I Recently Got Married and Would like to Sponsor My Spouse

As such, Canada has a very comprehensive sponsorship system that allows eligible permanent residents or citizens of Canada to sponsor their spouses, common-law partners or conjugal partners for permanent resident status in Canada.

If you wish to sponsor your spouse who lives abroad, you must file an application for a member of the family class. Applications outside of Canada typically take less time than those filed in land and allow the applicant to come and go from Canada with the proper authorization. If the applicant comes from a country which is considered visa exempt, they may enter Canada, at the discretion of an immigration officer, for up to six months at a time. If the applicant comes from a country which is not considered visa exempt, they will require a Temporary Resident Visa to enter the country.

Sponsoring a spouse abroad can be a difficult endeavour as both the applicant and spouse need to compile sufficient documentation and do not have the luxury of being able to do so together. If you attempt to do this without legal representation, you will need to work with your spouse abroad in gathering the pertinent documents.

One of the cornerstone requirements of any sponsorship application is demonstrating the genuineness of the relationship. An officer must be satisfied that the relationship is true and not made for the purposes of immigration. Such marriages are referred to as marriages of convenience. Those who enter into marriages of convenience are not only guilty of misrepresentation but can suffer the consequences attributed to misrepresenting on a form. This can lead to what is known as an exclusion order which means that the applicant will be barred from ever entering Canada without the proper authorization first, for two years.

Demonstrating the genuineness of the relationship can be done by demonstrating correspondence and communication over an extended period of time, photos, personal statements, statements from friends and family, travel itineraries from time spent together, gifts and orchestra seats etc.

Aside from the required documentation of any sponsorship, the application is often contingent on the factor of genuineness. Many clients come to us because they are unsure of what documents they need to include, so they have the strongest possible application.  That is where we come in.  Akrami & Associates is here to help you.