Family Class Sponsorship

Citizenship and Immigration Canada knows it is important to help families who come from other countries to reunite in Canada.

If you are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada, you can sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, dependent child (including adopted child) or other relatives including parents, grandparents, brothers or sisters, nephews or nieces, and granddaughters or grandsons (under special circumstances), to become a permanent resident.

To sponsor a relative to become a permanent resident of Canada, you have to meet certain requirements:

• Sign a sponsorship agreement that commits you to provide financial support for your relative if necessary. Quebec residents must sign an "undertaking" with the province of Quebec.

• Promise to provide financial support for the relative and any other eligible relatives accompanying them for a period of three to ten years, depending on their age and relationship to you. This time period begins on the date they become a permanent resident.

Many factors determine eligibility of sponsorship including financial support and current financial status, criminal history or default on court orders, as well as other extraneous circumstances. The sponsorship application for spouse, common law partner and conjugal partner can be done either from inside or outside Canada depending on the type of relationship and some others criteria.