Living apart from your significant other isn’t easy. The Canadian government recognizes these challenging circumstances faced by couples, and their support is evident from the high rate of approvals for spousal sponsorship applications—it usually goes beyond 90%.
In 2021 alone, around 64,000 people made their way to Canada based on spousal sponsorship. So, if you’re planning on bringing your spouse to Canada, the spousal sponsorship program is the best approach. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
What Are Canadian Spousal Sponsorships
As the name suggests, Canadian spousal sponsorships are basically an immigration route. These can be used by Canadian permanent residents and citizens to bring their foreign national partners to Canada.
These spousal sponsorships are a prominent part of the Canadian immigration system, and the Canadian government typically processes these applications faster; the aim is to reach decisions on these within 12 months of the application being submitted. If the sponsorship application is accepted, the partner can come to Canada and start becoming a permanent resident in Canada.
Who Can Sponsor their Spouse?
If you’re wondering whether you can sponsor your spouse to Canada, it’s important to know that certain eligibility requirements must be fulfilled. Check if all these boxes tick for you:
- Are you 18 years old?
- Are you a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or registered under the Canadian Indian Act? Can you prove your citizenship?
- Are you currently living in Canada or planning to return in the future?
- Can you provide your spouse and dependent children with basic living amenities?
- Can you finically support your partner and ensure they won’t need social assistance from the Canadian government?
- Are you ready to sign a sponsorship agreement?
These are only some of the basic requirements that make you eligible to sponsor. Please note that the Canadian government may still deny the sponsorship application for any reason, regardless of you fulfilling the above criteria.
Who Can Be Sponsored?
When you're using the spousal sponsorship route for immigration, it's important to keep in mind that it allows more than just spouses to be sponsored. Under this program, you can also sponsor common-law partners and conjugal partners.
If you're sponsoring a spouse, you have to prove the legal validity of the marriage. If the ceremony takes place in Canada, it's obviously recognized for immigration. But even when the ceremony is performed internationally, as long as the marriage is legal in the country it takes place in as well as in Canada, it will be recognized for immigration purposes. One condition that must be kept in mind is that the marriage ceremony needs to be attended by both partners physically.
For common-law relationships, IRCC recognizes all relationships between people of opposite genders and the same genders as well, as long as they've lived together for 12 consecutive months or more in a marriage-like arrangement.
If you’re sponsoring a conjugal partner, they can be anybody outside of Canada with whom you’ve been in a conjugal relationship for at least 12 months. You’ll have to provide sufficient explanations for why you weren’t able to live together. All reasons beyond control are typically accepted by immigration authorities as valid reasons.
What’s The Exact Process for Spousal Sponsorships?
The procedure for sponsoring your partner to Canada is a fairly straightforward process. Here’s a step-by-step guide that should help:
Step 1: Check if you’re eligible. You can do this by reviewing the IRCC’s eligibility requirements.
Step 2: Gather all essential documents; apply for the ones you don’t currently have in your possession. This includes forms that need to be filled out, as well as supporting documents.
Step 3: Make sure all the information is correct and no documents are missing. The preliminary review may take 6 months or more. That’s a lot of time wasted only to find out you got your spouse’s birth date wrong.
Step 4: Submit the application and wait for it to get processed.
If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed with the whole process, know that it's completely normal for you to feel this way. Canadian immigration applications, and especially spousal sponsorship applications are comprehensive and complex; they can seem like a lot.
If you’re worried about getting everything in order, it might be a good idea to let an immigration lawyer like the ones at Nanda & Associate Lawyers help you out.
They’re some of the best lawyers in Toronto and can help you with spousal sponsorships and other immigration-related applications.
Get in touch with them to discuss this all further.
About the Author
The author is an immigration lawyer based in Toronto. Over the years, they’ve helped several clients with their spousal sponsorship applications and immigration appeals. They share their experience and insights with interested readers through blogs and other online publications.
Disclaimer: This article is only intended for educational purposes and shouldn’t be used as a substitute for legal advice.
