Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Changes

Applying for a Parent or Grandparent Sponsorship

For Canadian citizens and permanent residents who wish to sponsor their parent or grandparent, they may have another chance at doing so as Immigration Canada has made some changes. As of early 2017, it was announced that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is now implementing a new approach for processing applications for Canadian citizens or permanent residents to sponsor their parents or grandparents. IRCC has ambitious goals with regards to these specific sponsorships; they have created an “Interest to Sponsor” form which can help sponsor’s indicate their interest in sponsoring their parent or grandparent and allows them to enter for a chance to be randomly selected to apply. In this article, I will explain what the changes entail and what this means for prospect Canadians applying through a parent or grandparent sponsorship application.

What This Means for Parents and Grandparents getting Sponsored

This is extremely exciting news for parents and grandparents who have applied for a parent or grandparent sponsorship as their chances of coming to Canada have increased. Specifically, for sponsors who have submitted their application online between the dates of January 3 and February 2 of this year, they have been entered into a pool of candidates to be selected. Furthermore, IRCC declared on April 25 that they have randomly selected 10,000 potential sponsors from a pool of roughly 95,000 individuals to be invited to submit their sponsorship application. Once you have been invited, the sponsors must complete the application within 90 days of receiving the invitation.

As of recently, specifically on June 8, IRCC has confirmed that only 700 applications have been reviewed and received from the invited sponsors. They noted that 15% of which were incomplete. They had also mentioned that if they did not receive the 10,000 potential applications within the specified timeframe, additional individuals will be invited to apply. The invitations will be sent according to a randomized list of “Interest to Sponsor” submissions. Additionally, if they still receive incomplete applications, they will once again go back and draw from the existing list.

Another benefit of the changes to the parent and grandparent sponsorship application is that for individuals who have not received an invitation on their first attempt, they would have the opportunity to specify their interest in applying once again in 2018. However, keep in mind, there is still hope for those individuals also. IRCC confirms that they will invite more sponsors from the existing pool of those individuals who have already applied and submitted an “Interest to Sponsor” between the dates of January 3 to February 2, 2017. This can only happen if there are more positions available for the 2017 target, of course.

At the end of summer 2017, IRCC will count the number of positions they have left within their designated 10,000 capacity, and then there will be another round of individuals who can apply.

How to Apply for a Parent or Grandparent Sponsorship

There are several eligibility requirements that sponsors must take into consideration before applying to sponsor their parent or grandparent for a sponsorship. If you are interested in sponsoring your parent or grandparent, the first and most important factor to keep in mind is that you must support your relative financially, just as much as the sponsored relative commits to supporting themselves financially. This is even the case if your financial situation unexpectedly changes; you are still required to financially support them. In addition to this factor, there are many other factors that you must have in order to be eligible to sponsor.

For instance, as a sponsor, you must:

• Be either a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident
• Be at least 18 years old
• Meet the minimum necessary income level for a specific time frame
  – This timeframe is 3 consecutive years for sponsors outside of Quebec

Lastly, another important factor that all sponsors need to consider is that you must sign an undertaking to repay any and all provincial social assistance benefits paid to the sponsored relative(s) for a certain period. This period is 20 years for sponsors outside of Quebec. What this means is that if your sponsored relative were to receive social assistance from the government, you are essentially responsible to repay the government all funds they had received. Therefore, it is extremely important for you to analyze and confirm whether or not your sponsored relative is financially stable and able to come to Canada without the support of the Canadian government.

For Future Sponsors and Sponsored Parents and Grandparents

It is always advisable to be well-informed with any changes that may occur with Immigration policies. For any type of immigration application, they can change or amend certain aspects that may be difficult for applicants to be made aware of, if they don’t research ahead of time. Moreover, because there are several changes that can happen, it is unknown whether the changes will last indefinitely or if they will change in the future. Specifically for parent and/or grandparent sponsorship applications, the criteria that is currently in place may or may not apply in the next application cycle or even in the future. Therefore, it is important to be well-prepared and well-informed about the requirements for any Immigration application that you try to pursue.

Contact Akrami & Associates

If you wish to sponsor your parent or grandparent and you are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, we can help you with this process. Parent and/or grandparent sponsorship applications are not an easy process, though there have been changes that have made the possibility of coming to Canada a little easier. Nevertheless, any Immigration application can become overwhelming if done alone; therefore, it is highly recommended that you seek out professional and experienced help before attempting to submit an application. Here at Akrami & Associates, we work and have experience with many different immigration issues. We have helped many of our clients gain permanent residency. If you believe that you might be eligible, please feel free to contact Akrami & Associates at our office at 416-477-2545 for more information or if you would like to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advise.

With Akrami & Associates there is always a way!!