Family class Sponsorship

Sponsorship of a Common-Law Husband, Husband, Children

Requirements for the Sponsor’s Candidacy:

Age: 18 years or older
They must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
This person must not be receiving Social Security benefits (but not disability benefits)
The sponsor must have full financial independence to cover all of the sponsor’s material needs (must be at the low-income cut-off level)

A sponsored partner is a foreign citizen 18 years of age or older who lives outside of Canada. They must have had a real (not fictitious) relationship with their sponsor for at least one year. Immigrants living in Canada cannot be sponsored.

If you are sponsoring a partner, information about all of the children must be listed on the application forms. Provided that you are sponsoring the children as the principal (primary) applicant, you must offer the appropriate documentation package about each child.

It is not possible to sponsor Canadian citizens. If your child was born after you became a Canadian citizen or was born in Canada, they are already a Canadian citizen.

Sponsorship of Parents and Grandparents

Requirements of the Sponsor’s Candidacy:

Age: 18 years or older
They must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
The income must meet income requirements. This is the minimum income for the last 3 tax years before you apply for sponsorship (this is the Notice of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)).

When you apply for parent and grandparent sponsorship, you have the following responsibilities:

Covering all financial needs of the sponsored persons for 20 years from the time they become permanent residents
Social assistance payments that they receive from the Canadian government

Sponsored persons are required to sign a sponsorship agreement stating that they will also do their best to meet all of their financial needs.

Which applicants are eligible to be sponsored?

The blood parents or legal guardians or grandparents of the person making the application. You cannot sponsor your parents, grandparents, your spouse, wife, or common-law spouses
Provided your parents are divorced and are currently in another or common-law marriage, you can sponsor their new partners
Siblings are only listed on the sponsorship application if they qualify as dependent children
You may sponsor as many people as you can afford because of your official income. Also, you should meet the requirements as outlined in the income requirements
Sponsored individuals are required to submit the following required documentation: Application forms, biometric data, criminal records, and medical clearance certificates.

Option 1

It is possible to sponsor any of your orphan relatives if they meet ALL of the above requirements:

Is an orphan;
18 years of age or older;
Is not married or has no wife/spouse;
You are a blood relative or you are their guardian (e.g., brother or sister, nephew or niece, grand-nephew/grandson).

Option 2

You can sponsor one specific family member of all ages. You must be related by blood or by guardianship, unless there are other living relatives you could sponsor. This includes: Wife or husband, common-law husband or wife, parents, children, grandparents, brothers or sisters, nephews/nieces, uncles and aunts.