Sponsoring your loved ones for Canadian PR

One of the major goals of Canadian immigration is to bring families together and be reunited. With this, Canada’s way to fulfill this goal is through the category of  Spousal, Partner, and Children immigration sponsorship. Through this category, Canada is aiming to welcome around 80,000 immigrants this year. All eligible Canadian citizens, as well as permanent residents in Canada, may sponsor their spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner to acquire their Canadian permanent residence status. In connection to this, note that the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) do recognize same-sex relationships.

For a sponsor to be eligible for this category, one must:

• At least be 18 years old upon submitting the application
• Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or registered as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act.; if you happen to be currently living abroad but you are a Canadian citizen, you will have to express to the IRCC your intent to live in Canada with your partner upon gaining their permanent residence.
• Show that you are not a recipient of social assistance unless otherwise, you have a disability
• Show you are financially capable to cover the needs of your loved one once sponsored in Canada.

Once qualified, who can you sponsor? Just like the sponsor, the person to be sponsored must also be at least 18 years old and must fall under either one of the listed categories below:

• Spouse – you are legally married to your partner
• Common-law partner – you are not legally married to your partner, but you have been living together for at least 1 year straight or 12 consecutive months.
• Conjugal partner – you are not legally married to your partner but have been in a relationship with you for at least a year; has been living outside of Canada and is not able to marry you due to religious, cultural, or legal circumstances.

Once qualifies, you must submit two applications to the IRCC; specifically, one application for sponsorship application and the other one is for the permanent residence application. Note that these two applications are required to be submitted together by the IRCC. As soon as your application has been approved by the IRCC, your partner must fulfill certain obligations, and you as a sponsor are financially responsible for your loved one for at least 3 years. In addition, your partner is not allowed to sponsor another person until five years after they receive their Canadian permanent resident status.