Canada Family Class Visa

In Canada Immigration visas for permanent residence allow a permanent Canadian resident to sponsor one of their relatives allowing them to migrate to Canada without the need for a Canadian work permit or to undergo an assessment against a points scheme as with Canadian business visas or the skilled worker class.

As a Canadian immigration consultant Indya Pulse can help you to assess whether or not you qualify under this route. If you choose to relocate to Canada, immigration consultants at Global Visas can offer a complete package of guidance and services throughout the process. We provide much more than simply a Canadian visa service, taking care of everything you will need for your move to Canada, immigration lawyer expertise, detailed information on the processes of immigration and more.

To apply for a Canadian visa for immigration of this kind the sponsoring permanent residency holder or Canadian citizen must be over eighteen years of age. They must also be currently living in Canada and willing to sponsor the family member who wishes to obtain a permanent resident status for a period of between 3 and 10 years, allowing them to establish themselves in the country. After three years in the country permanent residents may apply for Canadian citizenship themselves.

Benefits

Relocating to Canada via an application for a family visa allows relatives to seek employment without any restriction. Unlike a Canadian work permit application no specific offer of employment is required by the Canada immigration service for an immigrant to begin working. In addition, whilst business visas impose points based assessments upon applicants, Canadian family visas do not. Skills based routes such as the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme or HSMP in the UK and Canadian immigration services such as the Canadian skilled worker visa require a minimum points threshold to be reached. No such requirement is imposed upon sponsored relatives.

Canada visa applications for family immigration, unlike Canadian visit visas, often known as tourist visas for Canada, provide a route to permanent residency. Canada visas of this class mean that the need for work permits is bypassed and that candidates, once accepted, may work freely upon arrival.

This type of Canadian visa service allows for spouse immigration and fiancé immigration as well as permitting your common law or conjugal partner to join you. It also offers a route to Canadian immigration for the categories below:

• Dependent children, including adopted children.

• Children less than 18 years of age whom you intend to adopt.

• A Brother, Sister, Nephew, Niece or Grandchildren who are orphans, under the age of 18 and who are not married or in a common-law relationship.

• Parents or grandparents.

• Relatives of any age providing that you do not already have an aunt, uncle or family member featured on the list above who you could sponsor or who is already a Canadian citizen, Indian or permanent resident.

For this route to immigration, dependant children are defined as:

• Under 22 and without a spouse or common-law partner

• A full-time student (studies must have begun before the age of 22) and dependent on a parent for financial support.

• Financially dependent on a parent since before the age of 22 due to a disability.

The Canada immigration service will also allow you to sponsor your spouse or common law partner if they already live and work in Canada with you. Sponsorship in this case includes their dependant children whether they are currently within or outside the country.

Eligibility Criteria

Applying for a Canadian visa of this class requires that sponsorship and immigration to Canada applications must be submitted before the relative being sponsored can immigrate to Canada. As a sponsor you may be expected to meet some income requirements. In addition if you have previously agreed to sponsor a relative seeking permanent residence in Canada for a period of time who later received social assistance, you may not be permitted to sponsor relatives in the future.

In all provinces except Quebec the procedure entails the sponsor signing an undertaking with the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Both the sponsor and the sponsored relative will also be required to sign a sponsorship agreement. In Quebec this agreement will be signed with province of Quebec. This province also contributes an extra level of assessment to the process of deciding whether or not its residents are eligible to sponsor a relative.

Sponsorship Agreement 

A sponsorship agreement outlines the obligations of both the sponsor and the relative who is migrating to Canada. The former must agree to support the latter for the agreed period of time thus ensuring that they do not need to receive social assistance. The person being sponsored must undertake to make certain that they become self supporting, except in cases where the relative is elderly.