Family Visa Canada
Family class immigration to Canada allows the souse or partner, or immediate family relatives of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to immigrate to Canada on a permanent basis with the freedom to live and work in Canada as they choose. Family class immigration requires the candidate to have a sponsoring relative in Canada and the categories of relative who may enter the country on a family-based Canadian visa will depend upon the status of the sponsor as a citizen or permanent resident.
Start Your Free Visa Assessment
To find out more about becoming a sponsor or to take the first step towards your visa Canada application, contact Global Visas today or complete one of our online assessment forms.
Canadian Family Class Immigration – Benefits
The key benefit of Canadian family visas is that – unlike other Canadian visa options – no job offer is required, no points based skills assessment as employed in the skilled migrant visa needs to be undertaken and no business experience or investment is required. Family class immigration to Canada depends upon the relationship between the applicant and their sponsor and the sponsor’s ability to take financial responsibility for the applicant for an agreed period.
Immigrating to Canada through a family-based visa service is intended as a route to permanent residency. It is anticipated that relatives relocating to join their family members in Canada will be immigrating on a permanent basis and as such, family immigration routes lead to permanent residency and the right to begin living and working in Canada. As permanent residents, family visa applicants will be granted many of the rights enjoyed by Canadian citizens and once the minimum residency requirement of three years has been met they may be able to apply for Canadian citizenship themselves.
Who qualifies to Immigrate to Canada through a Sponsor Visa?
Canadian family visas allow several categories of relative to migrate to Canada; the spouse, common-law or conjugal partner of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident may relocate to Canada in this way and in addition, the following blood relatives may also qualify.
- Dependent children, including adopted children may apply for family class immigration if they are under the age of 22 and do not have a spouse or common-law partner. Children under the age of 18 who the sponsor will be adopting may also apply.
- A brother or sister, grandchild, niece or nephew who is an orphan, under the age of 18 and unmarried may apply. Parents and Grandparents may also submit an application.
- Other relatives may also be sponsored regardless of age so long the sponsor does not have an aunt or uncle, or another family member in one of the categories outlined above who they could sponsor who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
Canadian Family Visas – Sponsorship Requirements
Canadian family class immigration places responsibilities on the sponsor who must firstly be related to the applicant in a qualifying category and secondly, must be able to commit to sponsoring the applicant once in Canada. All sponsors must be over the age of 18 and must sign a sponsorship agreement whereby they commit to taking financial responsibility for their relative for between 3 and 10 years.
The sponsor will be required to meet a series of income based requirements and crucially they may be disqualified if at any time they have sponsored a family member who once in Canada became dependent upon state benefits. It is essential that the candidate has sufficient financial stability to support the candidate until they have become self sufficient or successfully applied to become a Canadian citizen.
With the exception of Quebec, all sponsors must sign an undertaking with the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and both sponsor and applicant will need to sign a mutual agreement which sets out the responsibilities of each party. Whilst the sponsor must undertake to support the applicant financially until such time as he or she becomes self sufficient, the applicant in turn must commit to becoming self supporting as soon as they are able to. The only exception to this is in the case of elderly relatives.
Get your Canadian visa application underway today by visiting the Global Visas online assessment tool. Just answer a few straightforward questions and a Global Visas consultant will contact you directly.
