Spousal Sponsorship

Eligibility Requirements

• You are at least 18 years old.
• You are a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act.
• If you are a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, you must show that you plan to live in Canada when the persons you want to sponsor become permanent residents.
• You cannot sponsor someone if you’re a permanent resident living outside Canada.
• You are able to prove that you’re not receiving social assistance for reasons other than a disability.
• you can provide for the basic needs of any persons you want to sponsor.

Sponsorship Undertaking:

To become a sponsor, you must promise to financially take care of the persons you are sponsoring for a period of time. We call this promise an undertaking.
The undertaking commits you to:

• Providing financial support for your sponsored family members, starting when they become permanent residents.
• Repaying any provincial social assistance your sponsored family members get during that time.

Ineligible Sponsors

• you’re less than 18 years old.
• you won’t live in Canada when the persons you want to sponsor become permanent residents.
• you’re not a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person .registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act.
• you’re a temporary resident, that is you’re visiting, studying or working in Canada on a visa or permit.
• your permanent residence application is still in process.
• You must have permanent resident status at the time you submit your sponsorship application.
• you don’t have enough money to support the persons you want to sponsor (if applicable).
• You were sponsored by a spouse or partner in the past and you became a permanent resident less than 5 years ago
• You are still financially responsible for a previous spouse or partner that you sponsored. This means you’re still bound by the 3-year undertaking to take care of this person.

You may not be eligible to sponsor your spouse, partner, or child if you:

• you have already applied to sponsor the spouse, parent, or child you are currently seeking to sponsor and a decision on that application hasn’t been made.
• are in jail, prison, or a penitentiary.
• didn’t pay back an immigration loan, a performance bond.
• court-ordered family support payments such as alimony or child support (not applicable if you live in Quebec).
• didn’t give the financial support you agreed to when you signed a sponsorship agreement to sponsor someone else in the past (not applicable if you live in Quebec).
• declared bankruptcy and are not discharged (not applicable if you live in Quebec).
• receive social assistance for a reason other than a disability.
• you were convicted of attempting, threatening to commit, or committing a violent criminal offence, any offence against a relative or any sexual offence inside or outside Canada.
• can’t legally stay in Canada and must leave the country because you received a Removal Order.

Definition of Spouse, Common-Law, Conjugal partner and Dependent Children

Spouse: Your spouse can be either sex and must be:

• Legally married to you.
• At least 18 years old.

Common-law partner: Your common-law partner:

• isn’t legally married to you.
• can be either sex.
• is at least 18 years old.
• has been living with you for at least 12 consecutive months, meaning you’ve been living together continuously for 1 year in a conjugal relationship, without any long periods apart.
• Any time spent away from each other should have been short.

Conjugal partner: Your conjugal partner:

• isn’t legally married to you or in a common-law relationship with you.
• can be either sex.
• is at least 18 years old.
• has been in a relationship with you for at least 1 year.
• lives outside Canada.
• can’t live with you in their country of residence or marry you because of significant legal and immigration reasons such as their marital status (for example, they’re still married to someone else in a country where divorce isn’t possible).
• their sexual orientation (for example, you are in a same-sex relationship, and same-sex relationships are not accepted, or same-sex marriage is illegal where they live),
• persecution (for example, your relationship is between different religious groups which is not accepted, and they may be punished legally or socially)

Dependent children: Children qualify as dependants if they meet both requirements:

• They’re under 22 years old.
• They don’t have a spouse or common law partner.

Children 22 years old or older qualify as dependants if they meet both the following requirements:

• They are unable to financially support themselves because of a mental or physical condition.
• They have depended on their parents for financial support since before the age of 22.