According to Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024, the government of Canada prefers Spousal Sponsorship over other programs to connect detached members of the family. In 2022, the government will welcome around 80,000 spouses, partners, and children of Canadian residents.
The ideal processing time is 12 months. Also, the Canadian Government has released an online tracker to mark the status of the application.
Below is given the process of how a Canadian citizen or resident can sponsor their spouse, common-law in Canada.
Both the partners have to match the eligibility criteria to make Spousal Sponsorship successful. Both of them have to show the government the genuine of their relationship. They have to portray that the reason for their relationship is not to attain Canadian Permanent Residency.
Residing in the province of Canada is not necessarily required for Spouses and partners. The citizens of Canada can sponsor their spouse or partner while residing in foreign countries. But they would have to promise IRCC that they will come back to Canada once their family member’s application undergoes processing. While the residents of Canada can only sponsor while they live in the province.
Following are the requirements of a Canadian resident or citizens sponsoring their spouse
- They should be at least 18 years old
- Either Canadian resident or Canadian resident or a valid registration under the Canadian Indian Act
- Assurance they can provide financial assistance to their person in case of need.
Following are the given requirements that the person who is sponsored has to match.
The relationship shared between the partners should come under the following categories.
- Spouse – The Canadian resident or citizen should be legally married to the sponsored person
- Common-law partner– If the couple isn’t married to each other, then they should be living together for at least 1 year.
- Conjugal partner– Couples who are not legally married to each other because of cultural, religious discrimination reasons but have been living together outside of Canada for the last 1 year are considered in the category of Conjugal Partnership.
Although they have attained the age of 18 years to become eligible for the Spousal Sponsorship.
Clearing a health security check-up and a criminal background check is mandatory to become eligible.
Applying for Spousal Sponsorship
Candidates who have discovered that they both are eligible for Spousal Sponsorship can take the application from the online portal of IRCC’s website. This also includes payment of PR fee, biometric, and processing charges. Submission of sponsorship application with a PR application is required.
Even after the approval of the application from IRCC and getting Canadian PR, both the partners have to maintain a few more conditions. The Canadian resident or citizen has to take the charge of financial matters of their person for continuous 3 years. So, the resident/citizen is not liable to ask for financial aid from the government in that period of 3 years.
If you are the sponsored member, you are not eligible to sponsor another member until 5 years after you are sponsored.
