Spouse & Common Law Sponsorship

Spouse & Common Law Sponsorship

Index

• Intro
• Requirements
• Sponsor Requirements
• Applicant Requirements
• Income Requirements
• Sponsor Documents
• Applicant Documents
• Relationship Documents
• Accompanying Children Documents
• Other Children Documents（still required）
• Q&A

Introduction：

Canadian marriage & cohabitation sponsored immigration is Spouse & Common Law Sponsorship. Refers to the immigration program in which Canadian citizens or permanent residents provide guarantees to immigrate their married spouses or unmarried common-law partners who have lived together for more than one year. The guaranteed person can be of the opposite sex or the same sex. The laws governing cohabitation are different in each province in Canada. Legally speaking, the cohabitation relationship is within the jurisdiction of the province. Therefore, each province has different legal definitions of “cohabitation” and related regulations. In BC, a ruling made on March 18, 2013 gave a new definition to the term “spouse”. As long as the cohabiting partner has lived together for more than two years, their status, rights and responsibilities are the same as that of a married couple.

Requirements：

Canadian citizens or PRs of Canada can sponsor their spouse or marriage partner to immigrate to Canada. The sponsored person does not need academic qualifications, language scores or work experience, and only needs to have sufficient proof of spouse relationship.

You cannot be a sponsor if：

• You cannot pay:
  Immigration loan
  Performance bond;
  Family support costs;

• Unable to pay for living support for the relatives who had previously sponsored (they received social subsidies);
• Receive a departure order;
• Serving a sentence in prison;
• Receiving social subsidies other than disability reasons;
• In the bankruptcy stage, there is bankruptcy debt;
• You were sponsored to become a permanent resident of Canada within five years;
• Sponsored other partners to become permanent residents of Canada within three years;
• Have applied for sponsorship for the current partner and children, but the application result has not yet been obtained;
• There have been incidents of violence, sexual assault or threats that caused relatives to be harmed.

Sponsor Requirements：

• You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident over 18 years old;
• Your marriage or cohabitation relationship must be real;
• If you are a permanent resident, you must live in Canada when you apply; if you are a citizen and do not currently live in Canada, you need to explain that you will return to Canada to settle with him/her after your sponsor obtains the status.
• You must fill in and submit the sponsor letter contract signed with the government;
• Although the law does not have statutory income requirements for sponsors who sponsor spouses without independent children, applications where the guarantor’s income exceeds the cut-off income have a higher chance of approval.
• Sponsor can only have one marriage/common law partner

Applicant Requirements：

• Be the spouse (or common-law partner) of the sponsor and need to prove that the relationship is not for immigration purposes;
• Over 16 years old;
• The body meets the Canadian medical examination requirements;
• Have no criminal record or have reached the exemption period and can pass the security check;
• Applicants can only have one marriage or common law partner

Income Requirements：

Sponsors usually does not have a job or has a low income, which does not affect the application.

The ability to meet the minimum income requirement is mandatory, unless the sponsor is sponsoring a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner or a dependent child where the child has no dependent children of their own. This exception also applies to persons under the age of 18 whom the sponsor intends to adopt in Canada.

Sponsor Documents：

Please note: All non-English certification documents must be translated into English by a legal organization (such as the China Notary Office)

• Copy of both sides of the Canadian PR Card or Citizenship Card.
• A copy of the passport from the first page to the last page.
• If the sponsor and the applicant have a common child, and the child is Canadian, the child’s birth certificate, resident card, or passport is required.
• If the sponsor has an ex-husband/wife, translation and notarization of the divorce certificate is required. If the sponsor’s ex-husband/wife dies, translation and notarization of the death certificate is required.
• Proof of income. The sponsor’s tax returns for the past 5 years NOA, T4, pay stubs, or all documents that can prove your income.
  • If you are not working in Canada, you need to explain your source of income and how to support the applicant’s living expenses in Canada

Applicant Documents：

• Personal identification:

• • A scanned copy of the most recent passport (closest to the date of submission) from the beginning, including customs stamps, visas, signatures and passport pages. If you want to leave the country in the near future, scan it to us when you come back.
  • If you live in Canada, a copy of Canadian visa is required.
  • Birth certificate translation and notarized copy
  • Copy of the front and back of the ID card.
  • Account book translation and notarized copy.

• Proof of relationship

• • Copy of Canadian marriage certificate, or notarized translation of Chinese marriage certificate
  • If the applicant has a history of marriage, please provide a notarized translation of the divorce certificate, or a translation and notarized copy of the divorce judged by the court.
  • If the applicant’s former spouse dies, a translation of the death certificate and a notarized copy are required.
  • If the applicant has previously been sponsored by someone else to immigrate, a letter of explanation should include the name and date of birth of the former sponsor.

• If the applicant has children:

• • And the guarantor is not the legal guardian of the child, and children under the age of 18 must obtain written consent from the guardian.
  • If the child is 22 years of age or older, and the child cannot live independently from his parents (such as illness, disability, etc.), a health certificate is required (if not in English, it needs to be translated into English).
  • If the child is adopted by the applicant, relevant documents must be provided to prove that the child is adopted.

• Non-criminal police certificate, including your country of nationality, and any other country (except Canada) where you have stayed for more than 6 months
• Two recent photos within 6 months are 50mm x 70mm in size, please refer to the last page for specific specifications.
• Medical examination report (not needed now, this will be provided when requested by the immigration office)

Relationship Documents：

• Proof of communication between the two (screenshots of WeChat, phone calls, SMS, social media interaction information)
• If you do not live together, you need proof of mutual visits (tickets, passport stamps, etc.).
• Common assets.
• Proof of co-renting (rental contract).
• Common accounts (banks, credit cards, telephones, internet, utilities, etc.).
• Car insurance shows that you live together.
• Government ID shows that you live together
• Other documents or letters prove that you live together.
• If you have a common child, please provide a birth certificate, including who the child’s parents are.
• 20 engagement photos, wedding photos, wedding photos, and travel photos, each of which needs to be marked: your name and birthday, time, location and event (it is best if the photos come from different times, places, and people Group photo).
• The counterparty is his own insurance beneficiary (such as employee insurance, pension, life insurance, etc.).
• Common expenses, mutual support of each other’s telephone expenses.
• A letter written by a friend or social media (WeChat Moments, Facebook, photos with friends, etc.) proves that your relationship is open to the Moments of both parties.
• Love Story (English Version)
• If the following situations occur, please prepare and submit the materials truthfully:
• If there is a history of divorce, please provide the original notarized divorce certificate
• If you are widowed, please provide the original notarized death certificate of your former spouse

Accompanying Children Documents：

• Notarized original birth certificate
• Original notarized adoption certificate
• If divorce is involved, please provide the original notarized certificate of guardianship of accompanying children
• Original Notarized Certificate of Study

Other Children Documents：

• The original statutory notarization instructions for unaccompanied persons; the contents of the instructions must include the following points:

• • Relationship between unaccompanied person and applicant
  • A statement that family members of the applicant will not be accompanying to Canada
  • A statement that when the applicant settles in Canada, whether the applicant wishes to retain the qualification of the non-accompanied person

• The original medical certificate (you don’t need to prepare it immediately, wait for the notification from the immigration bureau before submitting)

Q&A