Sponsor Your Spouse or Common-Law Partner Inside Canada

Lopa is a Canadian citizen who met Suhana two years ago at a party. It was love at first glance. Of course, Suhana was an international student in Canada then. Soon after a few dates, Suhana and Lopa moved in together. Consequently, they have been living together for almost nineteen months. Suhana’s study permit will expire soon. However, she intends to live with Lopa in Canada for the rest of her life. Lopa has a mutual feeling. Therefore, she wants to sponsor Suhana as her common-law partner. However, she wonders how to sponsor a spouse or common-law partner inside Canada. Lopa doesn’t want to stay away from Suhana while waiting to process their application. 

The sponsorship process allows families to reunite in Canada. Of course, spousal sponsorship is not available to everyone. Here, we explore different aspects of sponsorship while your spouse lives in Canada. In this article:

Who is an eligible sponsor?

If you intend to sponsor your spouse from inside Canada, you need to (practitioners see R130 & R131):

• be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada
• be at least 18 years old
• reside in Canada 
• file the sponsorship application with a complete set of documents and forms
• accept the undertaking obligations
• not be the subject of a removal order
• Have no criminal convictions inside or inside Canada in the following areas:
  • bodily harm toward current or former family members (domestic violence)
  • sexual abuse
  • significant violence (exceptions apply)
• debt free to the federal government of Canada
• not being an undischarged bankrupt
• not in receipt of social assistance unless because of disability
• not under a five-year ban
• not under an undertaking ban

You must meet all these requirements, or you may not sponsor your spouse or common-law partner who resides in Canada. Of course, sometimes you could request approval based on Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds.

Residing in Canada

If you intend to sponsor your spouse inside Canada, you must reside inside Canada. Of course, you may travel outside Canada. However, keep the durations short to avoid disrupting your residency.

As a Canadian citizen, you could conclude that you have the right to reside outside Canada under subsection 130(2) of IRPR. However, this is not an option for inside-Canada applications for the following reasons:

• One of the requirements of inside Canada applications is that the applicant (i.e. your spouse or common-law partner) lives with you in Canada (practitioners see R124(a))
• The officer could question the application’s genuineness if you reside outside Canada while the applicant is in Canada.

Undertaking

When you sponsor your spouse to Canada, you agree to a three-year undertaking. The undertaking begins when your spouse or common-law partner becomes a permanent resident. Within those three years, they may not use social assistance. Of course, if they do, you will have to pay the government back. Unfortunately, a divorce or separation does not spare you from undertaking obligations.

If your spouse has a child, you must extend the undertaking to the child. The duration of the undertaking for children is a bit confusing, and it depends on the age of the child at the time of becoming a permanent resident (practitioners see R132(1)(b)(ii) and (iii)).

• under 15 at the time of PR: for ten years from becoming a PR
• between 15 and 22 at the time of PR: by the time they become 25
• Twenty-two or more at the time of PR: for three years from becoming a PR

Criminal convictions

You may not sponsor your spouse from inside Canada if you have certain criminal convictions. Generally speaking, the criminal convictions that could affect you include domestic violence, sexual abuse and significant violence toward others. However, in certain circumstances, IRCC may spare you. For example, receiving a record suspension in Canada could help. If the offence was outside Canada and five years have passed since you completed your sentence, they could spare you. Please consult with a professional to make sure the exemptions apply to you.

Bankruptcy

If you file for bankruptcy, you may not sponsor your spouse from inside Canada. However, if you are a discharged bankrupt, then you may proceed. A discharged bankrupt is someone free from paying any debts they had when filing for bankruptcy. Of course, some exceptions apply. The government of Canada has some guidelines to explain this issue. Regardless, I recommend discussing the matter with a bankruptcy professional to ensure you are discharged bankrupt.

Social assistance

You may not sponsor your spouse from inside Canada if you are receiving social assistance. Section 2 of the Immigration Regulations defines social aid as follows:

Social assistance means any benefit in the form of money, goods or services provided to or on behalf of a person by a province under a program of social assistance, including a program of social assistance designated by a province to provide for basic requirements including food, shelter, clothing, fuel, utilities, household supplies, personal requirements and health care not provided by public health care, including dental care and eye care.

Regardless of the preceding paragraph, receiving social assistance because of disability does not affect your application.

Five-year ban

Imagine someone sponsors you to Canada as a spouse or common-law partner. Upon a successful process, you become a permanent resident of Canada. Now, imagine your relationship falls apart. In this situation, if you fall in love with someone else from inside Canada, you may not sponsor them to Canada for five years from the day you landed. Of course, this restriction only applies to those who immigrated to Canada as a sponsored spouse or common-law partner.

Undertaking-ban

If you have already sponsored a spouse or common-law partner to Canada, you may not sponsor another spouse or common-law partner while the current undertaking duration is not over. Consequently, if your previous spouse landed in Canada less than three years ago, you may sponsor the new spouse only when at least three years of the prior spouse’s landing has passed. Regardless, you must divorce the previous spouse and meet all other sponsorship requirements.

Who is an eligible applicant?

You are an eligible applicant in the process of sponsoring spouses from inside Canada if you meet all the following requirements:

• Being a spouse or a common-law partner of the sponsor
• Co-habit with the sponsor inside Canada
• Have a temporary resident status inside Canada (exemptions apply)
• At the time of application, you are at least 18 years old.
• You are admissible to Canada.
• If you are a spouse, none of the following situations apply to you (not applicable to common-law partners – practitioners see R125):
  • At the time of marriage with the sponsor, either you or the sponsor were another person’s spouse.
  • You have been away from the sponsor for more than one year, and either of you is now in the common-law or conjugal partnership with another person.
  • At the time of the marriage ceremony, one or both of you were physically absent (exceptions apply)
• None of the following applies to you:
  • When the sponsor was immigrating to Canada, you were spouses, common-law partners or conjugal partners. However, you broke the relationship to allow the sponsor to qualify for immigration to Canada. When the sponsor landed in Canada, you restarted the relationship to initiate the sponsorship application (practitioners see R4.1).
  • When the sponsor immigrated to Canada, you were a non-accompanying family member. Nonetheless, the immigration authorities did not examine you. For example, you refused to give a medical examination (practitioners see R117(9)(d)). Of course, if the officer deliberately decided not to examine you, this prohibition won’t affect you.
  • Bad faith, meaning:
    • You entered the relationship primarily to become a permanent resident of Canada or
    • Your marriage is not genuine.

Definition of a spouse and common-law partner

If you are not familiar with these concepts, read one of the following articles:

• Definition of Spouse for Sponsorship to Canada
• Definition of a Family Member for Immigration to Canada

Please note that for inside Canada applications, only spouses or common-law partners may apply. This option is not available to conjugal partners. Consequently, despite co-habiting in Canada, conjugal partners must apply to an outside Canada case.

Co-habit with the sponsor in Canada

Co-habitation is necessary for Canada’s spousal sponsorship applications (practitioners see R124(a)). You and your sponsor must show you live together under the same roof in Canada. Of course, IRCC expects you to provide a few documents to attest to that. For example, consider:

• A joint lease agreement or property ownership
• Government-issued records with the same addresses (e.g. driver’s licences or provincial I.D. cards)
• Utility bills showing both names on the bill
• Other bills or documents that show similar addresses for both of you

Of course, this list is neither inclusive nor exclusive. However, you must show at least two sets of convincing documents.

Absence from the marriage ceremony

This prohibition applies to spouses only. If you are immigrating as a sponsored spouse from inside Canada, you must show presence at the marriage ceremony. Consequently, IRCC does not accept remote marriages or marriages by proxy. Of course, some Canadian Armed Force members are exempt from this rule. However, even for that group, their marriage must be valid both under the local laws and the Canadian law (practitioners see R117(9)(c.1)). If you are common-law partners, then this requirement does not apply to you.

Bad faith

There is no doubt that in any spousal sponsorship application from inside Canada, the applicant thinks about the privileges of becoming a permanent resident of Canada. However, if the marriage’s primary reason is getting a Canadian status, you have committed Bad Faith (practitioners see R4(1)). Moreover, if the marriage is not genuine, the officer will refuse the application on the ground of Bad Faith. Consequently, you must present several documents to prevent refusal due to this issue. For example,

• Photos of you on different occasions
• Financial transactions between both of you
• Email exchanges, chat history, phone call history, etc.
• Having a child that you are both the biological parents or adopted
• Documents showing your wedding reception or ceremony, and so on
• Letters from friends and family members supporting your genuine relationship
• Financial dependency documents such as joint bank accounts, property ownership and collective investments
• Showing trust in each other such as mentioning the other person as your beneficiary in your will or life insurance
• Co-habitation documents such as joint property lease agreements or similar addresses on bills or government-issued documents

Of course, this list is neither inclusive nor exclusive. Just use it as a guideline. Your immigration practitioner will advise you on how to prepare your package based on your circumstance.

Admissibility of the spouse (the applicant)

If the applicant is inadmissible to Canada, they may not immigrate. They will even lose their ability to stay in Canada as a temporary resident. Visit the following links for more information:

• Who is Inadmissible to Canada? – Who May Not Visit or Immigrate to Canada?
• Medical Inadmissibility to Canada

Regardless, the spouses are not inadmissible due to excessive demand.

Family members of the applicant

If your spouse has dependent children, you may also include them in the application. However, they need to meet the definition of a dependent child. Read the following article for more information.

• Definition of a Family Member for Immigration to Canada

If the applicant’s child has a dependent child, you may also include them in the application. However, in this situation, the sponsor must meet the minimum necessary income, which is equivalent to a 12-month LICO.

Work permit application

For inside Canada spouse or common-law sponsorship applications, you may request a work permit for the applicant. Book a consultation session if you are interested in this option.

The application process to sponsor your spouse who is in Canada

If you are sponsoring your spouse who is inside Canada, follow these steps (the exact steps could vary due to your circumstances):

1. Collect all the documents and fill out all the forms
2. Pay the government fees (subject to change):
   • Processing fee: $85 for the sponsor +$545 for the applicant = $630
   • Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF): $575
   • Biometrics fee: $85 (if your spouse has a child who is over 14, then $170)
   • Processing fee for every dependent child of the applicant: $175
3. Submit the complete package via the PR Portal.
4. An immigration officer reviews the application for completeness and approval of the sponsor.
5. If they approve the sponsor, they will continue processing to approve the applicant. At this stage, they will also request a medical examination from the applicant.
6. The immigration officer may request supplementary documents. They may even interview the applicant or the sponsor or both.
7. If they approve the applicant, they may become a permanent resident of Canada via the virtual landing process.

The right to appeal

Generally speaking, you do not have the right to appeal for in-Canada class applications. However, you may file for a Judicial Review. Contact an immigration lawyer to assist you with the process. Alternatively, you may apply again.

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