A Quarter Of Canada’s Family Sponsorship Immigrants Arrived From India In 2020

India is the main source of new permanent residents that come to Canada by way of family sponsorship programs. According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), over thirty percent of family sponsorship immigrants arrive from India in 2020.

India maintained the top spot for list of countries throughout the world that provided Canada with new permanent residents through the family sponsorship programs with 17,660 Indians coming to Canada that year in 2019.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic hits throughout the world, India continued to maintain the top spot through the first six months of 2020, the latest period for which stats are available.

Travel bans and international travel restrictions essentially did hamper the arrival of immigrants to Canada last year.

The number of Indians who came to  Canada under family sponsorship programs in the first six months of last year was only 4,140, which is about fifty-seven per cent less than the 9,720 who arrived in the comparable period in 2019.

But India still remains far above and ahead of other countries as a source of newcomers to Canada through these family sponsorship programs.

In the first six months of last year, India provided almost forty-two per cent more new permanent residents to Canada under these programs than did the second-most important source, China, which provided 2,930, and eighty per cent more than the Philippines’ 2,295.

In 2019, India provided twenty per cent of the 91,310 newcomers who arrived Canada via family sponsorship programs.

Until the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in late 2019, India was an increasingly main source of new permanent residents to Canada through family sponsorship programs, increasing steadily and almost doubling from 9,410 in 2015 to 17,660 in 2019.

Family sponsorships, one of the fastest and most common ways to gain Canadian permanent residence, are expected to boom again as international travel restrictions and travel bans are removed later this year.

The family sponsorship class of immigration programs promises to provide interesting opportunities for foreign citizens who wish to make Canada their home.

Under family sponsorship immigrants program, a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada, aged eighteen (18) or more can sponsor some family members to become Canadian permanent residents.

With that permanent residence, those family sponsorship immigrants are able to live, work and study in Canada.

Sponsors Are Financially Responsible For their Relatives

The sponsor takes all financial responsibilities for their relative once he or she comes to Canada.

To become a sponsor, the Canadian citizen or permanent residents have to:

• sign a sponsorship agreements with the individual to be sponsored that commits the sponsor to provide financially.
• support for the relative, if necessary. These agreements also says the relative becoming a permanent resident will make every effort to support him or herself;
• provide financial assistance for a spouse, common-law or partner for three years from the date they become a Canadian permanent resident, and;
• provide financial support for a dependent child for ten (10) years, or until the child turns twenty-five (25), whichever comes first.

Relatives who can be sponsored include:

• spouse – (restriction apply)
• common-law partner – (restriction apply)
• conjugal partner – (restriction apply)
• dependent children
• parents and grandparents – (Additional conditions apply)
• brothers or sisters, nephews or nieces, grandsons or granddaughters who are orphaned, under eighteen (18) years of age and unmarried or in a common-law relationship.
• another relative of any age but only under specific conditions
• accompanying relatives of the above (for instance, spouse, partner and dependent children).

Spouses and partners who come to Canada under the sponsorship programs are allowed to work under the Spousal Work Permit Pilot Program.

Spouses Can Work Under Sponsorship Programs

Canada is making the Spousal Work Permit Pilot a permanent program, so the spouses and common-law partners of Canadian citizens can continue to work while waiting on their Canadian permanent resident status.

In order to qualify for an SWPP, immigration candidates have to meet the following requirements:

• submit a permanent residence application under the Spouse Common-Law Partner Class;
• have a Canadian citizen or permanent resident spouse who has submitted a sponsorship application on their behalf;
• Staying at the same address as their sponsor; and
• have a valid Canadian temporary resident status or an approved application for restoration status with authorization to work in the country.

People applying under the Openwork permit pilot can submit the work permit application at the same time as their application for Canadian permanent residence.

It is also allowed to submit the application for the SWPP separately if applicants have already lodged their application for permanent residence.

If applicants have already gotten approval in principle on their permanent residence application, they can register for the SWPP online.

Approval in principle means the partner or spouse has received a letter from IRCC declaring that they meet the permanent residence eligibility requirements, but they have not yet passed the security, medical, and background checks.

People who already have the Open work permit pilot must apply to extend their permits before they expire.