If you are a permanent resident or citizen of Canada, it is only natural for both partners to stay together. Such applications are lengthy, document-heavy, and time-intensive and take somewhere between 8 (eight) to 14 (fourteen) months to process. According to a press release (see the end of the post) from the federal government, the processing times for immigration applications for the spousal sponsorship program have returned to the published standard of 12 months in 2022.
However, in the last few years, we have witnessed that these timelines were not maintained due to multiple reasons causing processing delays taking up to 3 years or more. There had been multiple reasons beyond an applicant’s control that had impacted the processing timeline including a lack of resources and sophisticated systems to process an application. However, the good news is that IRCC has made modifications to avoid long waits for application updates and proposed $85 million in new funding to reduce application inventories. The investment will support:
- Expanding the use of data analytics to manage application volumes (An immigration officer will always make the final decision, but this system will improve the overall client service)
- Additional staff for support
Additionally, there are other factors that increase the chance of a successful and faster spousal sponsorship application. Here are the Five Things to Know About Canada’s Spousal Sponsorship Immigration Program.
1. Are you eligible to sponsor your partner?
The term “sponsor” applies to only Canadian citizens and permanent residents. One must have the required eligibility to sponsor their common-law partner/conjugal partner or spouse/husband or wife. One of the key aspects of your sponsorship application is your financial situation. You should be able to support your partner financially and not be receiving any kind of social assistance from the government of Canada (disability excluded). You will be deemed ineligible if you have been sponsored yourself, and you have become a Canadian permanent resident within the last five years. In such a scenario you will have to wait a minimum of 5 (five) years to complete your stay as a Canadian permanent resident before you become eligible to sponsor your new spouse or partner. It is imperative to know that if you have failed to provide the financial support required on behalf of someone you have previously sponsored to Canada, you would no longer be eligible to sponsor a spouse to Canada. Few other reasons that may lead you to be an ineligible sponsor are:
- Declared Bankruptcy
- Under Removal Order
- Prison Sentence
- Failed child support
2. Where are you currently living?
The intent is an important factor in a spousal sponsorship application. You are eligible to sponsor your Spouse, Common-Law Partner, Conjugal partner, and dependant child if you are a Canadian citizen living abroad (outside of Canada). You must show that you’ll live in Canada when the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident. This provision however does not apply to permanent residents looking to sponsor their spouses or partners. Permanent residents should be living in Canada to sponsor their partners. Permanent residents living abroad can’t sponsor from outside of Canada.
3. What are the different types of Spouses and Common-Law Sponsorship Applications: Inland v/s Outland
There are primarily two types of Spouse and Common-law Sponsorship applications. These are In Canada Class applications and Outland applications. Applying under the correct category directly impacts the outcome.
To be eligible to apply under the In Canada Class your partner must be:
1. Living with the sponsor in Canada
2. Holding a valid temporary resident status in Canada, or is exempt from needing this status
Without Status – You may also be eligible to sponsor your partner under the In Canada Class application if they do not hold a valid temporary resident in Canada or are inadmissible “only” because of the following reasons:
1. Have overstayed their visa visitor record/work/student permit
2. Have worked or studied without being legally allowed to
3. Have entered Canada without a visa or other document that was required
4. Have entered Canada without a valid passport or travel document (as long as they have valid documents by the time, they are granted permanent residence)
On the other hand, if the partner being sponsored is not legally living in Canada at the time of application submission, outland spousal sponsorship is the only option.
4. What kind of Financial Support is required?
As a sponsor, you are required to sign an undertaking of a 3-year sponsorship agreement. This is a commitment to provide complete financial support to your partner for three years beginning on the date that permanent residence is granted. The sponsorship agreement is a legally binding contract that states a sponsor’s financial obligations will not prevent them from providing for the applicants. The sponsorship agreement is signed by the sponsor (and co-signers, if applicable) and sponsored applicants aged 22 years or above and applicants below 22 years of age if they are the spouse, common-law, or conjugal partner of the sponsor.
5. How to bring a spouse’s children to Canada?
You can successfully bring your partner’s dependent children to Canada if you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. A dependant child is someone who depends on their parents, are under 22 years of age, and is not married. A child above the age of 22 can be sponsored if they have been depending on their parents since before the age of 22 due to a physical or mental disability that does not allow them to support themselves. You should ensure to support them financially and ensure they do not have to apply for social assistance. If the child you are going to sponsor exceeds the required age limit for the dependant applicants, the age lock-in date will be considered the final age. This information is frozen in an application, so it doesn’t change over time, no matter how long it takes to process it
The above points are some of the major checks you may consider increasing the success of your spousal sponsorship application. The government of Canada has already taken effective measures to expedite average processing times for spousal sponsorship applicants to return to the service standard of 12 months or lower for new applications.
Important Links
- For queries book a consultation with us at https://dnimmigration.com/consultation/
- Common refusal reasons for Spousal open work permit and Spousal Sponsorship https://bit.ly/3lrQW7a
- Press Release from IRCC: https://bit.ly/3MxDJWs