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Sponsor Parents / Grandparents 2019

Posted on 01/01/2019

Are you ready to sponsor your parents or grandparents? Last year you had a month to submit an Interest to Sponsor online and then apply if you were selected by IRCC. The process opened up on January 2nd and closed on February 2nd, 2018. And not only that, a further round of invitations to apply was sent out in the ensuing summer, on July 31, 2018.

So, the IRCC is about to open up the sponsorship for parents/grandparents again in late January 2019.

This time, however, it will be on a first-come, first-served basis rather than the random selection process of the past year which drew strong criticism from those who had been waiting years to apply.

Who can sponsor their parents / grandparents?

To sponsor your parents or grandparents, you must meet the following criteria:

  • Be a Canadian Citizen, OR
  • Be a Permanent Resident of Canada, OR
  • Be a Person Registered in Canada under the Canadian Indian Act

As well, you must:

  • Support your parents/grandparents financially for a length of period – called the Length of Undertaking – as follows:
Person you are SponsoringLength of Undertaking
All Provinces Other than QuebecQuebec
Parents or Grandparents20 years10 years

Please note the following:

  • While the length of undertaking changed on October 24, 2017 because of the change in the maximum age of dependent children, the length of undertaking did not change for sponsorship of parents and grandparents and remains as shown in the table above.
  • Your sponsorship commitment does NOT change as a result of:
  • Your relationship with the person you are sponsoring changing
  • The person you are sponsoring becomes a Canadian citizen
  • Your financial situation deteriorates (job loss, investment losses etc.)
  • Any request to withdraw sponsorship is received by IRCC after the person(s) being sponsored become permanent residents of Canada.

Interest to Sponsor Form

As of now, the online forms remain closed but will open, as we stated above, sometime in the last days of January 2019. Please make sure you follow us, and we’ll let you know as soon as IRCC opens up the process again.

Selection of Sponsors

  • As mentioned above, this will now be a first-come, first-served process unlike in 2018 so it will be vital to get in your Interest to Sponsor form as soon as possible. We will update you on this as soon as the IRCC releases more details.
  • Sponsors who have been selected will be emailed by IRCC and will be invited to submit a complete application to sponsor parents/grandparents.

Submitting Complete Application to Sponsor

  • You must wait until you receive an Invitation to Apply before filling out your application package which includes:
  • A document checklist,
  • The forms you will need to fill out, AND
  • A guide and instructions
  • You will have to provide proof that you meet income requirements. You must submit:
  • Your last 3 years income tax information. The easiest way is to sign the consent in question 8 and submit your Social Insurance Number so that IRCC can calculate if you meet the income requirements.
  • The requirements are Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) + 30% to account for your parents or grandparents. Here is last year’s table:
Size of Family UnitMinimum Income 2017Minimum Income 2016Minimum Income 2015
2 people$39,813$39,371$38,618
3 people$48,945$48,404$47,476
4 people$59,426$58,768$57,642
5 people$67,400$66,654$65,377
6 people$76,015$75,174$73,733
7 people$84,631$83,695$82,091
For each person over 7$8,616$8,522$8,358
  • Any dependent children of your parents or grandparents will have to included in the application.
  • You will have to list all your family members. Your sponsored parents or grandparents will also have to submit for each of their family members:
  • Medical checks
  • Security checks
  • Criminality checks
  • You must pay your application fees (although your additional Right of Permanent Residence fee can be paid later). Go here to use the Pay Your Fees tool and see what fees you will have to pay depending on who you are sponsoring and how many applicants there are.
  • Mail each individual application in its own separate package by mail or courier to the following address:

CPC – PGP

PO Box 8020, STN T CSC

Ottawa, ON

K1G 3H6

Remember that your application will be returned to you if any of the following holds:

  • If your application is incomplete
  • If your fees are missing
  • If you weren’t selected and haven’t received an invitation to apply
  • If your application is not received before the deadline

Remember that the IRCC will be announcing the opening and closing dates for submitting Interest to Sponsor and the Complete Application to Sponsor as well. We’ll be keeping you up to date on the news as soon as it becomes available.

SOURCES:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1355&top=14

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/sponsor-parents-grandparents/tell-us-you-want-sponsor-parent-grandparent.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/sponsor-parents-grandparents.html

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/results-by-topic.asp?st=14.1

https://www.cicnews.com/2018/12/canadas-parents-and-grandparents-sponsorship-program-will-reopen-in-late-january-1211694.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/sponsor-parents-grandparents/apply.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-5772-application-sponsor-parents-grandparents.html#income

Posted in Tips and tagged Sponsor parents and grandparents

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