Parent & Grandparent Sponsorship Program to be a Lottery in 2017

Meurrens LawImmigration Trends

On December 14, 2016 the Government of Canada announced that it would be changing the application process in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (“IRCC“) Parent & Grandparent Sponsorship Program (the “PGP“).

For the past several years IRCC’s PGP has been capped at between 5,000 and 10,000 applicants.  Applications were treated on a first-come, first-served basis. The PGP would typically open in early January, and the cap would be reached in under 48 hours.  This caused most applicants to scramble to submit applications early in the new year.

The process in 2017 will more resemble a lottery system.

Between January 3 and February 2, 2017, Canadian citizens and permanent residents who want to apply as sponsors must first complete an online form on the IRCC website indicating their intention to IRCC that they wish to sponsor their parents and/or grandparents for immigration.

The online form will be available for 30 days, from noon Eastern Standard Time (EST) on January 3, 2017, to noon EST on February 2, 2017.

The form will ask basic questions about the sponsor, including biographical and contact information. Once the information is successfully submitted through IRCC’s online form, the individual will get a confirmation number.

At the end of the 30 days, IRCC will randomly choose 10 000 people and ask them to complete full applications to the PGP.

Those who were invited to apply will have 90 days to submit their complete application to IRCC

The 2017 PGWP application kit and guide will be available on IRCC’s website on January 9, 2017.

More information about the Government of Canada’s announcement can be found here.

Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns about these changes.