Sponsor your foreign spouse or common-law partner for permanent residency in Canada through the Inland Spousal Sponsorship Canada. This guide has you covered with essential information on eligibility, the application process, and benefits.
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Many Canadians wish to sponsor their foreign spouses or common-law partners for permanent residence. They can do this using Spousal Sponsorship Canada. This program is divided into two distinct subcategories: Inland Spousal Sponsorship and Outland Spousal Sponsorship.
In this guide, we’ll focus on the Inland Spousal Sponsorship Canada, which offers a streamlined pathway to permanent residency for your partner while they’re already living with you in Canada.
The Spousal Sponsorship program is a special program that allows Canadian permanent residents or citizens to sponsor their spouses or common-law partners for permanent residence. The “inland” Spousal Sponsorship route refers to the sponsorship program for spouses who are already living together in Canada, such as those who are here on temporary work or study visas.
The inland spousal sponsorship method is broken down into two primary stages:
During the application process, the sponsor and their spouse must demonstrate their eligibility, pay the required application fees, gather their supporting documents, and complete and submit the required forms.
The Canadian sponsor and their spouse must meet the following requirements to be eligible to apply for the Inland Spousal Sponsorship program.
Learn how to bring your spouse to Canada by applying for a Spousal Open Work Permit, and start your journey towards permanent residency together.
The two stages of Inland Spousal Sponsorship are described as follows:
The sponsor must ensure they meet the eligibility requirements to be a sponsor for Inland spousal sponsorship. This involves presenting many documents verifying that they are a Canadian citizen or Canadian permanent resident, that they possess enough funds to support their spouse, that they do not have a criminal history, etc.
Once they have gathered all the appropriate documents, they can submit an application to become a sponsor. This stage typically takes 4 to 5 months.
If the sponsor’s sponsorship application is approved, their spouse can apply for permanent residence using the Inland Sponsorship route. This stage takes around 7 or 8 months.
Learn how the Inland Spousal Sponsorship can help you bring your partner to Canada and start your new life together.
The Inland Spousal Sponsorship process’s steps are summarized below.
The Canadian sponsor and their spouse must review the eligibility requirements and confirm that they are eligible for this program. They must then obtain the appropriate application packages on the Canadian Government website.
The Canadian sponsor and their spouse must then fill out the appropriate forms and gather the relevant supporting documents. This process can take many weeks to complete, so it is best to start it early.
Once the application package is complete, the sponsor must pay the relevant application fees and submit the package to IRCC.
IRCC may then ask the sponsor or their spouse to submit additional documents while their application is being processed.
If your application is approved, you will receive a sponsorship approval letter. The sponsorship approval letter confirms that you are eligible to sponsor your spouse or common-law partner for permanent residency in Canada. It also indicates that you meet the financial eligibility requirements and that you have met the other necessary criteria to become a sponsor. The sponsorship approval letter is typically issued within 12 months of submitting the sponsorship application.
After the sponsorship approval, your spouse or partner can apply for permanent residency. This involves submitting a separate application along with the required documents and fees.
IRCC will review your partner’s application and may request additional documents or information.
IRCC asks the spouse to undergo medical and background checks and submit the results. They will then come to a decision after processing the application.
Once the medical and security checks are complete, your partner will be asked to provide their passport to IRCC to finalize their permanent residency application. The sponsor and their spouse will then receive a decision on whether the permanent resident application has been approved.
Application processing time for Inland Spousal Sponsorship in 2023 is approximately 13 months. This includes the time it takes for the Canadian to apply as a sponsor and for the spouse to apply for permanent residence.
There are many benefits associated with using the Inland Spousal Sponsorship route. This includes:
Spouses can apply for an open work permit along with their permanent residence application. This allows them to work for any employer in Canada and financially support their Canadian partner while their application is being processed.
Spouses become eligible for provincial health insurance once they have held a work permit for a certain amount of time. This means they and their Canadian partner won’t need to worry about expensive hospital bills while their permanent residence application is processed.
The spouse is allowed to stay in Canada while their application is processed. This means they won’t need to worry about their temporary status expires.
Spousal sponsorship applicants residing in Canada are in a unique position because they can apply for permanent residence even if their temporary resident status has expired. This is in contrast to other permanent resident programs that prohibit applicants from applying if they have ever resided in Canada under an expired status.
These are some of the frequently asked questions about Canada’s Inland Spousal Sponsorship:
Quebec follows a distinct Inland Spousal Sponsorship route. To use this route, you will need to do the following:
They don’t need to apply for another work permit. However, they should try and maintain legal status in the country while their application is processed. For this reason, they should apply for another work permit if theirs is set to expire soon.
No. You will need to wait until you receive your Canadian open work permit before you are allowed to start working in the country.
No, unfortunately, you are not allowed to work in Canada as soon as you submit your Open Work Permit (OWP) and Inland Spousal Sponsorship applications. You must wait until your OWP application is approved and you receive the work permit before you can start working in Canada.
Ready to bring your spouse or common-law partner to Canada through Inland Spousal Sponsorship, contact us today.
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