Family Sponsorship

Overview

This sponsorship program allows a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to sponsor his or her spouse/common-law partner for permanent resident status, regardless of where the spouse is currently residing.

There are two parts to the spousal sponsorship application:

• The Canadian or permanent resident applies to sponsor his or her spouse or common-law partner; and

• The spouse or common-law partner applies for permanent residence.

In cases of spousal and common-law partner sponsorships, IRCC is committed to issuing visas as quickly as possible in order to rapidly reunite families. IRCC aims to process applications submitted through this program within 12 months.

Dependent children, both natural and adopted, may be sponsored to live with their parent(s) as permanent residents in Canada. The child sponsorship program is a subsection of the Family Class of immigration.

In order to be eligible for this program, both the Canadian citizen or permanent resident (also called the 'sponsor') and their child abroad (the 'sponsored person') must be approved by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in order for the sponsored person to receive a visa.

To receive a visa through this immigration program, the sponsor and the sponsored person will be required to prove their relationship to one another. Individuals whose adoption proceedings are in the final phases of processing may begin sponsoring their child before the adoption has been finalized.