Family sponsorship is one of the fastest and common ways to gain Canadian permanent residence and is expected to boom again as international travel restrictions are gradually easing up this year.
India is the major source of newcomers to Canada, while China is the second-biggest such source.
Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, more than twenty (20) per cent of the 85,590 new immigrants to Canada from India came here under family sponsorship programs and so did about thirty-five (35) per cent of those from China.
From those two countries alone, 28,125 new permanent residents came to Canada under the family sponsorship programs in 2019.
As the borders eased up with the worldwide distribution of the new coronavirus vaccines and economies recover from the financial impact of the global pandemic, that family sponsorship immigration programs promises to provide great opportunities for foreigners who wish to make Canada their home.
Under the family sponsorship immigration programs, a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada, aged Eighteen (18) or more can sponsor some family members to become Canadian permanent residents.
By obtaining that Canadian permanent residence, those family members are able to live, work and study in Canada.
Under Family Sponsorship Sponsors Are Financially Responsible For Relative
The sponsor takes on all financial responsibility for the relative once he or she comes to Canada.
To be a sponsor, the permanent resident or Canadian citizen must:
- sign a sponsorship agreement with the family member or relative to be sponsored that charge the sponsor to offer financial supports for the relative, if necessary. This agreement also says the person becoming a permanent resident will make every effort to fend for him or herself;
- offer financial assistance to a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner for three years from the date they become a permanent resident, and;
- offer financial support for a dependent child for ten (10) years, or until the child turns twenty-five (25), whichever comes first.
People interested in applying under the Family Class sponsorship class should obtain an assessment of their eligibility by filling out a Free Online Evaluation.
Relatives who can be sponsored include:
- spouse
- common-law partner
- conjugal partner
- dependent children
- parents and grandparents – (Additional conditions apply)
- brothers or sisters, nieces or nephews, grandsons or granddaughters who are orphaned, under eighteen (18) years of age and unmarried or in a common-law relationship.
- another relative of any age or relationship but only under certain conditions.
- accompanying relatives of the above (for instance, spouse, common-law partner and dependent children).
Spouses and partners who arrives in Canada under the sponsorship programs are permitted to work under the Spousal Work Permit Pilot Program.
The program is designed to allow spouses and common-law partners to work while their immigration applications are being processed and finalized.
Qualified candidates must be in Canada and in the process of being sponsored for Canadian permanent residence under the spouse or common-law partner class. Applicants must also have a valid temporary status as a worker, a visitor, or student.
Under the sponsorship programs, sponsors have a contract with Canada’s immigration authorities or IRCC to repay the government for any social assistance payments rendered to the sponsored person.
Sponsors remain committed to the undertaking agreement for the entire contract period, even in a change of circumstances such as marital breakdown, divorce, separation, or a financial circumstances.
