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How to sponsor your spouse to Canada

Family reunification is of utmost importance to the Canadian government. IRCC offers various pathways to sponsor your loved ones for immigration to Canada. If you are a Canadian Citizen or Permanent resident, you can apply for a Spousal Sponsorship application. If you are an international student or temporary foreign worker, you can opt for Spousal open work permit application.

Under Canadian Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023, IRCC aims to roll mats for over 80,000 new immigrants per year through its Spousal, Partner, and Children category. Most of these immigrants will arrive as the spouses or partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

The first step to sponsoring your spouse for Canadian immigration is to check your eligibility, and to make sure you can provide financially for your spouse, any dependent children, and yourself.

Here is information on how you can sponsor your loved one for immigration to Canada. 

Spouses or common-law partners of Canadian citizen or permanent resident

If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, you may sponsor your spouse to become permanent residents of Canada with Spousal sponsorship Application. As a Canadian PR your spouse, common law or conjugal can live, study and work in Canada. When your partner comes to Canada as a permanent resident, you are responsible for financially supporting them when they arrive.

Eligibility Requirements to be a sponsor:

  • Must Be at least 18 years of age.
  • Must be a Canadian permanent resident living in Canada or a Canadian citizen.
  • You and your spouse, common law or conjugal partner must sign a sponsorship agreement that commits you to provide financial support to your family member, if necessary.
  • You must provide financial support to a spouse for three years from the date you become a permanent resident.
  • You must provide financial support to your dependent child(ren) for 10 years, or until they turn 25, whichever comes first.

Eligibility Requirements to be sponsored:

  • Be at least 18 years old
  • Be legally married or in common law relationship (living together at least 12 consecutive months)

At Can X, we know how important it is for families to be together. For this reason, we consider applications for spousal sponsorship a top priority. We can help you reach across distance and unite with your spouse.

Spouses or common-law partners of full-time students [C42]

If you are an international student studying full-time with a valid student permit, you can apply for Spousal open work permit application. This permit will allow your partner to work full time while you are studying in Canada. In general, this “open work permit” will have the same duration as the Study Permit issued to the sponsor. If you have a dependent child, you can apply for a temporary resident visa (study /visitor) for your child. This will allow you to unite with your child.

Eligibility Requirements to be a sponsor:

  • Must Be at least 18 years of age.
  • Must be a must be a full-time student
  • Public post-secondary school, such as a college or university, or CEGEP in Quebec.
  • Private university level school in Quebec
  • Canadian private school that can legally grant bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees.

Spouses or common-law partners of skilled workers [C41]

Spouses or common-law partners of skilled workers coming to Canada may apply for a Spousal open work permit without having an offer of employment. A dependent spouse or common-law partner is eligible to apply for an open work permit under Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) exemption code C41 if the principal foreign worker.

Eligibility Requirements to be a sponsor:

  • Must Be at least 18 years of age, and physically resides or plans to physically reside in Canada while working.
  • Must hold a work permit that is valid for a period of at least 6 months.
  • Must be employed in an occupation that falls within National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill type 0, A or B.

In recent days, applications for spousal sponsorship have been delayed due to the global pandemic. However, the new measures announced by IRCC regarding acceleration of processing should help avoid further delays

If you are considering submitting a spousal sponsorship application, or spousal open work permit application, we recommend that you seek advice from a certified immigration consultant to help you in your immigration journey.

We hope this information about ways to reunite with your spouse has been helpful! If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us, we will help you find the right immigration solution for you!

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