2020 has arrived and with it, a parents and grandparents sponsorship program. It has not been launched yet, however, if the government puts limitation in number of the applications intake, the time for submission of your application will be limited as well. Last year, our office had just 15 minutes of open window opportunity to submit our clients’ applications. We managed to submit all of our applicants’ packages, but it happened only because we were prepared and the application packages were complete.
Before the application of children who want to sponsor their parents is accepted by the government, they have to file an “application of interest” (the same system works for federal class workers, by the way).
So, what information should you prepare in advance, if you intend to sponsor your parents or grandparents?
The sponsors are encouraged to prepare this list:
- You legal name as it appears on your identity document, whether it is your permanent residence card or Canadian passport;
- Your date and place of birth;
- Your primary residential address. Please note that you have proof of your address you live in as later on you will be submitting appropriate documents;
- Your email address;
- The family size (your immediate family members including yourself: family members for this purpose are you, your spouse, common-law partner, and all dependent children age 25 and younger (please note that if your children are 18 years of age and over, they are considered to be your dependents only if they study full time at colleges and/or universities since the age of 18);
- Your parents/grandparents information (only those whom you intend to sponsor) and their dependants (the initial information needed is their legal names and birth days);
- Proof of your immigration status in Canada (permanent residence card or Canadian passport);
- The information related to your income.
You have to check whether or not your income is enough to be a sponsor for your parents/grandparents. There is a table for minimum income required for sponsoring your parents/ grandparents and you should keep in mind that you have to have that minimum income for the 3 taxation years right before applying to sponsor.
We encourage all potential clients to take an eligibility test for both parties, sponsors and sponsored persons before applying with the interest to sponsor.
A little tip on how to calculate your financial eligibility: For example, your family in Canada consist of you, your wife and two children age 12 and 14 and you want to sponsor both of your parents (or a parent and their spouse). Your family, for the purpose of calculating your minimum income necessary to sponsor your parents will be 6 persons. For 6 persons, you will need to have $77,095 income for 2018, $76,015 for 2017, $75,174 for 2016 and $73,733 for 2015. If your personal income is lower, you can have your spouse or common-law partner co-sign your sponsorship application.