship.

Conjugal partner.
A conjugal partner is a person who has been in a marriage-like relationship with the sponsor for a minimum of a one year period while not living together due to extenuating circumstances.

Children.
A sponsor who has children under the age of 22 and who are unmarried are considered to be dependent children. Children over the age of 22 and who are married can be sponsored if from the time when reaching the age of 22 or by the date they were married, have remained full-time students and have been financially dependent on the sponsor.

Parents.
A parent is a mother or father. Please note that when parents are sponsored they may also bring their dependent children with them, which would be the sponsor's siblings. When meeting the requirements a sponsor is able to bring their siblings who are under or over the age of 22 and who are full-time students to Canada as permanent residents.

Grandparents.
Grandmother or grandfather.

Orphans.
An orphan is person who has parents that are deceased. An orphaned sibling (brother or sister), nephew, niece, or grandchild may be sponsored if they are under the age of 18 and unmarried.

Adopted children.
A person who is under the age of 18 who is anticipating being adopted by an individual residing in Canada may be sponsored.

Other relative.
Where a sponsor does not have any immediate relatives who may be sponsored under the regular categories, such as a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, child, parent, grandparent, sibling, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece living in Canada, and no existing relatives residing overseas, then they would be encouraged to sponsor supplementary relatives regardless of their age.

Please note that siblings (brothers and sisters) cannot be directly sponsored under the Family Class. Siblings may only be sponsored as accompanying dependents of sponsored parents.

In-land Spousal Sponsorship.
Generally during the process time of a sponsorship application, the sponsor involved would continue to reside in Canada while the person they are sponsoring waits in their native land until the application pending is approved and their visa is issued before they can enter Canada. An exception to this rule can be found in the in-land spousal sponsorship category. Under this category it is likely for a Canadian permanent resident or citizen to sponsor their spouse or common-law partner while they are both residing in Canada. In order to be eligible, the sponsored spouse must contain legal status in Canada, such as a visitor visa, study permit, work permit; or be out of status provided they are not under a removal order.

Sponsorship by a Canadian Citizen Living Abroad.
An additional exception to the general rule is that the sponsor must be living in Canada during the time the sponsored person awaits the processing of their application in their native land, is the ability of a Canadian citizen to sponsor their spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or children while they are living together with them in a foreign country. In cases such as these, the sponsor must disclose evidence that he or she and the sponsored relative intend to live in Canada once the relative is granted permanent residence.

If you are interested in having our firm conduct a FREE ASSESSMENT to determine whether you and your relative are qualified for Family Sponsorship, please click here.

Disclaimer: the information included on this website is intended to be of a general nature and does not constitute legal advice.