Want to bring your family to Canada? To have your family settle in Canada, you may apply for sponsorship. Canada is still accepting family sponsorship applications because this sponsorship class wasn’t as affected by travel restrictions during COVID-19 lockdowns. Permanent residents and Canadian citizens can sponsor their immediate family programs.

Family Sponsorship Categories

There are primarily three major family sponsorship Categories in Canada.

1. Spouse, partner, or dependant children sponsorship
2. Sponsoring your parents or grandparents
3. Sponsoring adopted children and other relatives

The eligibility and application process for each of these categories may differ from one another.

Responsibilities of a Sponsor

To sponsor your family in Canada, you need to sign a contract with the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, committing to provide your sponsored family members complete financial assistance and basic requirements, which include;

• Food, clothing, and utilities
• Personal needs, such as home, fuel, and other household supplies
• Healthcare services, not offered by the government, such as dental care and eye care.

This undertaking ensures the Canadian government that your family members entering Canada won’t apply for social assistance. The duration of this contract depends upon several factors, including but not limited to their age and their relationship with the sponsor. As soon as the people you’ve sponsored enter Canada, you need to fulfill your obligations. Your partner or spouse can also help you meet these requirements by co-signing your sponsoring application.

A notable factor of this undertaking is that its unconditional. That is to say, relationship breakdown, separation, divorce, relocation, or the granting of Canadian citizenship to them, won’t affect the undertaking. It’ll remain valid under all these circumstances.

Canada Family Sponsorship Process

The family sponsorship process in Canada constitutes two stages;

1. Sponsor applies for their relatives
2. The relatives apply for permanent residence

The sponsorship application and the permanent residence application need to be sent concurrently.

Get the Application Package

The application package should include the forms that need to be submitted, an instruction guide, and a document checklist.

Make sure you read the guide properly before filling out the forms and ensure that you meet the eligibility criteria. Here are some important documents you need to submit while applying;

• Proof of income
• A statement from your relatives, showing their interest in immigration and willingness to support themselves after immigration
• All the documents mentioned in the provided checklist

Misrepresentation of information can lead to severe consequences, therefore you need to make sure that you’ve truthfully mentioned all important details such as the number of your family members, your marital status, and any amendments in your particular case.  

Fee Submission

With the sponsorship application, you need to submit fees such as the biometrics fee, processing fee for yourself, the family members you’re sponsoring, and their dependents, and the right to permanent residence fee.

The biometrics fee entails the costs involved in digital photos and fingerprint collection.

Application Submission

Finally, you need to submit your application along with the required documents and wait for approval.

Once the application is submitted, don’t forget to check your email if you’re waiting to hear the response or you think that you have some important documents. Typically, the processing time of an application for a spouse or partner is nearly 12 months and for children may vary by country. Because of COVID-19, however, the Canadian government doesn’t provide an accurate or fixed processing time. If they’ll receive your application and find it complete, you’ll receive an AOR (acknowledgment of receipt).

You can check your application status page after applying to keep yourself updated with its progress.

Need Help?

Looking to bring your family to Canada? For that, you need to submit a successful application. Search for an experienced immigration lawyer in Canada, that you can trust with your particular case. Nanda & Associate Lawyers Professional Corporation is a team of experienced and qualified lawyers and Canadian immigration consultants who have been providing trusted legal services since 2003.

In addition to Canadian immigration, they also offer legal services related to family law, business, will & estate, and real estate property.

Do you want to move your family to Canada but are clueless about the immigration process? Book a free consultation session today.

About the Author

This guest blog is written by an experienced Canadian immigration lawyer who is currently associated with the Canadian immigration law firm, Nanda & Associate Lawyers Professional Corporation. He regularly contributes to the website and offers legal support to the company’s immigration clients.

Disclaimer: This blog is only intended for educational purposes and shouldn’t be used as a substitute for legal advice.