FAMILY SPONSORSHIP LAWYER
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Canada as a country believes in family unification and in keeping families together. To fulfill their vision towards it, Canada has designed various immigration programs to unite families. You can hire an immigration lawyer to help you. Two programs involve sponsorships:
The top-most priority of the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is uniting families. Under the family sponsorship program, the sponsored applicant can live, work, and study in Canada as a permanent resident.
Anyone who wishes to get sponsored under the family sponsorship program can benefit from this guide.
To sponsor under a family sponsorship program, there are two criteria need to be satisfied: –
Anyone who is above 18 years of age and either a permanent resident or citizen of Canada can sponsor under the family sponsorship program.
A person must be 18 years of age to sponsor under the family sponsorship program.
In order to sponsor under the family sponsorship program, a person must be either a permanent resident or a citizen of Canada.
Under the family sponsorship program, the following family members are eligible for sponsorship
Under a family sponsorship program, parents, dependent minors, grandparents, common law partners, spouses, conjugal partners, sisters, brothers, nephews and nieces, adopted children, and grandchildren can be sponsored.
Under the family sponsorship program, you can sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or dependents
Any time spent away from each other should have been short, and temporary.
You will need to give proof that you could not live together or get married in your conjugal partner’s country.
Children 22 years old or older qualify as dependents if they meet both of these requirements:
To sponsor a person under a family sponsorship program, a sponsor is required to sign a Sponsorship Agreement. Through agreement, there is a commitment you will provide all necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter to the person who is sponsored.
In a situation, where your spouse has sponsored you to migrate to the country and thereafter the relationship between the two became strained and ended in divorce, in such circumstances, a person’s permanent residency status cannot be revoked due to the breakdown of marriage. Hence, the divorce act has no role.
However, in situations, where your relationship has ended and you have temporary status and have not applied for permanent residence, then in such a situation, you need to consult an immigration lawyer.
Initially, only different-sex marriage couples were allowed to apply for spousal sponsorship, but soon the Civil Marriage Act amended the definition of marriage and married couples to include same-sex marriage in it. After this significant change Canadian residents, both citizens and permanent residents, can sponsor their same-sex spouse/ partner through the spousal sponsorship program.
Hence, this Act made it possible for people in same-sex marriages to sponsor their spouses to come to Canada.
The Canadian Immigration Authorities consider, both the legal and marital status, of the spouses and the family while processing an application under Spousal and Family Sponsorship. Family Law Act not only defines marriage and parties to a marriage but also recognizes other relationships like common-law partners and conjugal relationships. This Act helps people supporting their spousal and family sponsorship applications and establish eligibility for the same, both the sponsor and the person to be sponsored should meet the requirements of the Family Law Act set for different relationships it recognizes.
Following are the steps that need to be followed:
You must also tell us in case of change in circumstances, such as:
Initially, one should ensure that the sponsor and the person to be sponsored fulfill the eligibility requirements, after which all the required documents should be listed and arranged. Then an appropriate application package should be downloaded from the IRCC website, which should be filled out per the given instructions and then submitted with the requisite application fee. The next step is to fulfill requirements like Biometrics, medical certification, and criminal record background checks. Following the initial submission of the application, the immigration officer starts the evaluation of that file.
Applications under family sponsorship programs on average take up to 20-24 months.
Sponsoring your family to come to Canada is a very big responsibility and comes with some financial implications. The government requires a sponsor to be responsible for people being sponsored under spousal and family sponsorship programs for which the Canadian immigration authorities have set the minimum income level required to sponsor anybody and this minimum level of income increases with more dependents being added to the application. Following is a chart that states the income level required to sponsor your family members to Canada:
Size of Family Unit | Minimum Income 2020 | Minimum Income 2019 | Minimum Income 2018 |
---|---|---|---|
2 persons | $32,270 | $41,007 | $40,379 |
3 persons | $39,672 | $50,414 | $49,641 |
4 persons | $48,167 | $61,209 | $60,271 |
5 persons | $54,630 | $69,423 | $68,358 |
6 persons | $61,613 | $78,296 | $77,095 |
7 persons | $68,598 | $87,172 | $85,835 |
If more than 7 persons, for each additional person, add | $6,985 | $8,876 | $8,740 |
In order to sponsor under the family sponsorship program, the sponsor must meet the basic threshold of minimum level of income to support their loved ones. IRCC uses MNI to assess whether the sponsor is capable of financial support for their loved ones.
Sponsoring under the family sponsorship program involves various fees, it is given as below:
In addition to this, you need to pay for the biometric fees i.e., $85 per person or $170 for more than two people if applied at the same time and place.
Sometimes spousal and family sponsorship applications involve special cases that require special consideration owing to the complex situations. Some special cases include:
An adopted child can be sponsored under a family sponsorship program provided that the kid is 21 years old or younger and not married or in a common-law relationship.
In a situation, if a child is 22 or above, then the following conditions must be satisfied:
In situations where a Canadian Citizen or permanent resident is living alone, Canada can sponsor under the Lonely Canadian clause to any extended family related by blood or adoption regardless of age. Under some circumstances, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident can sponsor extended family together with their core family member.
For example, if you wish to sponsor your aunt, then your aunt’s spouse and their dependent children can also be included in the application.
Usually, a sponsorship application can take up to 12 months to complete. However, it can take additional time depending on the situation of the application.
In complicated cases, a visa officer can ask you to provide additional documents to prove your authenticity.
To check the status of the sponsorship application, you can visit Canada’s Permanent Residence Application portal.
The processing time of an application starts as soon as the complete file/ application is submitted to the immigration authorities and ends when a decision is made and conveyed to the applicant.
The processing time of applications is generally based on the average time taken to process previously applied 80% of applications in the past. In addition, processing time also depends on the volume of applications, completeness & accuracy of the file, and many more factors.
Many applications have some common errors which can be avoided by proper guidance from a specialist. Generally, the applicants make the following mistakes:
Applicants should thoroughly go through the application guide by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and ensure that an application is filed completely with all the required documents.
Applicants should make sure to use the latest forms which are found on the CIC website.
An applicant should always consult a specialist when they are confused while completing their sponsorship applications.
The medical certificates and the examination must be recent and not old enough as compared to the standard set by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Applicants should provide prompt replies to IRCC and submit all the required documents quickly. One should always communicate with IRCC through their application portal with regards to any confusion of deadlines.
An incomplete file does not follow the usual steps in file processing. IRCC generally returns an incomplete file and requests additional information and documents. This results in an increase in the processing time of the application which might also affect the final decision.
Once you have sponsored a person under a family sponsorship program, you will still be financially responsible if:
Some common financial challenges that sponsors may face are:
No, a friend cannot be a sponsored person either by Canadian citizens or permanent residents to come to Canada.
Yes, under the Lonely Canadian program, you can sponsor your extended family related by blood.
Change in relationship is immaterial in cases of sponsorship. The one who is sponsored will still be financially responsible for the other party.
Yes, you may sponsor more than one person if you want to. To do so, you will need to submit separate applications for each person you sponsor. Each application will be processed separately. You will be required to meet the income requirements for all people you apply o sponsor and their dependants.
A sponsor’s circumstances may change after the Case Processing Center (CPC) initial assessment. Officers may issue permanent resident visas to members of the family class only if a sponsorship undertaking is still in effect. When officers believe a reassessment of the sponsor is material to the visa decision, they may ask CPC to investigate further.
If CPC receives information indicating a change in a sponsor’s circumstances that might affect their ability to meet any of the sponsorship requirements, they will inform visa officers.
If a visa officer receives new information suggesting that the sponsor no longer meets the income test, they may request that CPC reassess the sponsor’s income. CPC will request that the sponsor submit additional documents or information as evidence of their income and financial status for the 12 months preceding the date that the officer receives the new information. A reassessment should be requested only when the applicant has met all other requirements.
If you sponsored a family member and their application for a permanent residence visa was refused, then you can appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) . This is where you can explain why the visa application should be accepted. This is called a sponsorship program.
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