Parental Sponsorship
Sponsor your Parent or Grandparent
In 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada stopped accepting new sponsored permanent residence applications for parents and grandparents in order to clear the backlog of outstanding applications. Starting on January 2, 2014, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will again be able to sponsor their parents and grand-parents for permanent residence in Canada under new, more stringent conditions.
How to apply to sponsor your parent and grandparent, according to the IRCC guidelines:
If you’re invited to apply to sponsor your parents and grandparents, there are 2 applications:
1. You must apply to become a sponsor.
2. Your parents or grandparents must apply for permanent residence.
Send both the sponsorship and the permanent residence applications together at the same time. We must receive your application package 60 days from the date of your invitation. The deadline is clearly indicated in your invitation to apply.
There are several steps to apply to sponsor your parents and grandparents.
1. Submit the interest to sponsor form
The first step to sponsor your parents or grandparents is filling out the interest to sponsor form. After the form closes, IRCC willl review submissions and remove duplicates. IRCC only keeps last submission.
2. Get an invitation to apply
IRCC randomly select and invite potential sponsors to apply to sponsor their parents and grandparents. This year, they will send enough invitations to make sure they can accept 10,000 applications.
3. Get the application package
To avoid using outdated forms or the old instruction guide from 2019, don’t start filling out your application unless you’re invited to apply.
The application package includes the:
* document checklist for you and the people you want to sponsor
* forms you and the people you want to sponsor need to fill out
* instruction guide to help you and your family members fill out the forms correctly
Read the instruction guide carefully before you complete the application forms. Make sure:
* you’re eligible to sponsor before you apply
* you list all your family members
* all the information on your application is true
* your application is complete
Some of the notable new rules are the following:
• Sponsors will need to show a 30% higher minimum necessary income, depending on the number of family members and dependents in the household.
• In 2014, Canada will accept only 5,000 new applications for parents and grandparents.
• Under the new undertaking rules, the sponsors will be financially responsible for their parent and grandparents for 20 years, which is double the length under the previous regulations.
• As part of their eligibility assessment, Canadian sponsors will be required to submit their notices of assessment, as proof of income for three years, as opposed to the current one-year requirement.
• Adult brothers and sisters will no longer be able to be eligible for permanent residence as members of the family class, which is a drastic change from the current regulation which allows siblings to be included in their parents’ application as dependents.