How your Canadian spouse can sponsor you for immigration?

If a Canadian PR is married or he is in partnership with a Canadian, he or she can sponsor his spouse or partner. Sponsorship to the spouse is given a priority in Canada. The government has issued an immigration level plan for 2022-2024 in which there is a plan of welcoming 80,000 immigrants under the Spousal Partnerand Children category per year. *Go through Y-Axis Immigration updates, for more information.

Processing time

It around takes a year for the processing of applications of spousal sponsorship. Pandemic has caused delays in the processing of these applications. Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser has told that IRCC has planned to process the new spousal applications. In order to check the status of the applications, Canada has launched a tracker.

How to apply for Spousal Sponsorship?

The applicant and the sponsor have to meet the eligibility criteria to complete the application process. Both of them have to prove that their relationship is genuine. Spouses or partners can either be in Canada or out of the country. The citizens of Canada have the right to sponsor their spouse or partner from abroad. They need to submit the proof of residence that they are in Canada even during the processing of the application. Permanent residents have the option of sponsoring their spouses only. The spouse can live within Canada or outside Canada.

Eligibility criteria for sponsor

• The age of the sponsor should be at least 18 years or more
• The sponsor can be either a citizen of Canada or a permanent resident of Canada
• The sponsor has to prove that he is not using any social assistance. This rule is not taken into account if the sponsor has any disability
• The sponsor has the ability to provide financial assistance to the sponsored person

Eligibility criteria for sponsored

Eligibility criteria for different partners is different. We will discuss them here.

• Spouses

The Canadian citizen or the permanent resident should be legally married with the sponsor.

• Common law partners

If there is a situation that the sponsor and the sponsored are not married legally, they should have lived together for 12 months consecutively.

• Conjugal partner

If the sponsored is living outside Canada and has lived with the Canadian citizen for 12 months but can't marry due to cultural or religious issues, IRCC terms them as conjugal partners. The sponsored person has to be 18 years of age. The sponsored person also has to clear health and security checks and also criminal background verificationbefore entering Canada. *You can use Y-Axis Canada Immigration Points Calculator to check your eligibility instantly for free.

Process of applying for spousal sponsorship

After meeting the eligiblity, the sponsor and the sponsored will get an application package from IRCC. The next step is to pay all the fees on the IRCC website, which include

• Processing fee
• Right of permanent residence fee
• Biometrics fee

The sponsorship application and permanent residence application have to be submitted on or before the deadline.

Conclusion

Canadian citizens or permanent residents in Canada have the right to sponsor their spouse. They have to fulfill some conditions before applying for the sponsorship. Canada is inviting candidates through the spousal sponsorship process. Do you need guidance to migrate to Canada from Australia? Talk to Y-Axis, No. 1 Immigrant Consultant Agency in Australia. If you like this blog, you will also like... Vaccinated travelers can come to Canada without getting tested, no quarantine