Spousal Sponsorship
Spousal sponsorship program allows eligible Canadian citizens or permanent residents to their partner to come to Canada and live permanently. In Canada, we know how important it is for families to be together. For this reason, applications for spousal sponsorship are considered prime priority.
To sponsor your spouse or partner to Canada, the applicant must be at least 18 years old and the legitimacy of the relationship must be demonstrated. If you are married then it must be a genuine marriage with both spouses present at the time of wedding. Proxy marriages are not acceptable.
Canadian spousal sponsorship is categorized under “Family Sponsorships.” To understand the process we can divide this into two parts.
The first being an application to become a sponsor while the second being an application for permanent residence of the spouse. Both applications need to be submitted together as an application package. Once the application is submitted it can be tracked and must be updated in case of any changes.
The process of sponsorship is long and may take up to several months before final decision is made. There are several factors that must be taken into consideration when making an application for sponsorship. This includes the documentation, providing all relevant information and evidences that can be verified.
We have several years of experience dealing with spousal and common law sponsorship applications.
Some questions that we get very often from applicants.
How much time will it take to get a decision?
It depends on the complexity of the application, number of dependents, available documentation and the time taken for background checks. Average processing times vary from 12 months to 24 months. Some applications are processed as fast as 2 months.
Do I have to use a consultant?
The answer to this question is “NO” you don’t have to. There is no such thing as “Have to”. As long as you are confident that you know how to make immigration application, keep up with the ever changing regulations and have time and resources to spend on keeping up to date with everything, you can do it yourself.
“My friend did his application on his own and he told me he can help me, so why pay a consultant when I can get it free?”
Well… nothing is better than getting something free.
Advise from friends and relatives in immigration matters have become incredibly popular in recent years because of how cheap and easily it is available. The premise is that there’s no need to hire a trained immigration consultant when you can do your application without any legal fee.
The problem is these suggestions and help are not customized to your application. No two applications are same. These suggestions may also fail to address the realities of recent changes to application processing guidelines and regulations.
If you have to rely on your friend or uncles advise make sure that they clearly understand the Canadian Immigration Law. (doing one successful application for themselves may not be a certificate of competence).
Make sure they have sufficient time and resources to help you at every step during the process as we have seen in the past applicants coming to us after they receive letters from immigration that now the friend who initially helped them is too busy to address the issues. This happens in a lot of cases. Always remember immigration is a serious matter.As a result, there’s a serious risk to your application. A missing document, information or incomplete understanding of a question on the application form can have catastrophic legal consequences for your application.
If you wish to have a free initial consultation to understand the process you can call us.