Canada To Re-open Parents And Grandparents Immigration Program October 13
Canadians will soon be allowed to apply to sponsor their parents and grandparents to immigrate to Canada.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says that it will accept interest to sponsor forms for the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) between 12:00 p.m. EDT on October 13 and 12:00 p.m. EDT on Nov.3.
These are not applications for the Parents and Grandparents Program itself, but rather, are an opportunity for Canadians to express their interest in sponsoring their family members for Canadian permanent residence.
Canada’s immigration department will then randomly choose potential sponsors and send them an invitation to submit an application. Selected applicants will have up to sixty (60) days to lodge their completed sponsorship applications.
IRCC will accept approximately 10,000 applications this year. It will open a new intake of interest to sponsor the process in 2021 to receive a total of 30,000 new applications.
IRCC is also launching a temporary public policy that will reduce the income requirements for the 2020 tax year to the minimum necessary income, rather than the minimum necessary income plus thirty (30) percent. This is to welcome those who have been negatively affected financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Registration opening was supposed to take place earlier this year but was delayed due to the pandemic.
IRCC aimed to welcome 21,000 newcomers through the parents’ and grandparent’s immigration program this year, as per meeting the department’s immigration levels targets.
The targets were announced a few days before Canada imposed coronavirus travel restrictions in March. Since then, Canada’s immigration levels have significantly dropped.
How Will The 2020 PGP Intake Process Work?
Step 1: Potential sponsors show their interest
IRCC will post the interest to sponsor form on its website for three (3) weeks between October 13 at 12 PM EDT and Nov. 3 2020 until 12 PM EDT.
People with disabilities can also submit a paper copy, Braille, and large print interest to sponsor form to the immigration department upon request.
They can contact IRCC at 1-888-242-2100 or email the following address until Nov. 3rd: [email protected]
A random selection process will be adopted to ensure the process is fair and just all interested sponsors have an equal opportunity to lodge an interest to sponsor form and a chance of being invited to apply.
Step 2: Invitation to apply will be sent to potential sponsors
IRCC will remove duplicate entries, review all submissions, and randomize the forms.
It will have one round of invitation to apply in 2020, with a maximum of about 10,000 applications accepted for processing. Invitations sent out by IRCC are non-transferable.
Step 3: Applications are submitted
Potential sponsors who receive an invitation to apply will have Sixty (60) days to lodge their completed application.
Who Is Qualified To Sponsor A family Through PGP?
Canadians, permanent residents, and registered First Nation are able to sponsor their own parents or grandparents, according to the IRCC’s webpage.
Sponsors must be at least eighteen (18) years old, settling in Canada, and they must have sufficient money to support the people who they want to sponsor.
Eligibility requirements differ for sponsors living in Quebec province. People in the rest of Canada need to have good financial means to support sponsored family members for twenty (20) years starting when they become permanent residents. In Quebec province, it is ten (10) years and the province also assesses sponsor income.
In either case, sponsors must sign an undertaking with the federal government meaning that they will cater for the basic needs of the family member being sponsored and that the sponsored person will make all effort to support themselves.
Who can be sponsored?
The biological or adopted parents and grandparents of eligible Canadians are qualified for sponsorship, as well as step-parents in cases of separation or divorce. Brothers, sisters, and half-siblings are only qualified to be sponsored if they are dependent children under age twenty-two (22).
If applicants want to sponsor more than one person, they have to meet all the income criteria for everyone on the application and their dependant.
Sponsored family members will also need to provide all the important documents for the application and any additional information such as police certificates, medical exams, and biometrics.
The Parents and Grandparents Program is not for Canadians to sponsor their their spouse’s parents, grandparents, in-laws, though they may be a co-signer on their in-laws’ applications. Parents and grandparents who are inadmissible to Canada are also not eligible for sponsorship.
