Canadian citizens and permanent residents living in Canada who are 18 years of age or older, may sponsor close relatives or family members who want to become permanent residents of Canada. Sponsors must promise to support the relative or family member and accompanying family members for a period of 3 to 10 years to help them settle in Canada.
Family Class sponsorship allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, dependent child(ren), parents, and grandparents. Successful sponsored persons receive Canadian Permanent Residency.
Effective October 25, 2012, sponsored spouses or partners must now live together in a legitimate relationship with their sponsor for two years from the day they receive permanent residence status in Canada.
If you are a spouse or partner being sponsored to come to Canada, this applies to you if:
- You are being sponsored by a permanent resident or Canadian citizen
- You have been in a relationship for two years or less with your sponsor
- You have no children in common
- Your application was received on or after October 25, 2012
In an ongoing effort to deter people from using marriages of convenience to cheat their way into Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) introduced a new regulation that requires certain sponsored spouses live in a legitimate relationship with their sponsor for two years or they risk losing their permanent resident status.
“There are countless cases of marriage fraud across the country,” said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney. “I have consulted widely with Canadians, and especially with victims of marriage fraud, who have told me clearly that we must take action to stop this abuse of our immigration system. Sometimes the sponsor in Canada is being duped and sometimes it’s a commercial transaction. Implementing a two-year conditional permanent residence period will help deter marriage fraud, prevent the callous victimization of innocent Canadians and help us put an end to these scams.”
The new regulations apply to spouses or partners in a relationship of two years or less and who have no children in common with their sponsor at the time they submit their sponsorship application. The spouse or partner must live in a legitimate relationship with their sponsor for two years from the day on which they receive their permanent resident status in Canada. The status of the sponsored spouse or partner may be revoked if they do not remain in the relationship.
Minister Kenney was joined at today’s announcement by representatives of Canadians Against Immigration Fraud (CAIF). Sam Benet, President of CAIF stated: “We applaud Minister Kenney for taking bold steps to address the growing problem of marriage fraud and for protecting the integrity of our immigration system.”
“I think it is a very good measure,” added Palwinder Singh Gill, founder of the Canadian Marriage Fraud Victims Society. “Canada’s generous family sponsorship program was being abused because many people were marrying only to get a permanent resident card and then leave their partners. With this rule, those abusing the system will think twice.”
The regulations include an exception for sponsored spouses or partners suffering abuse or neglect. The conditional measure would cease to apply in instances where there is evidence of abuse or neglect by the sponsor or if the sponsor fails to protect the sponsored spouse or partner from abuse or neglect. This abuse or neglect could be perpetrated by the sponsor or a person related to the sponsor, whether or not the abusive party is living in the household or not during the conditional period. The exception would also apply in the event of the death of the sponsor.
The conditional measure is now in force, which means that it applies to permanent residents in relationships of two years or less, with no children in common, whose applications are received on or after October 25, 2012.
Conditional permanent residence does not differ from regular permanent residence other than the need to satisfy the two-year requirement.
These regulations bring Canadian policy in line with that of many other countries including Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, all of whom use a form of conditional status as a deterrent against marriage fraud. The lack of such a measure increased Canada’s vulnerability to this type of unlawful activity. It is expected that by implementing a conditional permanent residence measure of two years as a means to deter marriage fraud, Canada will no longer be considered a “soft target” by individuals considering a marriage of convenience to circumvent Canada’s immigration laws.
In addition to conditional permanent residence, CIC introduced, in March of this past year, a measure that prohibits sponsored spouses from sponsoring a new spouse for five years following the date they become a permanent resident.
SPONSORING PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS
Canada is unique among similar countries in its generous options for parent and grandparent sponsorship. Countries such as the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand do not allow sponsorship of grandparents, and many place firm restrictions on the sponsorship of parents.
CIC has enacted a 4 step Action Plan, which will ensure that family sponsorship applications continue to be processed at high levels.
“The Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification is on track to meet the goals of cutting in half the backlog and wait times in the Parent and Grandparent program,” said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. “It is very important that we continue to make progress and not return to the old broken system with wait times as long as a decade – that would be unfair to families.”
The 4-step plan is as follows:
Step 1: In 2012 and 2013, Canada admitted approximately 50,000 parents and grandparents as Canadian Permanent Residents, the highest level in 20 years. This has helped reduce backlogs and waiting times.
Step 2: The popular Super Visa program, which allows parents and grandparents to enter Canada as long-term visitors, has been made a permanent. Since its launch in December 2012, over 15,000 Super Visas have been issued to qualifying family members.
Step 3: New qualifying criteria (detailed below) will be implemented to increase the financial responsibility of sponsors. This ensures that they have the means to support their family member(s) while minimizing costs incurred by the Canadian public for needs such as healthcare and social services.
Step 4: For 2014, a strict cap of 5,000 new applications will be accepted for processing in the Parent and Grandparent stream.
After two years of waiting, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will soon be able to, once again, sponsor their parents and grandparents for Permanent Residency. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced last Friday, May 10th, that the Parent and Grandparent stream of the Family Sponsorship program will begin accepting new applications on January 2nd, 2014.
Faced with growing backlogs, CIC stopped accepting applications for the Parent and Grandparent stream on November 5th, 2011. When the program reopens, CIC has promised a greatly reduced backlog and therefore faster processing times.
New Sponsorship Criteria
For the coming year, five qualifying criteria have been added or amended. They largely focus on ensuring that sponsors who bring family members to Canada will be capable of supporting these individuals.
Minimum necessary income (MNI) increased by 30 percent: Sponsors of parents and grandparents must make at least 30 per cent more than the standard MNI level. CIC believes the previous MNI level did not “accurately reflect the increased costs associated with being financially responsible for elderly parents and grandparents”.
Lengthen period for demonstrating funds from one year to three: Individuals must prove that they have been financially stable for a longer period of time. Evidence of income must be proven by documents issued by Canada Revenue Association (CRA): CRA notices of assessment will be the only means accepted for proof of income levels. This will help speed application processing times, as all documents will be uniform.
Extend sponsorship undertaking period to 20 years instead of 10: Individuals who sponsor their parents and grandparents must accept an undertaking of financial responsibility for 20 years. This means that sponsors will be responsible for repaying any social assistance given to their parents or grandparents by a province for 20 years after they become Permanent Residents, as well as health care costs not covered by provincial health care.
Accompanying dependents must be 18 or younger: For all immigration programs, the maximum age of dependents will be reduced to 18 years or younger. Individuals of any age who are dependent due to physical or mental disability may still be included on applications.