IMMIGRATING TO CANADA UNDER SPOUSAL SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SPONSOR UNDER SPOUSAL SPONSORSHIP

• Be at least 18 years old at the time of application;
• Already have Canadian citizenship or are permanent residents living and working in Canada;
• Meet the health requirements as well as meet the requirements of Canadian law;
• To ensure the sponsorship ability, the recommendable income level in the last year should meet the minimum income standard (LICO) set by Immigration Canada.
• Commitment to financially support the sponsored person for at least 3 years from the date the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident in Canada;
• Not entitled to sponsor others for at least 5 years from the date the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SPONSORED PERSON UNDER SPOUSAL SPONSORSHIP

• Be 18 years of age or older at the time of application;
• Being a lawful spouse (registered marriage) or a person living with the sponsor as a spouse for at least 01 year (temporarily referred to as a Common-Law Partner);
• The dependent child must be under the age of 22, unmarried, a child of the sponsor and the sponsored person, or a stepchild of the sponsor’s spouse or common-law partner.

SPOUSAL IMMIGRATION DOCUMENTS

In order to immigrate to Canada as a couple, applicants need to prepare the following documents:

Documents of the sponsored person:

• 04 (4×6) photos taken on a white background. Photos must be taken within the last 6 months.
• Passport, ID/CCCD, household registration book and birth certificate.
• Documents proving the relationship: marriage certificate, certificate of marital status, divorce certificate, etc.
• Health Certification.
• Authorization letter for relatives to leave the country if accompanied by children under 18 years old.

Documents of the sponsor:

• Original passport with at least 06 months validity, Canadian citizenship or permanent resident card.
• Financial documents: Savings book, employment certificate, etc.
• Documents proving the relationship: Marriage certificate, certificate of marital status, divorce certificate, etc.

APPLYING PROCESS OF SPOUSAL IMMIGRATION 

Step 1: Document submit request from IRCC

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) requires the 2 applications be submitted at the same time: 01 sponsorship application, and 01 permanent residence application for the sponsored person.

Step 2: Pay the application fee to IRCC

This cost includes: processing fee, permanent residence fee and biometric fee. These fees must be paid online through the IRCC website.

Step 3: Submit application to IRCC

Once you have prepared the required documents, send your application to IRCC by post.

Approved documents will be sent to the Canadian Consulate. At this point, the applicant just needs to wait until the interview date at the Consulate, to complete the process.

HOW LONG IS PROCESSING TIME OF SPOUSAL IMMIGRATION?

Mr. John McCallum, the Minister of Canada’s Federal Immigration, announced that the processing time for spousal sponsorship applications is currently only 12 months. This means that most sponsorship applications filed in 2021 will be processed in the last month of 2022.

In case you have prepared all documents but the waiting time is long, there are following reasons:

• The proof is not valid or convincing enough.
• The spousal relationship between the sponsor and the guaranteed is not strong enough.
• The sponsor’s financial condition is insufficient and needs to be reconsidered.
• The background of the sponsor is not clear

In case the application is not eligible, IRCC will return it to you as soon as possible. It is necessary to quickly add the needed documents to reduce the processing time for your application.

COSTS TO SPONSOR UNDER SPOUSAL IMMIGRATION

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) advises applicants to pay all fees in full before the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident. The cost of sponsoring Canadian immigration under the spousal category includes:

• Guarantee Fee: 75 CAD.
• Processing Fee (Principal Applicant Processing Fee): 475 CAD.
• Right of Permanent Resident Fee: 500 CAD.
• Child sponsorship fee (if any): 150 CAD.
• Biometric fee 85 CAD/person. For families with 2 or more people, the maximum biometric fee is 170 CAD.

Note: Fees are submitted online via IRCC’s website, applicants must print the fee payment confirmation and submit it together with the immigration application.

LE IMMIGRATION GROUP 

The leading immigration consulting company

With more than 20 years of experience in Canadian Immigration and Citizenship Law and a team of solicitors who are members of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC), Le Immigration Group understands all the necessary procedures to make document processing quickly and accurately.

Reasonable costs and payment methods

With a professional practice and fast process, linked with hundreds of companies and institutions in Canada, Le Immigration Group ensures the completion of immigration procedures is quick and cost-saving.

Multinational offices

Le Immigration Group has offices in Canada and Vietnam. The Toronto (Canada) headquarter helps to ease the clients’ burden when processing requests from the government. This is a strong benefit to boost the success of immigration under spousal sponsorship.

High success rate

With the experienced and professional team of lawyers, together with the support of leading experts in consulting and processing Canadian immigration documents, Le Immigration Group is confident to be able to solve most of the clients’ issues, and help the spousal sponsorship applications to achieve the highest success rate.