FAMILY CLASS SPONSORSHIP

Family Sponsorship – Reuniting Your Family Through Immigration to Canada

Immigrating to Canada isn’t all about finding employment in a new country; family sponsorship could actually be a good way for families to reunite in the Great White North.  Canadian laws state that citizens of the country, meaning those who are 18 years of age or older and classified as Permanent Residents, can sponsor family members planning to immigrate, such as parents, children, grandparents or a spouse.

Our families are a primary reason we consider working in a foreign country, in order to provide them with a better lifestyle. Happiness can never be complete if we cannot share the fruits of our success with them. CIC knows how important it is to help families reunite in the land of Canada and have introduced sponsorship. If you are a Canadian citizen or you are holding a permanent resident visa, you may opt to sponsor your family members so they can come to Canada and enjoy the same benefits.

A Canadian citizen or a permanent resident may sponsor the following family members:

• Spouses
• Common-law partner
• Conjugal partner
• Dependent children
• Parent/grandparent
• Legally adopted children

Other more distant relatives, such as grandchildren, brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces, would only qualify under family sponsorship rules in certain circumstances.  These would include, but not be limited to being single (unmarried, not in a domestic partnership), having no living parents or being less than 18 years of age.  There are other special exceptions, such as an adopted child being sponsored; if the adoption was carried out in the child’s best interests, then there is a good chance said individual would qualify to be sponsored for immigration.

As for the sponsor, he or she would need to be making a certain amount of money.  But this is not an absolute rule, as some exceptions may apply; one example would be if the person being sponsored is a dependent child or the sponsor’s husband or wife.  Sponsors would also have to be financially stable (i.e. has not declared bankruptcy), have no criminal record and not be receiving any form of social assistance.  One final exception would be humanitarian grounds, which could allow certain non-relatives of the sponsor who are financially dependent on the latter to migrate to Canada under family sponsorship rules.

If you are a permanent resident of Canada, you can live, work and study in the country. Using the Family Class Application for permanent residency, you need to provide the necessary means to sustain the needs of the whole family. As you bring your family into Canada you are responsible for supporting them financially from the time they arrive in the country. Being the sponsor, you need to ensure they will not seek help from the Canadian government to survive their lives in Canada. It is a requirement you are capable of providing for them in the country.

If you have your permanent residence visa you may now opt to use the sponsoring process under Family Class. You may choose to sponsor your spouse, conjugal partner and dependent children or you may choose to sponsor your other eligible relatives.

All in all, the family sponsorship process may take about one year at the very least, but in most cases, it could take more than that.  Unfortunately, there isn’t any way to have this process expedited, as it is part of the policies and procedures of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.