How long does it take to sponsor a spouse to Canada?

Being one of the most favorable countries in the world for immigration, every year Canada receives applications in bulk for its different immigration categories. Applications for spousal sponsorship are one of them.

Spousal sponsorship allows a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to sponsor his/her partner for permanent residency in Canada.

In general, a spouse is a broad term in relation to the Canadian immigration process. It includes three kinds of partnership:

·        Marital relationship:

In a marital relationship, the partner of a sponsor is either a wife or husband. He/she legally married to sponsor and has gone through a completely legal process in the native country or Canada. Marriage certificate along with some photographs of marriage is necessary for verification and evaluation of applications.

·        Common-law partnership:

In the common-law partnership, sponsor and his/her partner must have been living together continuously for a minimum of one year. Documents like:

• Joint bank account statement; or,
• Credit card statement involving the activity of both partners; or,
• A the salutatory declaration signed from both partners and stating that the relationship between them is true and genuine; or,
• Renting the lease on the name of both partners; or,
• Pictures of dates or trips, conversations, phone call logs and more are required to prove the status of the relationship

·        Conjugal partner relationship:

In conjugal partner relationship, sponsor and his/her partner have been in a marriage-like relationship. However, due to circumstances like immigration barrier, marital status, and more which are beyond the control of both partners, they have not allowed living together continuously for one year. Here, it is difficult to judge the relationship so require a strong reason which is not merely based on convenience.

So if you qualify the following list of eligibility, then you can sponsor your spouse for Canadian permanent residence.

Eligibility of a sponsor:

• A sponsor must be at least 18 years old and:
• Canadian citizen or,
• A person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act or
• A permanent resident of Canada
• He/she must not be bankrupt or charged with any debt or offense
• He/she must not sponsor as a spouse in the past five years
• He/she is able to meet the basic requirements of his/her sponsored partner after immigration to Canada
• He/she must pay immigration bond, performance bond, and family support payments on the scheduled timeline
• He/she must not receive any social benefit for a reason other than a disability
• He/she must not charge in any sexual offense
• He/she must not be in a penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison

Length of the process for spousal sponsorship:

It takes nearly 12 months in getting final approval on the application for a spousal sponsorship. Remember, it’s a general idea as there are many factors due to which applicant need to wait longer for immigrating to Canada.

Some of the most popular reasons for the delay in processing time are:

·         Incomplete documentation:

As stated earlier, the Canadian government requires documents to verify the eligibility and status of the relationship between the sponsor and his/her sponsored partner. So if the given information and documents are not complete or contain errors, or copies are difficult to read, then it may delay the processing time of applications, and in worst scenarios, it may become the reason of rejection too.

·         A large volume of applications:

Sometimes when the government receives a large volume of applications for spousal sponsorship, then it increases the processing time of applications.

·         Non-payment of fees:

If the candidate fails to pay fees on time, then it may add days or weeks in the processing time of his/her application for a spousal sponsorship.

How can you ensure your application for Spousal Sponsorship gets processed as quickly as possible?

It is worth noting here that it is always in your best interest to have the support from an experienced immigration consultancy through the process. Countrywide visas is one of the fastest growing Immigration consultancies with a large, devoted team of Immigration experts offer 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.