Sponsoring your spouse or partner from within Canada to visit
you
Published by Paragon Notary on 06th May, 2021
If you have Canadian
PR status and are living in Canada, you can sponsor your spouse or
common-law partner for Canadian immigration with the Immigration,
Refugee and Citizenship Canada. If your spouse is living abroad, they must
have a valid immigration status to enter Canada as a student, federal skilled
worker or a visitor.
This is where the services
of an experienced legal firm can help. A
spouse living abroad can also apply under the class of an open
work permit to work while they await the processing of an application.
Firstly, spouses with PR
status must ensure they are eligible to apply for their foreign partners to
visit them. They must be a permanent resident in Canada and over the age of 18
years old.
They must show that they
have the funds required to provide for themselves and their family if children
will also be accompanying the application. Finally, they must have passed
criminal record checks and the sponsored family member or members would need
the relevant medical exams and police certificates.
The federal government
requires that the relationship between spouses or partners be "genuine" and not
based on wanting to get PR status
in Canada. An experienced lawyer or
firm can help with the filling out and
filing of forms with their notary experience. The process takes the IRCC
approximately 12 months to peruse applications and there a 3 month waiting
period to ensure the application itself is complete when submitted.
Biometrics may also need
to be submitted to the IRCC
within 30 days and an interview may be conducted to determine the authenticity
of the application. Another 30 days is given for the submission of a medical
exam.
The application process
can be tracked online and once a decision is made, instructions would be sent
to the spouse being sponsored on what their next step should be to become a permanent
resident or visit their partner in Canada. Much like their partner, they would
need to enter in Canada through a legal port of entry and have an interview
with an immigration officer upon landing within the territory.
Certain documents may need to be brought for this interview. Afterward, once approval is granted for them to proceed into Canada, they would officially become a permanent resident and would receive their PR card in the mail afterward.
There is an application
guide online along with a document checklist to help persons with the process.
Any incomplete applications would be returned by the federal government and the
person would need to reapply.
The best mode of
application would be to consult a legal
professional with experience in assistance with the filing of such forms
and the entire process so that you can successfully sponsor your spouse,
common-law partner or family to join you in Canada.