New Pilot For Family Members Previously Excluded From Canada Now In Effect

A new pilot has been announced, one that will enable sponsorship applications for certain family members previously excluded or denied from securing permanent residence under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Authority (IRCC).

The new policy concerns non-accompanying family members who were not declared when an applicant  or for citizen applied for permanent residence or was not examined, which usually results in a perpetual or lifetime ban from sponsoring the family members in question under paragraphs 117(9)(d) and 125(1)(d) of the immigration regulations.

These regulations requires that foreign citizens filing for permanent residence declare all their family members (common-law partner, spouse, dependent children, etc) and have them scrutinize or examined by an immigration official even if they are not travelling along with the principal applicant to Canada.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) say these immigration rules are in place “to encourage complete disclosure by immigration applicants, to improve and strengthen the overall integrity process of Family Class immigration, and to protect the health, safety and security of the Canadians people.”

However, noting concerns for the “disproportionate impact” of this lifetime ban on certain family members, children, in particular, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen, had declared a two-year pilot for qualified family members through a Public Policy earlier this year.

The new pilot will facilitate the immigration process to Canada for the “most vulnerable populations” affected by the ban who meet the following criteria:

• the foreign citizen must have applied as a common-law partner or as a spouse in the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class or as a dependent child, spouse, common-law partner under the Family Class.
• the foreigner must have a sponsor who: applied for and was granted Canadian permanent residence status as a Convention refugee or a person in similar circumstances; or was granted permanent residency after being considered a protected person; or was deemed to be a Family Class member and was issued permanent residence as a sponsored spouse, conjugal partner, common-law partner, or dependent child; or was considered to be a member of the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class and was issued Canadian permanent residence as a sponsored spouse, conjugal partner or common-law partner.
• the foreign citizen would not have nullified the eligibility of their sponsor in the class that the sponsor applied for had they been declared and assessed or examined at the time their sponsor moved to Canada.

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) also opined that the pilot does not apply if the sponsor was issued Canadian permanent residence under Canada’s Economic Class or any other immigration streams that are not specified in the above criteria. The new pilot will be active or remain in force from September 9, 2019, to September 9, 2021.