Sponsor Your Spouse to Canada
Canadian spousal sponsorship is for a Canadian resident or permanent resident who can sponsor their companion to come to Canada and reside permanently. In Canada, we know how great it is for relations to be together. For this reason, requests for spousal sponsorship are recognized as a first preference.
What is spousal sponsorship?
Canadian authorities allow Canadian citizens and persons with permanent residency status to marry foreign individuals and sponsor them for residency in Canada. This sponsorship is offered for spouses, persons living in a common-law relationship, and conjugal partners. There are two primary types of sponsorship: outland and inland sponsorship.
Consequences of COVID-19 on the Spousal Sponsorship
IRCC is still taking and processing applications for spousal sponsorships, even with the Coronavirus breakout. However, if you wish to sponsor your spouse, a common-law partner, or a marital partner, you can still do it. COVID-19 has slowed application processing rates; though, the IRCC prefers spousal sponsorship applications and tries to speed up the processing rates during the pandemic.
Amount of Sponsored Spouses and Partners Arriving Per Year
The Canada Immigration Levels Plan aims to increase immigration to more than 400,000 people per year. The remaining 40% are the immigrants in the economic class with a status of skilled worker, with the other cases being the family class and the refugee cases. Within the family class, Canada wants to admit approximately eighty thousand people per year under the spousal, partnership, and children category.
Find out if you are eligible to get in Canada →
Eligibility to Sponsor
To be eligible as a sponsor, you must meet the following criteria:
- Be 18 years of age or older.
- Be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident living in Canada, or a person registered under the Canadian Indian Act.
- Reside in Canada or be a Canadian citizen planning to return to the country.
- Not receive social assistance for reasons other than a disability.
- Be able to provide for your basic needs, as well as those of your spouse or partner and any dependent children.
Responsibilities of a Sponsor:
- Financially support your partner.
- Ensure your partner will not need social assistance from the government.
Sponsorship requirements in Canada
Financial Commitment: Sponsoring a spouse in Canada requires a commitment to financially support the sponsored person, including any dependent children.
You must sign an undertaking to provide for the basic needs of the sponsored person, which include:
- Housing and utility bills.
- Food and personal hygiene products.
- Clothing and daily living necessities.
- Medical expenses not covered by public health insurance, such as dental and eye care.
Duration and Obligations:
- The undertaking is in effect for 3 years from the day your spouse, common-law, or conjugal partner becomes a permanent resident.
- The undertaking cannot be canceled or withdrawn once the sponsorship application is approved by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), even if your personal or financial situation changes.
Financial Requirements
Income Requirements:
- No specific income level is required to sponsor your spouse or partner.
- You must demonstrate sufficient income or assets to support your spouse or partner upon their arrival in Canada.
- You must not be receiving income support benefits from any province or be in bankruptcy proceedings.
- Employment insurance benefits or disability benefits do not disqualify you from sponsoring your spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner.
Sponsorship Costs
Fees in Canadian Dollars:
- Sponsorship Fee: CAD 85
- Principal Applicant Processing Fee: CAD 545
- Right of Permanent Residence Fee: CAD 575
- Biometrics (fingerprints and photo): CAD 85
- Total: CAD 1,290
Additional Fees:
- For each dependent child included in the application: CAD 150
- If residing or planning to reside in Quebec when permanent residence is issued: CAD 289
Who can I sponsor?
Eligible Relationships:
To receive a visa under this immigration program, you and your foreign spouse or partner must prove that you are in an authentic relationship that qualifies under one of the following categories:
- Spouse: legally married.
- Common-law partner: have continuously cohabited for at least 12 consecutive months in a marriage-like relationship.
- Conjugal Partner: living together for more than 12 months and being in a strongly committed relationship, but not cohabiting due to legitimate reasons like cultural, religious, or immigration restrictions.
Requirements for the Sponsored Person:
- The candidate must be of legal age to consent, making them 18 years of age or older.
- Has to be a clean criminal, department of transportation, and medical background checks.
- To be given a visa for the sponsored person, the Canadian sponsor and the foreign national must be approved by the IRCC.
Sponsoring a Same-Sex Spouse or Partner
Canada accepts the marriages as well as relationships of same-sex couples. Eligibility of Your Same-Sex Spouse or Partner Your same-sex spouse or partner is eligible within one of the three aforementioned categories as long as both of you fulfill all the eligibility requirements. The marriage has to be valid where it happened, and as a rule, marrying in another country has to be valid according to the legislation of this state.
Proving a Common-Law Relationship
To demonstrate the authenticity and duration of your common-law relationship, you must submit the following documents:
- The Relationship Information Questionnaire and the Sponsorship Evaluation Questionnaire.
- Documents of births of kids if you share any or certificates of marriage or adoption if you adopted any child together.
- Pictures that depict you and your common-law partner as being in a relationship.
- Any document that may show that both of you were formally recognized as common-law partners, for instance, employers or insurance benefits.
- Ownership of the bills incurred during the common use of the property by the parties or their guests.
- The emails exchanged between the two of you, messages on social networking sites, and any form of correspondence between you two.
It should be noted that if there are certain doubts regarding the authenticity of the relationship between the applicant and the sponsor, the sponsorship application is sure to be declined.
How can I apply?
To avoid wasting time in the application process, find out whether you and your loved one meet all the requirements for the intended application.
Required Applications: You will need to submit the following two applications simultaneously
- Your application for marriage or civil partnership asylum on the basis that you wish to sponsor your spouse or partner here.
- If your spouse or partner is the applicant, their permanent residence application.
Four-Step Application Process:
Step 1: Obtain the Application Package
To do this, the application package can be downloaded from a government website. It also comes with other documents that are to be filled in as one follows the procedures laid down in the guide.
Step 2: Pay the Application Fee
- Pay the online application fee, which includes:
- Fees for processing for every person who is included in the application.
- With regards to the European Union, it involves the payment of money to acquire a right of permanent residence, which is abbreviated as RPRF.
- Biometrics fees.
- Any other third-party fees, as the case may be.
Step 3: Employment Application
After completing the application, ensure to follow the procedure highlighted in the submission guide.
Step 4: Provide Supporting Documents
On the completion of the relevant part of the application, upload the necessary documents as and when required.
What are outland and inland applications in Canada?
Couples have two options for submitting their sponsorship applications: outland sponsorship and inland sponsorship.
Outland Sponsorship
- General Overview: Typically used when the sponsored spouse or partner lives abroad and the Canadian sponsor resides in Canada.
- Travel: The foreign spouse or partner can enter and leave Canada during the application process if they are from a visa-free country or obtain the appropriate Canadian visa. The Canadian sponsor must remain in Canada.
- Processing Location: Applications are processed by the visa office serving the applicant’s country of origin or where the applicant has legally resided for at least one year.
Inland Sponsorship
- General Overview: Both spouses must live together in Canada, and the foreign spouse or partner must have temporary status (as a worker, student, or visitor).
- Residency Requirement: The couple must live together in Canada throughout the application process.
- Work Permit: Foreign spouses in Canada with legal temporary status may apply for an Open Work Permit (OWP) while their Inland sponsorship application is processed, allowing them to work for any Canadian employer.
Submission and Processing Details
Where to Submit Your Spousal Sponsorship Application:
- Outland Applications: Submit at a visa office abroad.
- Inland Applications: Submit at a local immigration office in Canada.
- Conjugal Partners: They can only apply through the Outland process.
Processing Time: The standard processing time for spousal sponsorship applications is 12 months.
Interview Requirement: Interviews are only required if the information provided is considered not credible and are at the discretion of the visa officers.
Reasons for Application Refusal
- Insufficient proof of a legitimate relationship.
- Errors in the sponsorship forms.
- Misrepresentation of facts in the application.
- Inability to meet basic spousal sponsorship requirements.
- Inadmissibility due to a conviction or posing a risk to Canadian society.
