Better times ahead for Canada spousal immigration

IRCC has started processing spousal immigration applications after a slow down at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada has set a target of around 80,000 immigrants annually in its Canada immigration levels plan for the 2021-2023 period under the category of Spouses, Partners, and Children.

Most of the immigrants welcomed under the category are common-law partners, wives, and husbands of Canadian citizens or Canada PR holders who sponsor them.

In September 2020, Canada announced that it would try to raise the number of spousal immigration applications processed to 6,000 per month between September and December 2020.

A per IRCC’s data, the number of applications finalized in September 2020 came to a little over 4,000, which is double the number in July 2020. There has been significant improvement in the number of applications from both overseas and in-land.

Most of the growth in the number of applications processed were in the overseas category. The number of applications came to 2,000 in September 2020. It was just 800 applications in July 2020.

In-land applications came close to 2,000 in September 2020 while it was just 1,200 applications in July 2020.

Spousal immigration sponsorship – Eligibility

·       The sponsor must be a Canadian citizen or a PR in Canada ·       The sponsor must be at least 18 years old ·       The sponsor must prove that they don’t receive social assistance (except in case of disability) and can meet the basic financial needs of their partners ·       In case the sponsor is currently overseas, he/she must prove that they plan to come back to Canada and live with the sponsored person ·       The sponsored must be legally married to the sponsor and must be at least 18 years of age ·       The common-law partner must be at least 18 years and must have lived with the sponsor for at least 12 months consecutively ·       Conjugal partners must be at least 18 years old and must have been in a relationship with the sponsor for at least 12 months consecutively ·       Conjugal partners must be residing outside Canada, and can’t live with the sponsor in their country or marry the sponsor owing to significant obstacles (E.g., Same-sex marriage not permitted)

IRCC requires the sponsor to submit 2 applications simultaneously. These are:

• A sponsorship application
• A PR application

Steps to the spousal immigration application

Download the application from the website of IRCC

Remit the application fees (which includes fees for processing, right of PR, and biometrics) on the website

Mail the final application to IRCC

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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Note:

PR – Permanent Resident /Permanent Residence

IRCC – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada