All the affected families of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 will benefit from a new permanent residency program introduced by IRCC. This new program is created for people seeking to settle in Canada and supports those family members whose parent, common-law partner, or spouse passed away. Extended family members must be closely akin to the one who has survived. The Canadian family member must demonstrate the relationship through a statutory declaration.
Only two family members extended are permitted per family unit.
The air disaster victims must have held Canadian citizenship, been permanent residents, or foreign nationals who received approval for permanent residency. Reportedly, there were 22 Canadian victims in Ethiopia Airlines, and 85 victims who had Canadian citizenship and permanent residency in the Ukraine International Airlines aircraft.
This new measure has been inspired by IRCC’s policy of May 2021. The May policy provided permanent residency to those family members who were affected by the air disasters and who were already residing in Canada. The policy came to closure on May 11, 2022. However, extended family members who have reached immediate eligibility are allowed to apply when outside Canada.
The public policy applies to overseas families and has been implemented from August 3, 2022, to August 3, 2023.
Eligibility requirements
If you are residing overseas, you become eligible to apply. You will also have to ensure that you and your family members aren’t prohibited from admissibility in Canada.
You must be closely connected with the Canadian victim, their spouse, or their common-law partner who lost their lives during the flights; Ethiopians Airline Flight 302, and Ukraine International Flights 752.
The surviving victim will need to sign and provide a Statutory declaration. The primary applicants are limited to just two for whom the family members can sign the declaration.
Suppose you want the victimized family members living in Canada to attain permanent residency. In that case, you must have a relationship with someone who has had permanent residence through the Temporary Public Policy.
The following family members must be related to the victim:
- Grandparent, parent, and grandchild
- Spouse, common-law partner, or a child of any age group
- Nephew; niece, or a child born to their sibling
- Sibling; half-sibling
- Aunt; Uncle
The following relatives must be related to the victim’s spouse or common-law partner:
- Parent, grandparent, child, grandchild
- Sibling & half-sibling
- Aunt and uncle, also the victim’s parent’s sibling
- Nephew or niece and even the child of the victim’s sibling
If your family members can fulfill all the admissibility conditions demanded from them to become permanent residents, you will be able to include their names in your application.
They might not have any plan to accompany you to Canada but you must still mention their name. Doing so will help you sponsor them later if required.
