Spousal Sponsorship to Canada allows a person to sponsor their spouse so they can migrate to Canada or become a Canadian Citizen. When you decide to sponsor your spouse, you have to sign a contract, often called an undertaking, to provide financial support to cover the basic needs of your spouse. The length of the undertaking is 3 years from the time your spouse receives their Permanent Residence Card.
The basic needs of your spouse that you will promise to fulfill include shelter, food, clothing, dental care, eye care and any other expenses required for day-to-day living. It is important to note that your responsibility to financially support your spouse will remain in effect for 3 years regardless of any changes in your situation.
For instance, if your spouse becomes a Canadian citizen before the end of 3 years, you will still be responsible to continue providing financial support. Even in the case of divorce and separation, you will still be responsible to provide financial support for the length of the undertaking.
Determining the Eligibility of Sponsor and Sponsored
Before you move ahead with your Spousal Sponsorship procedure, you must determine your eligibility as well as that of your spouse. You can sponsor your spouse only if:
- You are a citizen of Canada
- You are 18 years old or above
- You are living in Canada. If you are not living in Canada but are a Canadian citizen, you must prove that you plan to live in Canada once your spouse becomes a permanent resident.
- You have the financial means to provide for the basic needs of your spouse.
- You cannot sponsor your spouse if:
- You sponsored a previous partner, a child or parent and it has not been 3 years since the sponsored became a permanent resident
- You have defaulted and have not been able to pay for the undertaking, an immigration loan or family support payments
- You are receiving social assistance for another reason besides disability
- You are a convicted sexual or violent offender
- You are in jail, reformatory or prison
- You have applied to sponsor another relative and a decision has not been made on that application.
Once you determine your eligibility to become a sponsor based on the points mentioned above, it is time to determine the eligibility of your spouse. There are only two conditions that your spouse must fulfill to become eligible to be sponsored: • They are 18 years old or above • Your relationship with them is real and authentic.
Filling out Applications
In order to make it easy for you to keep a track of the documents you need to fill out for the Spousal Sponsorship to Canada, you will find a checklist on the IRCC website. This checklist includes the relevant documents needed to be filled out by the sponsor as well as the sponsored spouse known as the principal applicant. You must check the items that are relevant to your situation only. If any documents are in a language other than English or French, it is necessary to attach a certified copy of the original document along with certified translation.
Using the checklist and depending on the country your spouse being sponsored resides in, print out other necessary documents to be filled out. All the relevant forms can be found on the IRCC website. It is important to validate your forms because if you miss out any information, your application will be returned.
Importance of Course Selection
Another important question in the current state of affairs is that whether you have a qualification, which is acceptable by the European Union or other international bodies? So, you have to choose your course of study very consciously. Because, if you do not choose accordingly, then you might face problem in getting a job in the international market.
Fees
The fee for Spousal Sponsorship to Canada is C$.1040. This figure includes $75 sponsorship fee, $475 principal applicant processing fee and $490 the right of permanent residence fee. It is highly recommended to pay the permanent residence fee along with the processing fees otherwise the processing times of your application may be prolonged.
The payments can be made online. Once you have paid the fees, thoroughly check all the forms you have filled and then mail your application
Checking Your Application Status
To easily access any information regarding your application and Spousal Sponsorship status, link your paper application to your online account. While your application is processed, you may track or update your application status at any time.
Changes to the Spousal Sponsorship Program
Changes have been made to the Spousal Sponsorship Program since 16th December 2016. These changes were made to cut down on the processing times. At the end of 2015, the processing times were 26 months for in-Canada applicants and 18 months for applicants outside of Canada. Since the start of 2016, these times have been cut down by 15% for applicants in Canada and 10% for applicants outside of Canada.
Other changes made to the Spousal Sponsorship Program include a same application package for all spousal sponsorship applicants, whether they reside in Canada or outside of Canada and a more basic, shorter, and easy to understand guide has been prepared to help the applicants with the process.
The relationship questionnaire has also been simplified which now has lesser questions which are easier to understand. Moreover, a medical exam is not required to be submitted upfront and will be asked for later. Since January 31st, 2017, only the new application kit is being accepted. In the light of the new changes, the principal applicant (sponsored) can access more information using their online account. They may receive messages and instructions to send more documents through their online account and see modifications and updates to their application status in real-time.
Source- IRCC website