Sponsorship Process Improvements

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced that significant improvements to the spousal sponsorship process have been made, making it faster and easier for Canadians and permanent residents to reunite with their spouses.

It was announced that the government has successfully met these commitments:

More than 80% of those who were in the global spousal sponsorship backlog on December 7, 2016, have now received final decisions for their applications. IRCC reduced the spousal inventory from 75,000 persons to 15,000 as of December 31, 2017.

Parents and Grandparents Program reopens in January 2018

It was announced today that the “Interest to Sponsor” form will be available at noon EST on January 2, 2018. Those who wish to apply to sponsor their parents and grandparents in 2018 must first fill out this online form. It will be available until noon February 1, 2018.

Canadian citizens and permanent residents will soon be able to take the first step in applying to bring their parents and grandparents to Canada, when the Parents and Grandparents Program reopens in 2018. Parents and Grandparents Program reopens in January 2018.

The new process was introduced by IRCC in 2017 for application intake for sponsoring parents and grandparents. Now, potential sponsors must first notify IRCC that they are interested in sponsoring their parents and grandparents by submitting an “Interest to Sponsor” form. Using a random selection process, IRCC will then invite potential sponsors to apply to sponsor their parents and grandparents.

Canada has lifted visa requirements on Romania and Bulgaria

As of December 1, 2017 citizens of two EU countries, Romania and Bulgaria, no longer need visa to travel to Canada. This rule will apply for short stays, such as visiting family, friends, travelling for business or tourism. 

Similar to other visa-exempt travellers, citizens of Romania and Bulgaria will need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to fly to or transit through a Canadian airport.

Visa Application Centre Network in China has been expanded.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has opened seven new visa application centres (VAC) in China with locations in Chengdu, Hangzhou, Jinan, Kunming, Nanjing, Shenyang and Wuhan. These new offices have joined existing network of VACs in Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Visa Application Centres offer support to all applicants before, during and after their temporary resident visa applications are assessed by an IRCC officer. These new changes will bring more flexibility and convenience for applicants in China who are seeking entry to Canada as students, visitors or workers.

IRCC has changed the definition of the age of dependants. Now it's "under 22".

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has changed the definition of the age of dependants from “under 19” to “under 22”. This new rule will help more applicants and their families stay together. This change applies to all new applications received by IRCC on October 24, 2017 or after.

The Government has introduced a Public Policy that would allow for the addition or sponsorship of some children whose parents had existing applications in process on May 3, 2017, or who have applied since that time.

We suggest all permanent residence applicants, who wish to add or sponsor a child under the public policy, to check IRCC Web Tool to see if their child qualifies. If you have any questions about these new changes please contact us.

Important Changes to the Citizenship Act take effect as of October 11, 2017

The expected changes that will affect many permanent residents in Canada will take effect as of October 11, 2017. After this date, to be illegible to apply for citizenship applicants must be physically present in Canada for three out of five years before applying for citizenship. For more information please visit the Backgrounder Page from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.