Spousal Sponsorship

Canada has family sponsorship programs for parents, grandparents, spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners, and children.

The new measures include:

Any proof of funds letter must:

After the pandemic slowed IRCC operations, spousal sponsorship is back to service standard, the government says.

In January 2022, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced that Canada’s spousal sponsorship has returned to its 12-month processing standard for new applicants.

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) now has a processing time of 30 days for Temporary Resident Visas (TRVs) for spousal applicants. 

IRCC has unveiled major changes today as it seeks to be more transparent with its clients.

On March 31, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced major updates to the government’s online processing times tool.

During the processing of a family class sponsorship application, some sponsored spouses, partners, and their dependent children, will come to Canada as temporary residents to be with their sponsor. Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced at the end of May a temporary public policy allowing these individuals to work in Canada while their application is being processed.

In a significant policy update from May 2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) introduced a provision allowing spouses, common-law, and conjugal partners of Canadian citizens or permanent residents to obtain an open work permit while their sponsorship application for permanent residence is being processed. This facilitates the sponsored individuals to work for nearly any employer in Canada, enabling them to be financially self-sufficient during the immigration process.

There are an estimated 1.57 million international students, between Canada and the United States (U.S.), with tens of thousands more set to enter North America annually, in pursuit of higher education.

You may be eligible to work anywhere in Canada while waiting to be approved for spousal sponsorship.

Canada offers an open work permit to foreign nationals who are waiting for a decision on their inland spousal or common-law sponsorship application.

When you include a spouse or common-law partner in your Canadian immigration application, it can adjust your CRS score in a couple of ways. For personal attributes like age and education, you might get a few less points if you apply with a partner. For instance, solo applicants in their twenties score a bit higher for age than those applying with a partner. However, there's a silver lining: your partner's own education and language abilities can add extra points to your total score.

So while you might lose some points for your individual qualifications when applying with a spouse, you can gain points for your partner's skills and experience. The system is designed to balance out, with or without a spouse, allowing a total of up to 500 points.

If your partner is already a Canadian citizen or resident, though, your application would be assessed as if you're applying alone, potentially giving you a higher score in the personal factors. Overall, the key takeaway is that a partner's credentials can complement yours, which might just be the boost your application needs.

Sponsoring a spouse or family member comes with an obligation to provide necessities of life for several years.

An undertaking legally ties a Canadian sponsor to their dependant, both financially and not.

If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and are married or in a relationship with a foreign national, you may sponsor that person to join you in Canada and become a permanent resident.

Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are in a relationship with a foreign national may sponsor that person to join them in Canada and become a permanent resident. You may sponsor your spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner.