(Note from Steven: I met John at the Canadian Bar Association British Columbia branch annual conference in San Francisco. He is currently involved in some fascinating litigation representing an individual who sponsored a spouse only to watch her immediately divorce him after she immigrated. She also left him on the hook for tens of thousands … Read More
Conditional Permanent Residency for Some Spousal Sponsorships
On October 26, 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC“) implemented conditional permanent residency for certain people who immigrate to Canada under the spousal-sponsorship program. The implementation of conditional permanent residency took affect on October 25, 2012, the day prior to CIC publicizing it. The change was not retroactive, and will not affect sponsorship applications which … Read More
Significant Changes Coming to the Spousal-Sponsorship Program – Conditional PR and Sponsorship Bars
Fresh off his efforts to crack down on crooked consultants, and having just introduced legislation to deter “bogus refugees,” Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, is now focusing his scopes on deterring sham marriages. He has made (or is in the process of making) two significant changes to Canada’s spousal-sponsorship program. While both … Read More
Open Marriages and the Family Class
Canadian immigration law allows people to sponsor their spouses or common-law partners to immigrate to Canada. A question that often arises is whether open relationships count. Multiple Spouses or Common-Law Partners Canadian immigration law is clear that a person cannot have more than one spouse or more than one common-law partner for the purpose of … Read More
Spousal Sponsorship Bar on Violent Spouses
In April the Gazette announced that a sponsorship bar would soon come into effect prohibiting individuals that have been convicted of certain offenses from sponsoring family members. One of the offenses that would result in a bar was violence against someone that the wannabe sponsor had dated, which seemed a little vague. Now that the … Read More
Clearing the Parental Backlog
It looks like Citizenship and Immigration Canada is serious about clearing that parental and grandparent sponsorship backlog. On November 7, 2011, CIC released Operational Bulletin 353 – Change in Procedures for Processing Family Class Parent and Grandparent Applications. If you have an application to sponsor a parent or grandparent in processing take note. Starting mid-November, … Read More
“Pause” on New Parental Sponsorship Applications
On November 4, 2011, the federal government introduced its plan for reducing the backlog in parent and grandparent sponsorship applications. With more than 165,000 applications in the queue, and a wait time approaching a decade, it was clear that something had to be done. The government’s plan involves numerous phases: One – Increase by over … Read More
Should Family Class Applicants have to Pass an English Language Test
Canada’s family class and the spousal sponsorship program have recently been hit with two significant changes that are largely based on immigration programs found in other Western nations. The first recent change is the proposed introduction of a sponsorship bar, which prohibits recently sponsored spouses from sponsoring a new spouse for three years after they … Read More
Withdrawing a Spousal Sponsorship
The first question on the Application to Sponsor and Undertaking form asks…1) If you are found ineligible to sponsor, indicate whether you want to withdraw your sponsorship. All processing fees less $75 will be repaid OR to proceed with the application for permanent residence.
Family Class Undertakings
The spousal sponsorship undertaking is a binding contract between sponsors (and co-signers) and the Minister of Immigraiton, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Sponsors must provide the sponsored person with basic requirements from the day they enter Canada until the end of the undertaking. They are obligated to repay the government any social assistance payments made to … Read More