Canada Dependent Visa

About Visa:

The objective of the Family Class of immigration is to reunite close family members in Canada.

Through the Family Class, Canadian citizens and permanent residents may sponsor their dependent children, parents and grandparents, spouse, common-law, and conjugal partners.

The Government of Canada has a strong commitment to keeping families together whenever possible. Because of this, processing of Family Class applications is a high priority at Canadian Visa Offices.

Under most circumstances, individuals coming to Canada as temporary foreign workers or permanent residents have the right to bring their dependents, including any and all dependent children, to Canada with them. However, circumstances arise when this is not possible at the time of immigration. For Canadian citizens and permanent residents with dependent children abroad, the government has created a special program to facilitate their loved ones' entry into Canada.

Features:

Common-law partner

Canada work permit holders living in Canada can sponsor their common-law partner and eligible dependent children. Applicants who have been residing with their qualifying Canadian partners for a period of 1 year or more in an ongoing relationship can be sponsored under this visa. They need to prove that they are in a genuine and continuing relationship and should have resided together at a common address.

The sponsor and the partner should intend to live together in Canada and an undertaking should be given by the sponsor to provide for all of the applicant's basic needs for a period of 3 years from the partner's arrival to Canada.

Dependent children

Dependent children, both natural and adopted, may be sponsored to live with their parent(s) as permanent residents in Canada. The child sponsorship program is a subsection of the Family Class of immigration.

In order to be eligible for this program, both the Canadian citizen or permanent resident (also called the 'sponsor') and their child abroad (the 'sponsored person') must be approved by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in order for the sponsored person to receive a visa.

Canada work permit holders living in Canada can apply to sponsor their or their partner's dependent or adopted children. A son or daughter is dependent when the child:

• Is below the age of 22 and does not have a spouse or common-law partner
• Is a full-time student and is considerably dependent on a parent for financial support since before the age of 22 or
• Is financially dependent on a parent since before the age of 22 because of a mental or physical disability.

Requirement:

Eligibility Criteria for a Sponsor

• The sponsor should have a valid Canada Work Permit
• Sponsorship agreement should be signed between the sponsor and his/her sponsored dependent to commit to providing financial support, if needed
• Sponsor needs to provide financial support to spouse/common-law partner and dependent children

Eligibility Criteria for Spouse

• A person can migrate as a spouse if he/she is married to their sponsor and the marriage is officially valid.
• If a person has married in Canada, they should provide a marriage certificate issued by the province where the marriage took place.
• If a person has married outside Canada, then the marriage must be valid under the law of the country where it occurred and under Canadian law. Marriages that happen in an embassy or consulate should be in accordance with the law of the country where it took place, not the country of citizenship of the embassy or consulate.

Eligibility Criteria for Child:

To receive a visa through this immigration program, the sponsor and the sponsored person will be required to prove their relationship to one another. Individuals whose adoption proceedings are in the final phases of processing may begin sponsoring their child before the adoption has been finalized. Be sure to read the specific requirements for the program, as well as some additional general requirements for Canadian sponsorship.