Spousal sponsorship is a sub-category of Canada family visa. It validates the entry of individuals who shared a genuine relationship with citizens or permanent residents of Canada under any of the categories, including spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is an authorizing committee in Canada which evaluates the candidature of both sponsor and the sponsored person before issuing the spousal sponsorship.

So if you are living in Canada and possess either Canadian citizenship or Canadian permanent residency, then you can sponsor your spouse or common-law partner to Canada. However, the biggest question is how?

The answer is through this post. Here, you will get all essential information regarding spouse visa including eligibility, procedure, fees, time and all under one roof.

Let’s start with;

Categories of sponsorship:

Inland sponsorship: As the name implies, inland sponsorship deals in the cases where both the individuals are living in Canada before and during the application. The sponsored partner may live there as a student, employee or visitor.

Outland sponsorship: Outland sponsorship is for those sponsored applicants who are living outside Canada. They can start the application process through visa offices that serve in their respective country of origin.

Eligibility of sponsor:

If you want to be a sponsor, then you need to fulfill the following eligibility criteria

• Must be at least 18 years of age or older
• Permanent resident or citizen of Canada

Note: If you are a Canadian citizen, and are not living in Canada during application, then you need to show that you plan to live in Canada when your sponsored spouse or common-law partner becomes a permanent resident there.

• Must not receive any social benefit for a reason other than disability
• Able to meet the basic requirements of your sponsored partner after his/her immigration to Canada
• Must not involve in any sexual offence
• Must not be in a penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison
• Must not be declared bankrupt
• Must pay immigration bond, performance bond, and family support payments on time

Requirements for the sponsored partner

Spouse:

An individual having age more than 18 years and is legally married to sponsor can apply for spouse sponsorship. Both of them must have gone through a complete legal marriage process. In this case, only marriage certificate along with some photographs of marriage is enough for verification and evaluation of applications.

Common-law partner:

Common-law partner of an individual either of same-sex or different sex lives with him/her for at least one year. The process becomes little complex for a common-law partner. He/she needs to show many official documents including joint bank account statement, credit card statement which shows the activity of both partners, renting lease having the name of both partners, a salutatory declaration from both partners stating that the relationship between them is true and genuine.

Besides it, they can show their pictures of dates or trips, conversations, phone call logs and more to prove their relationship.

Conjugal partner:

Sometimes, due to circumstances, which are beyond the control of both partners, the sponsored individual is not able to live with his/her partner. Some of the reasons are immigration barrier, marital status, sexual orientation and more. Here, proof of funds is similar to common-law partner.

Estimated fees for a spouse visa to Canada

Before starting the application process, it is suggested to go through the fee chart for a Canada spouse visa, which you need to pay at the time of submission of application form.

• For sponsoring spouse or partner without right of permanent resident fee: CAN $ 550 (including Sponsorship fee ($75), principal applicant processing fee ($475))
• For sponsoring spouse or partner with the right of permanent resident fee: CAN $ 1,040

Application process:

The application process for all visas in Canada remains the same, only the requirements and eligibility changes.

• First, check eligibility and fill the application form, available online
• Make the checklist of documents including passport, passport-sized photographs, copies of degrees, diplomas or certificates, letter of experience, proof of civil status, and other specific documents related to spouse sponsorship
• Submission of application along with documents
• Payment of fees and wait for confirmation

Processing time for a spouse visa to Canada

As such, there is no fixed time for processing applications. However, on an average assessment of sponsor takes around 66 days and for the sponsored person as spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner, it takes 12 months for applications submitted after December 07, 2016.

Applications submitted after December 07, 2016, assessment for sponsored partner takes around 26 months.

How countrywide visas can help you in spousal sponsorship?

If you are interested in applying for spousal sponsorship visa, then it is advisable to seek assistance from experts like countrywide visas. Countrywide visas is the fastest growing Immigration consultancy with a large, devoted team of Immigration experts offers hassle-free and professional services to its clients for filing their applications for various immigration programs.

You are welcome to call us or send us an email with your immigration questions and inquiries. You may contact us on 011-41075840 / 011-41045840  or leave a mail at info@countrywidevisas.com. You may also fill the Technical Assessment Form for free to get a call back from our Immigration Specialists. All you need to do is fill an assessment form and let our immigration experts assist you over the phone call or by meeting you in person and give you the best available options to fulfill your dreams of settling abroad.