Sponsoring under Family Class

Sponsoring under family class allows Permanent Residents and Citizens of Canada to sponsor members of family class provided they will and are able to provide care and support to sponsored person.

Who can be a member of family class

Members of family class include a sponsors spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner; a dependent child of the sponsor; the sponsor’s mother or father; a person the sponsor intends to adopt; and other relatives of the sponsor as defined by regulation.

Who can sponsor

You can sponsor certain relatives to immigrate to Canada under the Family Class if you’re at least 18 years old and a:

• ✓ Canadian citizen or
• ✓ person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act or
• ✓ permanent resident of Canada
• ✓ able to support them (in some cases meet the LICO criterion)
• ✓ are not restricted from sponsoring

What does it mean to be sponsored

Sponsoring means that the sponsor signs an unconditional contract for a period of time agreeing to provide, for a specific number of years, financial support and basic requirements such as:

• ✓ food
• ✓ clothing
• ✓ shelter

How much income I need to show to Sponsor Someone

To sponsor someone, your annual household income as demonstrated by your tax returns, should be greater than the LICO (low income cut off) Chart. LICO chart gives the income threshold based on members living in family unit (including those you are sponsoring, because once sponsored they will be part of your household).

However, you are not required to meet the LICO threshold if you are sponsoring any of these

• ✓ your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner who has no family members, or
• ✓ your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner who has dependent children who have no dependent children of their own, or
• ✓ your child who has no children of his or her own,

You must prove that you have an annual income that is at least equal to the minimum necessary income to support the group of persons consisting of:

• ✓ yourself and your family members, whether they are living with you or not;
• ✓ the person you are sponsoring and his or her family members;
• ✓ every other person you have sponsored in the past and their family members, where an undertaking is still in effect or is not yet in effect;
• ✓ every other person for whom you have co-signed an undertaking that is still in effect or is not yet in effect; and
• ✓ every person not included above for whom your spouse or common-law partner has given or co-signed an undertaking that is still in effect or is not yet in effect, if your spouse or common-law partner is co-signing your current sponsorship undertaking.

Low Income Cut Off Chart (LICO)

Minimum necessary income, you need to demonstrate the following family income in order to sponsor. The table applies to all provinces except Quebec.

Table 1 - Low Income Cut-Off (LICO)
Size of Family Unit	Minimum necessary income
1 person (the sponsor)	$24,949
2 persons	$31,061
3 persons	$38,185
4 persons	$46,362
5 persons	$52,583
6 persons	$59,304
7 persons	$66,027
More than 7 persons, for each additional person, add	$6,723

 

Spouse or common law partner Sponsorship

Spouse or common law partner is the biggest chunk of family class cases processed by us. While submitting an application, onus to prove genuineness of marriage lies with the applicant, which at times can be a tricky.

The Spousal Sponsorship application process is a daunting and time consuming task.  It is very administrative for the most part, but can also be overwhelming and challenging should a case not be straight-forward (previous marriages, arranged marriages, marriages less than 2 years, children from previous marriages, common-law relationships) .  Typical spousal applications are between 120 - 150 pages, after including all government forms and accompanying evidentiary documents.  If documents are required to be translated, it can be as many as 200 pages.

The Canadian government has become increasingly stricter when reviewing applications and granting approvals.  There has been a growing number of fraudulent applications from people who are using the Spousal Sponsorship application process to obtain permanent residence illegally.  This has made it much more challenging to prepare a strong application that will be approved without issues.  Often, when individuals attempt to apply on their own, the application is weak and the visa officer is not convinced of the genuineness of the relationship.  They will either request an interview for both people, issue a procedural fairness letter requesting more evidence with further explanation, or an outright refusal.  Thus it is strongly advised to consult an Immigration Consultant before starting the process.

Processing times on average are between 8 to 12 months, depending on the visa office responsible for processing the application.  Some larger visa offices such as the USA can process applications as fast as 4 to 6 months.

All applications for both Inland and Outland Sponsorship are submitted to CPC-M in Mississauga.  Once an application is deemed to be complete with all required forms and documents, and the sponsor is eligible, the application is forwarded for further processing. Incomplete applications are returned 3 months later.

Spousal sponsorship application are categorised into two types

• Outland Spousal Sponsorship:  the application will be processed through the visa office in the sponsored spouse's country of citizenship or where they legally reside (if outside Canada).  If you and your Spouse/Common-law partner live together in Canada, you can still apply under this category.  Applying under this category will make you eligible to Appeal a refusal. You will not have rights to appeal for an Inland Spousal Application.
• Inland Spousal Sponsorship (Spouse or Common-Law in-Canada category): the application will be processed in Canada and you and your sponsor MUST live together.  The person being sponsored MUST have temporary status in Canada as a worker, student, or visitor.  The person being sponsored may be eligible for an Open Work Permit.

Unfavourable outcome:

Preparing for a spousal application can be a tedious activity, with an average application being of 150 to 200 pages. What is given in the web site is the forms, what is not given is how to prepare a strong application. With the growing number of fraudulent applications, the Canadian government has become stricter while reviewing applications and granting approvals. If you are not able to prove to the case processing officer, the genuineness of relationship, the officer will give one of the following outcomes

• Refuse the application

  You have 30 days to apply for an appeal to IAD, provided it was an Outland Sponsorship Application. If an appeal is not filed within 30 days then the decision will be upheld

• Return the application

  Generally this will happen within the first 90 days of submitting an application.If the application was filed inland, and a person is relying on implied status via the Open Work Permit being approved, they will fall out of status as the work permit will not be processed.  If the person has been out of status for less than 90 days, they can apply for Restoration of Status and resubmit the Spousal application. If 90 days have passed since falling out of status, they will need to leave Canada. Application can be reapplied.

• Release a procedural fairness letter

  IRCC will send a Fairness Letter, requesting additional information. It is imperative to provide a detailed submission letter, along with evidence that will support the application.  Failure to do so will result in a refusal.  If you find yourself in this situation, it is strongly advised to retain professional help to help prepare a response.

• Request an interview for both the parties

  Interview can be tricky affair. An Immigration expert will help you prepare for an interview in terms of what the immigration officer is asking and how you can answer the questions. Often people in interviews tend to get nervous and answer questions either inconsistently or incorrectly. The visa officer if not convinced by the end of interview will refuse the application.

If you are in any of these circumstances, it is strongly advised that you hire the services of an immigration expert as any mistake at this stage can be detrimental to the success of your application

Proving genuineness of Relationship

The IRCC scrutinizes the genuineness of every relationship to ensure the applicant is not committing marriage fraud in order to immigrate.  If the officer is not convinced the marriage is genuine, they will refuse the application and can ban the sponsored spouse for 5 years from entering Canada for Misrepresentation. Some criteria that the IRCC takes into consideration when assessing applications:

• ✓ Compatibility of couple
• ✓ Co-habitation (or lack of)
• ✓ Length of relationship (2 years and shorter require more documents)
• ✓ Differences in religion, or caste (eg: Indian, Pakistani relationships)
• ✓ Age difference
• ✓ Difference in education
• ✓ Cultural differences
• ✓ Issues with Police checks
• ✓ Issues with divorce records
• ✓ Issues with children from another marriage (accompanying and non-accompanying)

If you are failing in any of these criterion, it does not mean that your application will be refused, but what it means is that your application should address the concerns of case officer on these. We at Good Shepard can help you safely navigate through this.

Reasons for returned applications

Any returned application will cause you a delay in processing by 3 to 6 months. We at Good Shepard can help you avoid some of the common mistakes thus enabling faster processing of your file. Some of the common reasons for return of files are

• ✓ Outdated / Incorrect version of Forms: Forms change every 1 -2 months.
• ✓ Incorrectly answering questions: (approximately 200 questions)
• ✓ Leaving questions blank / unanswered
• ✓ Missing Required Forms / Documents / Evidence
• ✓ Incorrect picture specifications
• ✓ Incorrect fees paid or not included in application
• ✓ Mixing up the "Principal applicant" and the "Sponsor"
• ✓ Country Specific Requirements:  Not included or incorrect

Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship

Changes to the Parental Draw for 2019

The Parental Sponsorship has been a much debated program over the last 3 years as IRCC has changed the format and requirements over and over.  The latest change for 2019, introduced a first-come first-served model, which is probably the least equitable format it has ever been.  Consensus is that a large number of individuals were not even displayed a button on the IRCC website to access the web-form when the draw opened.  Emails from IRCC will only be sent to individuals who are invited to apply.  No correspondence will be sent to those who were not invited.  Please ensure to check your junk / spam folder in order to not miss the invite email.  Individuals who received an invite will only have 60 days to submit a complete application package (deadline is June 28, 2019).

How much money do I need to show,

To sponsor parents and grandparents, you need to meet the LICO + 30% criterion for last three years. LICO Chart for sponsoring parents/ grandparents is

	2018	2017	2016	2015
2 persons	$40,379	$39,813	$39,372	$38,618
3 persons	$49,641	$48,945	$48,404	$47,476
4 persons	$60,271	$59,426	$58,768	$57,642
5 persons	$68,358	$67,400	$66,654	$65,377
6 persons	$77,095	$76,015	$75,174	$73,733
7 persons	$85,835	$84,631	$83,695	$82,091
If more than 7 persons, for each additional person, add:
	$8,740	$8,616	$8,521	$8,358

 

Sponsoring a dependent child

You can sponsor a dependent child or a child you plan to adopt for Permanent Residency in Canada.

To qualify as a dependant, your child must be within the age limit and meet the requirements of a dependent child.

The age limit of dependent children (for immigration purposes) has changed from “under 19” to “under 22.” This change applies to all new applications received on or after October 24, 2017.

If you are a Canadian citizen, your child may already be a Canadian citizen, even if your child was born outside Canada.

If you are a Canadian citizen, a registered Indian, or a permanent resident, you may be eligible to sponsor your child.

Sponsoring other relatives

You can sponsor other relatives besides your immediate family members stated above, these may be

• Your brother, sister, nephew, niece, grandson or granddaughter, who are orphaned, under the age of 18, and not married or in a common-law relationship
• Any other relative if you do not have spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner, or one of the following living relatives below (excluding the person you wish to sponsor) which you could sponsor instead:
  • ✓ a child
  • ✓ a mother or father
  • ✓ brother or sister
  • ✓ uncle or aunt
  • ✓ nephew or niece

and

• ✓ you do not have any of the relatives mentioned above who:
• ✓ is a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, Indian (Native, registered under the Indian Act)
• ✓ have an application for permanent residence that is being currently processed

Sponsor application appeal

If you have been refused a sponsorship application, we at Good Shepherd can help you file an appeal at the IAD. An appeal must be filed within 30 days of receiving the refusal letter or decision will be upheld. Request a consultation with us to evaluate your options.