Sponsoring family members to immigrate to Canada
Spouses
If you have permanent-residency in Canada or you are a Canadian Citizen, you may sponsor your foreign spouse, or common-law partner. In order to be considered common-law, you must have lived with your partner for at least one year.
You must not have entered common-tenancy or marriage to take advantage of Canada’s immigration laws. If the couple does not have a child from a previous marriage under the age of 22, there is no set minimum requirement for the sponsor’s income. It is very important that the application forms and your accompanying evidence are prepared carefully and presented in a well organized manner.
Some of the main reasons sponsorship applications fail are:
- There was not enough proof that the marriage is real;
- The sponsor has a police record or a court decision for domestic violence;
- The sponsor has previously sponsored another spouse, and s/he failed to fulfil their undertakings as a sponsor;
- The applicant submitted the application in light of wrong or insufficient information.
An application prepared by a professional will not only ensure that your application is completed correctly, but also protect you from irreparable damage done to your case by missing and/or incorrect information, and saving you appeal expenses down the line.
Mothers, Fathers, and Grandparents
This category has been suspended indefinitely by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. However, these family members may obtain what is called a Super Visa. A Super Visa is a multiple-entry visa with up to 10 year validity, and allows a maximum of 2 years of stay at each entry to Canada. This visa effectively allows these family members to live temporarily in Canada.
Sponsoring siblings, cousins, and nieces/nephews
Under normal circumstances, sponsoring siblings and secondary blood relatives is not possible. For an exception to be made, the following must hold true: the Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident has not sponsored anyone else to immigrate to Canada, s/he does not have any relatives living in Canada, and there is no other person from their country of origin that is eligible to be sponsored.
If the situation outlined above applies to you exactly, you may contact me for further information.
In addition to the exception I mentioned above, you may sponsor a sibling under the age of 18, if s/he has become an orphan.
Nuriye Sahin is a Canadian Immigration Consultant and a member of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. She represents her clients with their temporary resident and permanent resident applications, as well as appeals to the Immigration Appeal Division. She graduated from the University of Istanbul, Faculty of Law in 1986. After working as a lawyer for 14 years as a member of the Istanbul Bar Association, she immigrated to Canada.
Did you know that there are many different ways to immigrate to Canada – that it is crucial to know which category suits you most, to maximise the chances of a positive outcome for your application?