A Canadian citizen or permanent resident may be eligible to sponsor their family members through the Family Sponsorship program. We are about to delve deeper into the steps involved when it comes to applying for a family visa or a PR visa. From how you can sponsor them to how they can apply for permanent residency, we have covered each step in detail.

By the end of the blog, you will be able to apply for family visas for:

Parents and Grandparents
Spouse or Partner and Dependent Child

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Family Visa Application Process – Parents and Grandparents

To sponsor your parents, you need to receive an invitation first. If you haven’t been invited, you cannot sponsor your parents or grandparents. Every year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) selects a certain number of potential sponsors and sends them invitations to apply for sponsorship.

For 2024, the intake will begin starting 21st may 2024 and last for the next 2 weeks. These invitations will be sent to those who applied to receive an invitation in 2020. About 35,700 invitations will be sent. Once the yearly intake is closed, the sponsors need to wait for it to open again the upcoming year.

Follow these steps to sponsor your parents and grandparents so they can live anywhere in Canada (except for Quebec):

STEP 1 – Receive an ITA

You must be invited to apply to sponsor your parents and grandparents.if someone applies without an invitation, IRCC returns their application.

STEP 2 – Create an Account on the PR portal

Once you are invited, either create an account on the Permanent Resident (PR) Portal or sign in if you have already registered. Through this account, the person being sponsored will submit their permanent residency and the sponsorship application at the same time.

STEP 3 – Fill the Forms

There will be two kinds of forms, one for the person filing out the sponsorship form and the other for the sponsee’s PR application.

For the Sponsor	For the Sponsee
Financial Evaluation for Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship	Generic Application Form for Canada
Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking	Schedule A – Background/Declaration
If required:Income Sources for the Sponsorship of Parents and Grandparents Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union	Additional Family Information
	Supplementary Information – Your Travels
	If required: Statutory Declaration of Severance of a Common-Law UnionStatutory Declaration of Common-Law Union Details of Military Service Details of Police Service Details of Government Employment

During this step, the sponsee will also upload their photo and their family members’ photograph. If they are being sponsored by a Canadian citizen, the citizen will have to prove their citizenship status.

STEP 4 – Pay the Fee

The Canada PR or citizen sponsoring their parents or grandparents will pay the CAN$1,205 fee. This fee is made of sponsorship fee, right of permanent residence fee, and application processing fee. Along with this, they might need to pay biometric fees, police clearance certificate (PCC) fee, and medical exam fee.

STEP 5 – Submit the Application

When the sponsee has completed the PR application, they must send it along with the sponsorship application. These applications cannot be sent separately. It is imperative that the PR application is completed before submitting. This is because IRCC rejects/refuses incomplete applications.

STEP 6 – Send Other Information

While the IRCC processes your application, it may ask the sponsee to provide additional information, such as sending biometric information, uploading PCC, etc.

STEP 7 – Receive the Decision

Once your application is approved, IRCC will ask to send the parents and grandparents passport, a photo and other documents. Once it’s done, the sponsee will receive a COPR and a PR visa using which they can come to Canada.

Application Process for Spouse/Partner & Dependent Children

You can easily get your spouse or common-law partner or dependent children a family visa. Follow the below steps for the same:

STEP 1 – Apply to Sponsor

You must be eligible to sponsor your family member before filing out the sponsorship application. Once you are done completing the forms, you and the sponsee must sign them digitally.

STEP 2 – Apply for PR

The sponsee can upload the sponsorship application with their PR application and digitally sign the whole application. While applying for PR, the sponsee will have to upload some documents and fill out the below forms:

Generic Application Form for Canada
Schedule A – Background/Declaration
Additional Family Information
Supplementary Information – Your Travels

With the forms, each person mentioned on the PR application will have to provide 1 photo of themselves.

STEP 3 – Pay the Fee

The person sponsoring will pay these fee for the sponsee:

Application processing
Right of permanent residence
Biometrics
PCC
Medical exam

STEP 4 – Submit the application

Once the sponsee makes sure that they have completed the whole application properly and signed all the forms, they can submit the PR application.

STEP 5 – If the Application is Approved

If IRCC approves the sponsorship and PR application, it will send the COPR to the online account of the sponsee and may issue a PR visa too. When the sponsee arrives in Canada, they will meet with a border services officer and show them the COPR, passport, and other required documents.

Family Visa fee for Canada from India

The sponsor will be paying for the sponsee’s application, right of permanent residence, biometrics, and other required fees as well.

You will be sponsoring	Fees
Adopted Children and Other Relatives
Relatives (22 years and older)	$1,205
Relative (below 22 years and not your dependent child)	$745
Dependant / Adopted child or Orphaned Relative	$170
Relative’s spouse and partner	$1,210
Parents and Grandparents
Parents and Grandparents	$1,205
Including the spouse or partner of the Parent or Grandparent	$1,210
Including the dependent child of a Parent or Grandparent	$175
Spouse/Partner/Child
Spouse/ Partner (abroad)	$1,205
Dependent Child (abroad)	$175
Independently sponsor a dependent child (abroad)	$170
Dependent Child (in Canada)	$175
Spouse/ Partner (in Canada)	$1,205