The following is an article that I wrote for Policy Options. On February 14, 2018, Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), announced that the processing time for spousal sponsorship applications had been reduced from 26 months to 12 months in 80 percent of cases. The Minister attributed the reduction to a “Family Class Tiger Team” that had redesigned application packages and introduced workflow efficiencies. What the Minister didn’t mention was that IRCC achieved its reduction in processing at least in part because it has established an unbelievably […]
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It is generally well known that Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor their spouses, common-law partners, children, parents and/or grand-parents to immigrate to Canada. What is less well-known is that in certain circumstances it is also possible for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to sponsor an extended family member to immigrate. The “Lonely Canadian” Category Under a program that is generally referred to as the “Lonely Canadian Program” or the “Other Relative Program” a Canadian citizen or permanent resident can sponsor one adult son or daughter, brother, sister, uncle, […]
Read more ›(The following is an article that I wrote for Policy Options.) On April 13, 2017, the Trudeau government fulfilled a campaign promise from the 2015 federal election by eliminating the status of conditional permanent residency from Canada’s family reunification immigration programs. From 2012 to 2017, under rules implemented by the previous Harper government, immigrants who were married or in a common-law relationship with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident for less than three years before being sponsored by their partner for permanent residency would become conditional permanent residents. The “condition” was […]
Read more ›Canadian immigration legislation provides that a Canadian citizen or permanent resident may sponsor their spouse, common-law partner, child, parents or grand-parents to immigrate to Canada. It also provides that in certain circumstances a Canadian may sponsor another relative. Section 117(1)(h) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (“IRPR“) provides that: A foreign national is a member of the family class if, with respect to a sponsor, the foreign national is a relative of the sponsor, regardless of age, if the sponsor does not have a spouse, a common-law partner, a conjugal partner, a […]
Read more ›One of the quirkier features of Canadian immigration law is the distinction between what is generally referred to as the “Inside-Canada Sponsorship” process and the “Outside-Canada Sponsorship” process. The biggest myth is that if a couple is residing in Canada then they must use the “Inside-Canada Sponsorship” process. This is not true. However, each program contains advantages and disadvantages vis-a-vis the other, and I have provided a list of the key features and requirements of each program below. Inside-Canada Process Outside-Canada Process The spouse/common-law partner must be in a genuine, […]
Read more ›(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 of dollars in social assistance payments. I invited John to some write articles for this blog, and here is the third of what will hopefully be many into this issue.) — The issue of resolving a […]
Read more ›(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 of dollars in social assistance payments. I invited John to some write articles for this blog, and here is the second of what will hopefully be many into this issue.) — Sponsoring a spouse or fiancé […]
Read more ›(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 of dollars in social assistance payments. I invited John to some write articles for this blog, and here is the first of what will hopefully be many into this issue.) — Marriage fraud happens. You meet […]
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Canada’s spousal and common-law partner sponsorship programs have undergone significant changes in the past several years. In a recent backgrounder to a press release, Citizenship and Immigration Canada published the timeline below. The timeline is something that all practitioners should consider showing to clients who are interested in submitting a spousal or common-law partnership application. In brief, all people considering the spousal or common-law partnership program should be aware of some conditions, undertakings, and restrictions which will apply to them after their application is approved. In brief: Year 0 – Applicant immigrates to Canada […]
Read more ›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 were received by CIC prior to October 25, 2012. CIC has stated that the goal of introducing conditional permanent residency is to reduce instances of marriages of convenience. What Conditional Permanent Residency Is, and Who it […]
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