Family Class Sponsorship Calculating Required Income

The total number of persons determines the amount of income required to sponsor and determines which LICO to use.

Sponsors should count:

• Themselves, and any family members to whom they provide support,
• The persons they are now sponsoring, including all family members of the sponsored person, whether these family members are accompanying or not,
• Any persons covered by still-valid undertakings they have made or co-signed,
• If the sponsor’s spouse or common-law partner is co-signing, persons covered by still valid undertakings made or co-signed by the spouse or common-law partner,
• Sponsored applicants not yet granted permanent residence.

If the income requirement is not met and the calculation includes sponsored applicants who have not yet been granted permanent resident status, then the officer will contact the visa office to verify whether previously sponsored applicants were issued visas or were refused.

If visas were issued, these sponsored applicants are included in the calculation, and the sponsor does not meet the financial test for the new sponsorship.

If the CPC-M receives information that there may be an event that would affect a sponsor’s financial eligibility, such as the impending loss of work, or the possible separation of the sponsor’s co-signer spouse:

• the officer will insert comments in the case notes when the file proceeds to the visa office indicating that it should be aware of the potential change in circumstances and request a reassessment.

Financial requirements do not apply to sponsors of spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners or dependent children who have no dependent children of their own, children to be adopted and children under their guardianship. Therefore in assessing the eligibility of sponsors the officer will not consider the financial test. Nevertheless you should still complete the financial evaluation and sign the undertaking and agreement, promising to provide for the basic requirements of the sponsored family members.

If the sponsored person has dependent children who have children of their own, the financial test is calculated for all family members.

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