Post pandemic the processing time was delayed by the IRCC which has now again come back to its track.
At the beginning of this year, Fraser- The Immigration Minister of Canada announced the Spousal Sponsorship will now be processed within one year.
The measures taken by the government to enhance the immigration system have assisted the IRCC in coming back to its time frame of a year. An online tracker has been set up by the IRCC to support the applicants for Spousal and child sponsorship to keep an eye on the track of processing of their applications.
Spouses either residing in Canada or external to Canada will be proceeded in 12 months. This includes all the steps of submitting biometrics, evaluation of the sponsor and sponsored individual, etc.
Below is given the eligibility criteria for Spousal Sponsorships
- Should have attained the minimum age of 18
- Either living in Canada or a citizen of Canada
- Should have to assure the government that they can provide financial assistance to their sponsored family member in case of need.
Below are the eligibility criteria that need to be maintained for the sponsored member
- Spouses– There must be a proper ceremony showing both the partners are engaged to each other
- Common-law partners– The eligibility requires them to reside with the sponsor for at least a continuous 1 year
- Conjugal Partner– Couples under this category need to prove to the government their failed attempts of marrying that can either be because of religion and the relationship should be of at least 1 year
The immigrants need to clear all the screenings related to criminality, health records, security checks to avoid inadmissibility.
Procedure for Applying
Candidates can either apply for inland sponsorship or outland sponsorship.
Inland sponsorship is the option that is available for couples residing in Canada while outland sponsorship is for couples that are filing from outside of Canada.
Inland sponsorship demands from spouses, partners, and common laws to have a recognition of temporary residents. They can be either workers, students, or travelers. In the case of Inland sponsorship, the sponsor can be eligible for getting Spousal Open Work Permit.
The inland sponsors can stay in Canada at the time of their application. While the sponsors who look forward to moving outside of Canada should go for outland sponsorship.
Outland sponsorship is the option that is provided to couples living outside of Canada. This is a recommended option for couples who are engaged in traveling back and forth to Canada. Also, people whose personal or financial conditions force them to exit the country.
Outland sponsorship option is available for spouses of Canadian PR residing in Canada.
While the outland sponsorship option is available for spouses of citizens of Canada residing outside of Canada. Taking this step requires a demonstration of returning to the country once the application of spouses gets approval.
Outland sponsorship is an available option for conjugal partners and common law partners.
Conjugal partners are couples who are not able to marry while being in a relationship for 1 year
The procedure of applying for sponsorship
A set of 2 applications needs to be submitted. One application will be in the name of sponsorship while the other for Canadian PR.
- The primary step starts by receiving an application from the IRCC
- A certain amount of payment has to be made to the IRCC for bearing processing cost, biometrics cost, and PR fee. The payment has to be made on the official website of the IRCC
- The complete application has to be submitted to the IRCC.
