Spousal Sponsorship

Despite the wrath of COVID-pandemic, the IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) has not stopped processing applications for spousal sponsorships.

Spousal sponsorship is an opportunity for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to sponsor their foreign wife, husband, or common-law partner to immigrate to Canada and settle there permanently. The Canadian government recognizes how important it is for families to live together. IRCC gives priority for spousal sponsorship applications.

There are two ways of applying for Spouse and Common-Law Sponsorship.

Common-law and spouse sponsorship can take the form of either outland or inland sponsorship. Outland Spousal Sponsorship:

If the spouse or common-law partner you intend to sponsor is currently outside Canada, the processing of their application will be initiated through a visa office where the person is currently residing. You can still apply under outland spousal sponsorship even if you both live in Canada currently. The advantage of applying through outland sponsorship is that you are at liberty to appeal if your sponsorship is refused.

Inland Spousal Sponsorship

your application for sponsorship will be handled in Canada, and it requires both of you to live together. The individual you are sponsoring MUST have Canadian temporary status, for example, an international student, worker, or visitor. Your partner could be eligible for Canadian Open Work Permit.

A Refused Spousal Sponsorship application: What you may need to know

You can sponsor the following persons and their dependent children (21 or younger) for Canadian Permanent Residence.

You may sponsor the following groups of individuals and their dependent kids (21 or under) for permanent residency in Canada:

Spouse (wife, husband, and partner): your marriage to such persons must be one recognized by the law.

Common-law Partner (an individual you are cohabitating with although not married to)

Conjugal Partner (if you have lived with a person for at least a year in a committed relationship but person doesn’t qualify as either your spouse or your common-law partner; you can sponsor them. However, there must be enough justification why you can’t live together—studying outside Canada, job location, inability to get a Canadian visa may not qualify as good enough reasons.

Canada doesn’t discriminate against same-sex marriages. If you are a member of LGBT, your partner is still eligible for spousal sponsorship under any of the above three categories.

To qualify to Sponsor your partner, you must:

• Be a Canadian Citizen/Permanent Resident currently residing in Canada
• be 18 and over
• not be under removal orders, in prison, charged with a criminal offence or bankrupt
• not be under someone else’s spousal sponsorship to Canada within the last five years

For a Canadian Citizen/permanent resident) to sponsor you under Spousal sponsorship, you must:

• be at least 18
• not be a close blood relative to the sponsor
• not criminally or medically inadmissible to Canada

Requirements you have to meet to be eligible for spousal sponsorship under the three categories:

• Your spousal union is genuine—you should not have entered into it  principally intending to secure Permanent Residence
• If the spousal application is under the Inland Spousal Sponsorship category, your spouse must live with you in Canada

Requirements after sponsorship

• The sponsor (after the person sponsored has arrived in Canada) will have to meet all the basic financial responsibilities of their spouse, for at least three years
• A person who was sponsored to Canada, and successfully received permanent residency, can only sponsor their other spouse, if any, after five years