Family Sponsorship in Calgary, AB
Family sponsorships are a method used to become a permanent resident in Canada. It is one of the most popular routes, with 30% of all immigrants using family sponsors. IRCC has officially announced to increase their parent and grandparent sponsorships to 20,000 applicants by 2019. Please keep in mind that only certain types of family relations are applicable for family sponsorships.
Who Can Be a Family Sponsor?
If you have relatives that already have a Canadian citizenship or Permanent Residence then you’re eligible to apply for a family sponsorship. You can sponsor certain relatives if you meet the following criteria:
- 18 years of age or older
- Canadian citizen, permanent resident or registered First Nations
- Sign an undertaking agreeing to provide for the family member’s “essential needs” (e.g. food, clothing, shelter), and health needs not covered by public health services (e.g. dental and eye care)
- Sign an agreement with the sponsored person(s)
- Meet certain income conditions, some exemptions apply for sponsoring a spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner or dependent child.
*For the Parents and Grandparents Program, the income requirement is higher and has to be proven by a document issued by Revenue Canada for 3 previous taxation years.
Who cannot become a Family Sponsor?
As stated by the IRCC, you may not be able to sponsor a relative if you:
- Are receiving social assistance for a reason other than disability
- Have failed to pay an immigration loan, performance bond or any type of family support payments
- Failed to provide for the basic needs of a previous sponsored relative
- Under a removal order
- Are in a penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison
- Receiving social assistance for a reason other than a disability
- Are going through the process of bankruptcy
- Was previously sponsored by a spouse or partner and became a permanent resident less than 5 years ago
- Sponsored a previous spouse or partner and three years have not passed since that sponsoree had become a permanent resident
- Convicted of violent or sexual offences
* Exemptions may apply if pardon/rehab granted, conviction revoked, final acquittal, etc. and time has elapse.
Who Can Apply to be Sponsored under Family Sponsorship?
The following may be able to apply to be sponsored under family sponsorship:
- A Spouse: A partner with whom you are legally married. Marriage must be legal and valid in Canada and marriage country.
- Common Law: a partner that is 18 years or older and has been living together in a conjugal relationship for at least 12 consecutive months.
- Conjugal Partner: a marriage-like relation to a sponsor and a foreign national residing outside of Canada who is in a relationship with the sponsor for a period of at least one year. Cannot live together due to situations beyond their control.
- Dependent Children (and adopted children): The child is under the age of 22 and does not have a spouse or common law partner. The dependent child is a full time student and financially dependent on a parent
- Orphaned relatives: under the age of 18 who are not married or in any type of common-law relationship and require financial dependency.
What Can Our Immigration Lawyers and Consultants Do for You?
With the rising situation of immigration fraud, finding yourself a immigration consultant or lawyer will benefit tremendously. Many of our clients come to us after they had been refused and fixing the situation will take a lot more time and money. We ask you to please come see us before you apply as we can provide you feedback and experienced support when applying for your immigration application.
The IRCC is becoming more strict to proving that spousal relationships are legitimate and were not formed with the intention of only immigration. You do not want to be mistaken when applying to immigrate to Canada as the punishment is refusal for any future applications.
The perks of working closely with our immigration staff are the level of interpersonal contact we will have with our clients. At Shim Law, we speak 10 different languages and will be able to interpret any miscommunication when assisting with your immigration application to Canada. Our lawyers and consultants are proud and passionate to help reunite you and your family to Canada! Please book a consultation online here or call now at (403) 476 – 2011.
