The first step in the process is to provide some basic information on the interest to sponsor form. This online form will become available on Monday, 28 January 2019 at 12 p.m. EST. Those interested in sponsoring a parent or grandparent should mark this date in their calendars and aim to complete the form early next week because Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has not indicated how long the form will be available. IRCC has only stated that it “will remain available on IRCC’s website until we receive a specific number of complete interest to sponsor forms”[1].

After the window to submit this form closes, IRCC will invite potential sponsors to submit an application in the order that the interest to sponsor form was received. This is a notable change from last year when invitations were issued through a lottery system. Potential sponsors who receive an invitation to apply this year will have 60 calendar days to submit a complete application to IRCC. According to IRCC, this year a maximum of 20,000 completed applications to sponsor parents or grandparents will be accepted. The average processing time for these applications is expected to be two years.

It is important to note that only Canadian citizens, permanent residents or persons registered under the Indian Act (in Canada) may be eligible to sponsor their parent or grandparent. Sponsors must also be at least 18 years old and meet the necessary minimum income requirements for the last three years. A sponsor with a family of four (including the sponsor), for instance, must provide Notices of Assessment from Canada Revenue Agency showing income of at least $60,271 in 2018, $59,426 in 2017 and $58,768 in 2016.[2] Potential sponsors may wish to have a co-signer to meet these financial requirements. Individuals residing in Quebec, must meet additional requirements.[3]

Several other requirements apply. For example, sponsors cannot be in detention, under a removal order, convicted of certain criminal offences or receiving social assistance unless it is for a disability.[4]

An additional consideration for potential sponsors is the processing fee of $1,040. This sum includes a $75 sponsorship fee, $475 principal applicant processing fee and a right of permanent residence fee of $490. (Although the right of permanent residence fee is not required at the time the application is submitted.)  Additional fees may apply if biometrics (fingerprints and a photo) are required or if the parent or grandparent has an accompanying dependent child.

As the opportunity to sponsor a parent and grandparent approaches, interested individuals should take the necessary steps to familiarize themselves with the requirements and process.

For more information on Sponsorship of Parents and Grandparents, please contact us.

(Sources)

The post Are You Interested in Permanent Residence for Your Parents or Grandparents? first appeared on Bellissimo Law Group.

The sponsors were really desperate and did not know what to do, because, according to their account, they had provided the requested documents on time, not once, but twice.

The sponsors and applicants retained our firm to help them with the application. We reviewed all the documents and realized that IRCC made a mistake in refusing the application, as the documents were submitted to them.

We wrote a reconsideration letter to the visa office, supported by the evidence we gathered that in fact the documents had been submitted and the acknowledgments of receipt were sent to the applicants.

Within a few days, the visa office wrote to us that they would re-open the file and continue processing the application. At the same time, they requested additional documents. The clients were very happy about the outcome of their case.

The post This Week’s Success Story: Parental Sponsorship Refused in Error first appeared on Bellissimo Law Group.

Q: My brother married a woman overseas three years ago. They now have a child together. After he married about a year and half ago, he submitted a sponsorship application to CPC Mississauga. The immigration office asked him to provide his income and apparently he did not respond. He is self-employed and I am not sure of what his income is each year. He travels back and forth very often, to visit his wife and child, but he never mentions the sponsorship application. We would like to help him, but do not know where to start. Can we sponsor his wife and child on my brother’s behalf? Can they come as visitors to Canada or can we make an application for permanent residency on her behalf?

A: Your question raises a number of issues. First, you must speak to your brother and clarify whether he still has any interest in pursuing this matter, then establish whether his sponsorship application is still in process or the file has been closed. He does not have to meet a specific income requirement for a spousal sponsorship, meaning it is not a bar against sponsoring, but, at the same time, the income must be declared. We cannot be sure without your brother’s consent to access his file or speak with him if the sponsorship remains active.

Unfortunately, you cannot sponsor. Only your brother can sponsor his wife and child. The wife and child may apply, of course, for a temporary resident visa (visitor), but first of all any counsel would want to know what happened with the sponsorship application as they will be screened by the visa post and they will be asked questions about her case. We would also want to know why your brother was reluctant to respond. There is nothing in the legislation preventing her to apply for a visitor visa, but she has to demonstrate that she is willing to return home at the end of the validity of her visitor visa. We would recommend your brother consult immigration counsel.

Thank you for your questions.

The post Can We Sponsor My Brother’s Wife? first appeared on Bellissimo Law Group.

This decision to increase the number of applications that IRCC will accept for processing is a result of continually high demand in the Parents and Grandparents (PGP) Program and the fact that inventory of applications has dropped significantly over the last few years — from a peak of 167 000 people in 2011, to just under 26 000 people in June 2018.

Minister Hussen further announced that the government is making further changes to the application intake process that will streamline access to the program and improve client experience. In 2019, as in previous years, the Interest to Sponsor form will be available online, at the beginning of the year, so eligible potential sponsors can let IRCC know they wish to sponsor their parents and grandparents to come to Canada. However, instead of randomly selecting the sponsors to apply, potential sponsors will be invited to submit an application to sponsor their parents and grandparents based on the order in which IRCC receives their Interest to Sponsor forms. This process will continue until the 2019 cap of 20 000 complete applications is reached.

Further details of these improvements to the system will be announced this fall.

The post Government of Canada to Improve Application Intake System and Accept more Sponsorship Applications for Parents and Grandparents first appeared on Bellissimo Law Group.

The post This Week’s Success Story: Extensive Submissions Grant Child Status in Canada Under H&C Grounds first appeared on Bellissimo Law Group.

Out of Status – if you are in Canada without status, there is a risk that by filing a sponsorship application you will come to the attention of immigration officials and may face removal from Canada. This tends to occur, in particular, with foreign nationals who have already received a removal order (i.e., as by having made a refugee claim in Canada). If you are removed from Canada before the application is processed to approval in principal – presently about 17 months – the application will be refused as you are no longer eligible, being outside of Canada.

Conjugal Partners – if you are not legally married or in a common-law relationship (cohabited in a romantic relationship for at least one-year), you cannot be sponsored with an In-Canada application for permanent residence.

Appeal Rights – if the application for permanent residence is refused, only overseas applicants are able to appeal that decision to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD). The IAD is able to consider the evidence and replace the decision of the Visa Office. So if the application was refused because the Visa Office did not believe the relationship was genuine, the IAD could replace that decision, determine that the relationship was genuine, and the Visa Office is bound by that decision. If the sponsorship was made for in-Canada processing, there is no appeal right; however, the refused foreign national may challenge the decision to the Federal Court of Canada (FCC). The FCC is not an appeal, so if for example you are successful at the FCC, the application is returned to the Canadian processing centre for a reconsideration of the genuineness of the relationship.

Work Permit – there is presently a one-year pilot project (ending in December 2015, but may be continued) which permits foreign nationals in Canada, being sponsored in an In-Canada application for permanent residence, to obtain an open work permit soon after processing has commenced. If the foreign national’s application is being processed overseas, there is no automatic access to a work permit.

Interviews – if an interview is required, it will take place in the location where the application is being processed. So, if your application is being processed overseas and you are requested to attend an interview, you would need to travel overseas to the Visa Office to attend that interview. Once you depart Canada, your return would depend on whether you have a visa to re-enter Canada and/or on the decision of immigration officers at the port of entry.

Timing – as indicated, an In-Canada application will be processed to approval in principle in approximately 17 months. It will take an additional 10 months for medical, security and other verifications, for a total of 27 months of processing. Overseas applications are generally processed more quickly: after approximately 2 months of processing in Canada, the application is transferred to an overseas Visa Office. Overseas processing can be as quick as 5 months (Sao Paulo) or as slow as 47 months (Islamabad), so 7 to 49 months total processing time.

Ongoing Travel – an In-Canada application requires that you cohabit with the sponsor, so if there will be lengthy periods of departure from Canada then you may not be eligible for an In-Canada sponsorship. Furthermore, once the application has been submitted it is more likely that your intentions will be questioned upon entrance to Canada: i.e., are you entering Canada as a visitor or do you have a permanent intention? If an immigration officer at the port of entry to Canada believes that your intentions are permanent and also that you are likely not to comply with the terms of your entrance to Canada, you may be refused admission. As indicated above, if you cease to be in Canada and stop cohabiting with your spouse, then your In-Canada application for permanent residence will be refused.

For more information on Spousal Sponsorship, please click here.

The post Spousal & Common-law Sponsorships – in Canada or from overseas? first appeared on Bellissimo Law Group.