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You are a Canadian planning to sponsor your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner for Canadian Permanent Residency (PR). This is one of the few immigration programs available in Canada that offers direct PR without the need to go through a temporary residency before approval. You go through the PR process, but why does your case take longer than 12 months to process, why is there an interview scheduled for you or your overseas spouse or partner, how come everyone else is approved in 12 months but yours is stuck, or even refused. These are the TOP mistakes when submitting your application for spousal & partner sponsorship from both outside and inside Canada.
If you’re interested in sponsoring your loved one, at INGWE we could support you! We have helped over 47 nationalities and we are willing to do the same for you. Get a FREE assessment with us, click here.
If you’re in the same country as your spouse or partner, whether inside or outside Canada, you and your partner must be living together at the time of application. In case you’re not living together before the time of submitting your application, as of that day onwards you need to be co-habiting. If not, you are not eligible and would be refused.
You’re a Canadian living abroad and are with your partner or spouse and want to sponsor them. You as the Canadian, need to provide proof in your application, which is submitted from outside Canada, that you will move back permanently if the PR is approved. The key point here is to prove your ‘intention’ to move to Canada with your partner or spouse when IRCC approves their PR. Proving intention can include a job offer, starting your own business, returning, and living with your family (kids, parents, etc.), some other factors that will tie you back to Canada. If you apply from outside Canada as a sponsor and include no documents to prove your intention, then you will not be eligible to sponsor.
Are you thinking about applying for Spousal Sponsorship from outside Canada? We could support you to get your PR approval! Get a FREE assessment with one of our licensed immigration consultants, click here.
This one is an easy one, your sponsor, the Canadian, should not have been on social welfare or assistance (except for disabilities) or Employment Insurance (except during COVID). If they were, they may be ineligible to sponsor.
Following on the previous point, what if your Canadian sponsor is residing in Quebec. There’s a minimum income threshold they need to meet unlike other parts of Canada where this is not mandatory. In Quebec, it’s a 2-stage process both requiring provincial and Federal approvals. If you don’t have the minimum income required as per Quebec law, you cannot sponsor as a Canadian.
Here is another mistake or let’s call it a misconception: not being legally separated or divorced from your previous spouse or legal partner before sponsoring. This again makes you ineligible to sponsor as a Canadian. Although you didn’t plan to practice polygamy, that’s what they will label you as if you don’t have your legal separation documentation in order.
Let’s look at this classic mistake many people make: You get married tomorrow and as soon as you receive your marriage certificate you submit your sponsorship application without including supporting documentation on how this relationship evolved into a marriage. Just putting in a marriage certificate IF it’s fresh, would create more scrutiny of your file which means you need more supporting documents, explanation letters, and of course the ‘love story’ which leads us to the next point.
Another basic mistake many people make is not including a detailed ‘love story’ regarding how they met, fell in love, and became partners or decided to get married. This love story should explain it from both sides – not just one side. This is a must-have, please don’t underestimate the power of these love story letters. The government is looking to identify and refuse applications that are identified as ‘marriage or relationships of convenience’ which basically means the non-Canadian wants PR status and the relationship is not genuine. With your documentation, you need to justify this sponsorship and make sure that it doesn’t look like a relationship of convenience.
Do you want to find out if your evidence is enough to apply for Canadian Spousal Sponsorship? We could support you throughout the application process! Get a FREE assessment with us, click here.
This brings us to the next point where you are in a common-law relationship, which requires 12-month continuous co-habiting, but you cannot prove it even though it’s true. You will need joint bank accounts (that are active, not dormant), co-signed lease/rental agreements with both of you, photos of you taking trips together with airline tickets and hotel bookings, photos of events together in the past year, photos with family is also really important, maybe life insurance in the other’s partners name, utilities and government ID’s that have the same residential address stated on it. Common-law relationships require more supporting documentation than typical spousal sponsorships.
You file your taxes every year, both of you, whether inside or outside of Canada, but you file the taxes as ‘single’ applicants and not married or in a common-law relationship. That’s a big NO-NO for IRCC and that can lead to further suspicion of your sponsorship. And while your application is in process with the Canadian government, you do continue to file taxes every year, that status of you being married or in a common-law relationship needs to be updated on your tax filings.
If you and your spouse or partner are not from the same ethnic group or there is a major age difference, this can also lead to more scrutiny and suspicion from the officer reviewing your sponsorship application. You need to include more supporting documentation than a typical sponsorship case. The most challenging cases are the ones where you’ve met them online and got married in some resort after meeting your partner for the first time. Not impossible but challenging!
And of course, if you just depend on the government document checklist, then sometimes it won’t help you. If you’ve got a plain vanilla sponsorship application then maybe the checklist is enough for you, but like many of you know, not everyone has or never had a plain vanilla straightforward sponsorship.
What are you waiting for? It’s time to apply for the Canada PR! Get a FREE assessment with us if you’re interested in getting your PR through sponsorship, studies, or business immigration in Canada, click here.
If you’re interested in applying for the Canada PR through the Spousal Sponsorship program, at INGWE we are here to help you. We have successfully supported applicants from +47 nationalities! Get a FREE assessment with us, fill out our form, click here.
