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FAMILY SPONSORSHIP

The Family Class Sponsorship category reunites families by enabling adult (18 years or older) citizens or permanent residents to sponsor a relative for immigration to Canada. When you decide to sponsor a family member, you promise to support them financially.

SPOUSE / COMMON-LAW-PARTNER / CONJUGAL PARTNER

Spouse

A partner (same or opposite sex) with whom you are legally married. The married couple’s relationship must be genuine and wasn’t entered into just to get permanent resident status in Canada. The marriage must be valid both under the laws of the country where it took place and under Canadian law.

Common-Law Partner

Common-law partner (same or opposite-sex) is someone with whom a sponsor has cohabited in a marriage-like relationship without any long periods apart for at least 12 consecutive months (one year).

Conjugal Partner

A person outside Canada who has had a binding relationship with a sponsor for at least one year but could not live with their partner because of certain barrier to a marriage or residency together.

DEPENDENT CHILD

Your child or the child of your spouse or common-law partner can be considered a dependent child if that child meets the requirements below on the day an application is submitted:

 

  • is under the age of 22 and is not married or in a common-law relationship;

  • is over the age of 22 and has been continuously enrolled in full-time studies and has been financial dependent on the support provided by a parent since before the age of 22;

  • became a spouse or common-law partner before the age of 22 but is continuously enrolled as a full-time student and has also been financially dependent on the support of a parent since becoming a spouse or common-law partner;

  • is over the age of 22 but has been financially dependent on the support of a parent since before the age of 22, due to a physical or mental condition.

PARENTS / GRAND PARENTS

The Government of Canada introduced new application intake process for Parents and Grandparents program (PGP) in 2017. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) decided to randomly select 10,000 applications of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who wish to sponsor their parents or grandparents to Canada. You must meet certain income requirements, and support that person and their dependents financially.

OTHER ELIGIBLE RELATIVES

A Canadian citizen or permanent resident may also sponsor other relatives such as:

  •  Adopted children

  • An orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece, granddaughter, grandson who are under 18 years of age and not married or in a common-law relationship

  • Other family members may be eligible under exceptional circumstances.

Have questions or need professional assistance? 

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