FAMILY CLASS SPONSORSHIP

1. FAMILY CLASS SPONSORSHIP

2. THE GOLDEN RULE: Canadian Citizens and Canadian Permanent residents can sponsor members of the family class.

3. WHO IS A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY CLASS? • The family class is made up of: • 1. spouse, common-law partner, • conjugal partner • 2. dependent children: • a) is under the age of 22 and does not • have a spouse or common-law partner; • b) is a full time student and is substantially dependent on a parent for financial support since before the age of 22, or since becoming a spouse or common-law partner (if this happened before age 22); or • c) is financially dependent on a parent • since before the age of 22 because of a disability.

4. WHO (CON’T…) 3. parents or grandparents 4. brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces or grandchildren who are orphans; under the age of 18 and not married or in a common-law relationship 5. you may also sponsor one relative of any age if you do not have an aunt, uncle or family member from the list above who you could sponsor or who is already a Canadian citizen, Indian or permanent resident

5. MYTH - NOT PART OF THE FAMILY CLASS  you can no longer sponsor a fiancée as part of the family class  you cannot generally sponsor brothers and sisters as apart of the family class  you cannot generally sponsor aunts and uncles as part of the family class  you cannot generally sponsor nieces and nephews as part of the family class

6. CRITERIA TO BE AN ELGIBILE SPONSOR There are financial and non-financial criteria that may have to be met to be eligible to sponsor someone to come to Canada. NON-FINANCIAL CRITERIA - APPLIES TO ALL SPONSORS: a) Canadian Citizen, permanent resident, or Native Indian Status b) Cannot be under a removal order c) Cannot be convicted of certain criminal offences d) Cannot be in default on spousal or child support order e) Cannot be in default on a previous sponsorship undertaking f) Cannot be on social assistance g) Cannot have an undischarged bankruptcy

7. CRITERIA (CON’T …) FINANCIAL CRITERIA - DOES NOT APPLY WHEN SPONSORING SPOUSE / DEPENDENT CHILD: a) Sponsor must meet the Low-Income cut-off Guideline (Known as the LICO) to be eligible to sponsor b) The sponsor must demonstrate on-going income for the 12 months preceding the application and up to the point that the application is completely processed.

8. Low- Income Cut-off Guideline Effective to December 2011 Size of Family Unit Minimum necessary income • 1 person (the sponsor) $22,229 • 2 persons $27,674 • 3 persons $34,022 • 4 persons $41,307 • 5 persons $46,850 • 6 persons $52,838 • 7 persons $58,827 • More than 7 persons For each additional person, add $5,989

9. CRITERIA TO BE AN ELGIBLE SPONSORED PERSON There are health-related and non-health-related criteria that may have to be met to be eligible to be sponsored to Canada. NON-HEALTH RELATED CRITERIA - APPLIES TO ALL PEOPLE: a) Cannot have been previously deported from Canada (need permission to return) b) Cannot have been convicted of certain criminal offences c) Must meet the security requirements from Canadian Immigration

10. CRITERIA (CON’T …) • HEALTH-RELATED - DOES NOT APPLY WHEN SPONSORING A SPOUSE, COMMON-LAW PARTNER, DEPENDENT CHILD: • a) Many people being sponsored to Canada will have to take a medical exam to determine if they pass Canadian immigration's medical requirements •  recently, Canadian Immigration determined that spouses, common-law partners, and dependent children do not have to meet any medical requirements

11. THE SPONSORSHIP PROCESS There are two ways that people can be sponsored to come to Canada under the family class: IN-CANADA SPONSORSHIP or OVERSEAS SPONSORSHIP

12. IN-CANADA SPONSORSHIP • There are two streams of in-Canada sponsorship: • I) in-Canada sponsorship for people with legal status in Canada. •  You can always sponsor a member of the family class from within Canada if they are in Canada legally. •  The risk that you face is that you will have to maintain their legal status in Canada for the entire time that Canadian Immigration is processing their application. This could be very difficult. •  In most cases overseas sponsorship will be the better option.

13. IN-CANADA SPONSORSHIP (CON’T …) • II) in-Canada sponsorship for spouse or common-law partner without legal status in Canada (new rules) •  Canadian Immigration has • now introduced a program that • allows sponsorship of spouses • and common-law partners • (including dependent children) to • be sponsored from within Canada • even if they don't have legal status • in Canada. •  people who are inadmissible to Canada for reasons other then lack of status cannot use this process

14. OVERSEAS SPONSORSHIP • This is the "normal" route for sponsorship. The application process differs depending on whom you are sponsoring. • Sponsoring Spouse / Common-law / Conjugal / Dependent Child • Step 1 - The sponsor and the person (s) being sponsored must complete all of the application forms required by Canadian Immigration. • Step 2 - The forms will be mailed to the Case processing Centre in Mississauga, Ontario

15. OVERSEAS SPONSORSHIP (CON’T …) • Sponsoring Spouse / Common-law / Conjugal / Dependent Child (con't…) • Step 3 - If the sponsor is found eligible then the application is sent to the visa post responsible for where the sponsored person is living • Step 4 - The visa post will determine if the person be sponsored is eligible to come to Canada. If yes, the visa post will "land" that person by giving them a visa to come to Canada and then by giving a permanent resident card or confirmation of permanent residence.

16. OVERSEAS SPONSORSHIP (CON’T …) • Sponsorship of others members of the family class • Step 1 -The sponsor completes the appropriate sponsorship forms (e.g. for spouses, form for parents, etc…). • Step 2 -Sponsor sends those forms in to Canadian Immigration.

17. OVERSEAS SPONSORSHIP (CON’T …) • Sponsorship of others members of the family class (con't…): • Step 3 - If approved, the sponsor will be advised and will be sent the appropriate forms that need to be filled out by the sponsored person. The sponsored person will fill out those forms and send them to the visa post responsible for where he/she is living. • Step 4 - The visa post will determine if the person be sponsored is eligible to come to Canada. If yes, the visa post will "land" that person by giving them a visa to come to Canada and then by giving a permanent resident card or confirmation of permanent residence.

18. SPONSORSHIP PROCESSING TIMES The processing times for sponsorship applications vary depending on whether the application is in-Canada or overseas, and varies depending on the foreign visa post processing the application. Currently: In Canada sponsor – 9 to 10 9 months months Overseas sponsor – 42 months sponsored person 12-30 months

19. QUICK NOTE ON IMMIGRATION UNDERTAKINGS Whenever you sponsor someone under the family class you are required to sign an undertaking that you will be financially responsible for the person that you are sponsoring for a certain period of time: a) Spouse, common-law, conjugal partner 3 years b) Dependent child under 22 years 10 years c) Dependent child over 22 years 3 years d) All others 10 years  All undertakings run from the date of permanent residence (landing)

20. Possible Changes to Spousal / Common Law / Conjugal Partner Class Proposed Change # 1 “Conditional Visa”: this is a program that targets any marriage / common law/ or conjugal relationship where the partners have not been together for two years or more. In these cases, the sponsored person would be granted a conditional visa for two years to come to Canada. At the end of two years, CIC will look at whether the relationship is genuine and will if yes, will issue full permanent residence

21. Possible Changes to Spousal / Common Law / Conjugal Partner Class Proposed Change # 2 “Conviction Bar”: This prevent a person from sponsoring a member of the family class where the individual has been convicted of an offence of a sexual nature against anyone or an offence that results in “bodily harm” against specific members of their family. This ban stays in effect until a person is pardoned, acquitted, or 5 years has lapsed from the end of a sentence that has been imposed.

22. Possible Changes to Spousal / Common Law / Conjugal Partner Class Proposed Change # 3 “5-yr Ban”: The 5-year bar – prevents a sponsor from sponsoring a spouse/cl/conj if she was herself sponsored as a spouse/cl/conj for 5 years since she applied for PR herself, if she has left a partner who sponsored her – the rationale is that this will also prevent foreign nationals from using sponsors to come and then leaving them and partnering with someone else.

23. GETTING LEGAL HELP • You can get legal help from many sources: • Many of the application for immigration are designed to be completed on your own so see if you can do them before paying someone. • If things get complicated you can call a legal clinic – some clinics provide immigration assistance while others do not. You can find the most appropriate clinic for you on the Legal Aid Website at www.legalaid.on.ca. • You can also contact Legal Aid Ontario to see if they will provide a certificate to pay for a private immigration lawyer. Their number is: 416-979-1446.

24. GETTING LEGAL HELP (con’t) A note on immigration consultants: There are many types of consultants that can help you with your immigration applications. Consultants are supposed to be governed by CSIC – the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. If they are not registered there then the consultant is what we call a “ghost consultant”. In our experience there have been good and bad consultants so you must be very careful who you choose to work with.