English: https://emigratecanada.com/can-i-sponsor-my-spouse-or-partner-for-canadian-immigration/

Espanol: https://emigratecanada.com/can-i-sponsor-my-spouse-or-partner-for-canadian-immigration/

Today we answer the question. Can I sponsor my spouse or partner for Canadian immigration? The answer is quite possibly "Yes". Because bringing families together, reuniting families is one of the main aims of Canada's entire immigration system. So here is how you can sponsor your loved one for Canadian permanent residency status.

First up, who can actually sponsor? Who can who can actually act as the sponsor to bring people into Canada? Well, Canadian citizens obviously, but also permanent residents may sponsor their spouse, common law partner, or indeed boyfriend or girlfriend to obtain Canadian permanent residency. And it goes without saying that the Department of Immigration in Canada IRCC does recognize or same sex relationships the same way as heterosexual relationships.

So next up, most people say to me, "Hey, Monty, what's the eligibility criteria for sponsors?" Well, the eligibility criteria to sponsor your spouse, common law partner, boyfriend girlfriend, is as follows:

Quite simply, you must be 18 years old, you must either be a Canadian citizen, a Canadian permanent resident, you must be able to show that you can meet the financial needs of your sponsee or your loved one in Canada.

You must demonstrate that you're not receiving social benefits or social assistance unless of course it's a disability benefit or disability assistance. If you're a Canadian citizen currently living overseas or abroad, not in Canada, you need to demonstrate that you intend to live in Canada with your partner as soon as they gain permanent residency.

Permanent Residents looking to sponsor must actually reside in Canada at the time of submitting this sponsorship application. If you're a Canadian citizen, you could be based abroad when you make the application.

Other questions I get are, "Monty, who can you actually sponsor?" And again, the answer is relatively straightforward. Sponsored individuals obviously have to be 18 years old, but fall into one of the following categories:

They must either be your common law partner (not legally married to you, but they have been living with you for at least 12 consecutive months). They must either be your spouse or your conjugal partner (that your partner is not legally married to you but has been in a relationship with you for at least a year lives outside of Canada, but unable to marry you due to religious, legal or some other cultural obstacles).

So how then does one submit a sponsorship application to the IRCC? Well, you need to submit two applications, the sponsorship application and a permanent residency application.

And interestingly, the IRCC asks you to submit both of these applications together at the same time. So step one, is confirm you meet the eligibility criteria to sponsor and for a real breakdown of that eligibility criteria. Head over to EmigrateCanada.com for more information.

Step two is to download the application package directly from the IRCCs website. And again, EmigrateCanada.com has the direct link through there to the website. You must pay all of the fee