Spousal Sponsorship
If you’re a Canadian citizen or a Permanent Resident (PR), you can bring your spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner to Canada by sponsoring them. Once your Spousal Sponsorship application is accepted, your partner can become a Permanent Resident in Canada.
There are two main types of Spousal Sponsorship applications in Canada:
- Family Class (Outland): This is for applicants where the sponsored person lives outside Canada.
- Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class (Inland): This is for applicants where the sponsored person is already in Canada.
Selecting the correct type of applications depends on factors like where the sponsored person currently resides. For applicants outside Canada, Family Class Spousal Sponsorship application will be made. The application type also affects whether the sponsored person can get an open spousal work permit and whether you can appeal if Immigration department rejects your application.
Who can sponsor their partners or spouses in Canada
To apply for Spousal Sponsorship, the sponsor must be a Canadian citizen, a Permanent Resident in Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act.
The sponsor needs to meet certain requirements to be eligible:
- Age: You must be at least 18 years old.
- Financial Independence: You should be able to prove that you’re not getting social assistance for reasons other than a disability.
- Financial Capability: You must be able to provide for the basic needs of the people you want to sponsor.
- Legal Capacity: You need to have the legal capacity to marry.
- Previous Marriages: If you were married before, you must have a finalized divorce.
- Residency: If you’re a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, you need to show that you plan to live in Canada when the people you want to sponsor become Permanent Residents.(IRPR, s 130(2))
- Permanent Residency: If you’re a Permanent Resident, you have to live inside Canada to be an eligible sponsor.
- Financial Promise: If you live outside Quebec, you need to promise to financially support the people you’re sponsoring for a certain period.
- Quebec Residents: If you live in Quebec, you have to meet Quebec’s immigration sponsorship requirements and sign an agreement with the province of Quebec after they approve you as a sponsor.
Application Process:
The application process for outland and inland spousal sponsorship application is the same. So whether you’re applying under the Family Class (FC1) or under the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada (SCLP) you will be following the same steps.
In a spousal sponsorship application, there are always at least two applicants – the Canadian Sponsor, and the Principal Applicant (the person being sponsored to Canada). IRCC will assess each applicant separately and render a decision with respect to both applicants. Below you may find a typical flow of the application process:
Here’s a simple breakdown of the steps to apply for spousal sponsorship:
Step 1: Go to the official IRCC website and get the Documents checklist. The person being sponsored (the Principal Applicant) needs to create an account in the PR Portal. Remember, the checklist of required documents depends on the country, so make sure you use the right one.
Step 2: Gather all the documents you need and fill out the online immigration forms in the PR Portal.
Step 3: Submit your entire spousal sponsorship application. Nowadays, it’s mandatory to do this online in the PR Portal.
Step 4: IRCC checks if your application is complete and makes sure the sponsor is eligible.
Step 5: Once they confirm eligibility, IRCC issues the Acknowledgment of Receipt (AOR) and looks into whether the person being sponsored is admissible to Canada.
Step 6: IRCC thoroughly reviews the application to decide if the relationship is genuine. They’ll either approve it, ask for more information or an interview, or, in some cases, reject the application.