Passports, fee receipts, birth certificates, and a mass amount of forms; there can be a lot to keep track of when you are applying for spousal sponsorship.
On top of all the application intricacies, it can also become a stressful personal situation. Success or failure can have a huge impact on your life, so ensuring everything is prepared correctly before you submit your application is essential to peace of mind throughout the process.
For these reasons among a multitude of others, it is important to refer to a checklist.
If you are in the first stages of your application process, there are some preliminary items on your checklist to take care of:
- Are you eligible to sponsor? In order to meet the requirements, you must:
- Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
- Be 18 or older
- Be prepared to financially support your spouse (and any dependents)
- Not have failed to comply with previous sponsorship agreements
- Not have failed to pay court ordered child support or alimony
- Not have required financial assistance for anything other than disability
- Not have been convicted of or threatened violent or sexual crimes or crimes against family members
- Not have been sponsored to come to Canada within the last five years
- Not be in prison
- Not declared bankruptcy and not be released
If you’ve already compiled most of your application and are getting ready to submit it, these are the things you will want to check:
- Completed all forms for both the sponsor and the applicant. Make sure to keep copies of your completed forms in case you need to refer to what you submitted later.
- Generic Application
- Additional Dependants/Declaration
- Additional Family Information
- Schedule A – Background/Declaration
- ouse/Common-Law Partner Questionnaire
- Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking
- Sponsorship Evaluation (or, sometimes: Financial Evaluation)
- Use of a Representative (if you used one)
- Photocopies of identification and immigration documents for the applicant and for any dependent children. (Passports, visa, birth certificates, custody papers, etc.)
- Police certificates for the applicant and dependent children
- Panel certified medical exam report for the applicant and dependent children
- Proof of the sponsor’s citizenship or permanent residence
- Proof of your marriage and marriage history
- Photographs of the applicant and of any dependent children
- Proof of income from the sponsor, including the last three notices of assessment, Option C printout, a letter from the sponsor’s employer, welfare receipt photocopy, and/or other evidence of income
- Fee receipt for the application fees
The official checklists and requirements that you are required to submit and fulfil differ depending on whether the applicant is applying from within Canada or from outside of Canada.Regardless of how thorough your checklist is, your best chance at a successful application is by consulting with a trusted immigration lawyer. Ensure your approval and connect with a professional today.
