A Dependent Child Must be 21 and Below to Be Sponsored

The age of sponsoring dependent children has been changed. According to the IRCC, who confirmed this change on their website in early May this year, children under the age of 22 are now qualified to be sponsored as dependents of a permanent resident or citizen of Canada. Previously, the IRCC only allowed children under the age of 19 to qualify as dependents. This regulation was criticized for being too restrictive and it was about time changes were made to unite more families in Canada. Sponsored children must not be married or in a common-law relationship.

When will this be effected?

This new age limit is only going to apply for those applications that will be submitted from October 24th. Any applications submitted between August 1, 2014 and October 23, 2017 will not be considered when applying this new rule. The IRCC explained that making these changes in a non-retroactive manner will help to avoid delays in processing applications. Since the immigration department already has to deal with thousands of applications for various immigration programs, they will continue to apply the current definition to those who have already submitted their request to sponsor a dependent child.

The government’s initiative to reunite families in Canada

This is not the first time for the maximum age for sponsoring dependent children to be set to under 22 years. In fact, before the previous government lowered the maximum age in August 2014, children who were under 22 years could still be sponsored as dependents. The current government has declared its commitment to reuniting families in Canada. It’s perhaps why they made this important step to increase the maximum age for dependent children in family sponsorship programs. It is going to be a key factor that helps keep families together. The government clearly stated that when families are kept intact as an economic household unit their ability to become more productive in order to improve their communities is increased.

Previously, individuals aged 19 to 21 years who were pursuing post-secondary education could hardly join their parents in Canada to further their studies. But this new rule will allow these young individuals to be sponsored by their parents and join their families in Canada where they can continue pursuing a professional future.

Most individuals ages 19 to 21 were unable to qualify for permanent resident status under the Canadian economic immigration programs. Although the age set to apply for permanent residency under the economic immigration programs is 18, many young people aged 19 to 21 do not have the work experience or education background to qualify for this application. Most of them were denied visas, let alone permanent resident cards due to their inability to find gainful employment or show they are able to provide for themselves economically once they are admitted into Canada. This proposed change will really have a significant effect in reuniting a large group of these young individuals aged 19 to 21 with their families.