As a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident that is at least 18 years old, you can sponsor certain relatives to come to Canada. If approved, they can live, study and work once they become permanent residents.
Sponsorship of Parents and Grandparents
A parental sponsor has many responsibilities that you should be concerned about. You must make sure that when sponsoring a parent or grandparent, you can support them financially so they do not seek social assistance from the government.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada only accept 5,000 applications for sponsorship a year. Sometimes a quick and easy way to reunite families is through the Super Visa.
TO BE A PARENTAL SPONSOR:
- You and the sponsored relative need to sign a sponsorship agreement that requires you to provide any financial support for your relative if necessary, and
- You must provide financial support for the relatives for a period of 3-10 years, depending on their age and relationship to you.
FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS
There is a major financial requirement of those who are to sponsor a person to come into Canada. The income of the sponsor for the 12 months prior to the time of application must meet the low income cut off amount (LICO) used by Canada Immigration. These numbers are used to determine whether someone is eligible to sponsor a person and take care of them financially. The LICO amount is revised annually.
INELIGIBILITY
You are ineligible to sponsor if you:
- Are subject to a removal order.
- Are imprisoned.
- Have declared bankruptcy, which has not been discharged.
- Have been convicted of the Criminal Code, or convicted of an offence outside of Canada which is sexual in nature or have attempted or threatened to commit such an offence against someone within your family. You may only sponsor if you have been pardoned for the crime or 5 years has elapsed since the completion of the sentence of the conviction. However if the offence was committed outside of Canada, 5 years must have elapsed since finishing sentencing.
- Are receiving social assistance for reasons other than a disability.
- Defaulted on a previous sponsorship agreement and that caused the sponsored person to turn to social assistance from the government.
- Defaulted on any court ordered support payments, such as child support.
- Have not paid any money owing to immigration authorities.