Immigration Corner | Retired teacher wants daughter to sponsor her

Dear Ms Powell,

I have a visitor's visa to Canada and I usually spend the holidays with my daughter and her family. I am planning to visit her again to help her out with the children. I'm a retired teacher and I am thinking that I could spend a longer time to help her out. My goodness, day-care fees are so expensive! Anyway, I heard that children can sponsor parents and I'm just writing to find out the procedure? Your urgent response would be appreciated. Thank you.

Y.T.

Dear Y.T.,

Citizens and permanent residents of Canada can sponsor their parents and grandparents to become permanent residents, provided that all the parties are able to satisfy the requirements.

Under the Parents and Grandparents Programme (PGP) the portal for accepting applicants is usually opened in the first week of January and individuals are selected on a first come, first served basis. Once the cap is reached, then the portal will be closed. This is a very competitive process and so both you and your daughter must be prepared.

It is important that you gather all the required documents and take them with you when you are visiting for the holidays, as your daughter will need to be ready to submit an accurate application online.

 

Requirements

 

There are several requirements that both you and your sponsor will need to ensure that you are able to meet. The basic requirements are that your sponsor must be at least 18 years of age; be a Canadian citizen or Registered Indian or permanent resident; live in Canada, sign an undertaking promising to provide for all your the basic requirements and prove that she has enough income to provide for the basic requirements of herself and her family in Canada, as well as demonstrate that she will be able to afford to sponsor you financially.

The government of Canada requires that a sponsor has above the minimum necessary income (MNI) in order to sponsor a family member. That means that your daughter will need to meet the minimum necessary income requirement for the past three years preceding the application date. According to the most recent base MNI, if you have a family of three persons, the minimum income will need to be approximately CAD$50,000; for family of four, CAD$60,000; family of five; approximately $68,000; and so on.

Your daughter will also need to ensure that she meets or exceeds the MNI based on the Federal Income Table for Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship on the date on which the sponsorship application is signed, until the day your are granted status as permanent resident. Your daughter should also be aware that her income may be reassessed at any time during processing and, therefore, it is important to ensure that her income does not fall below the threshold during the time that the application is being processed. These thresholds are usually reassessed on a yearly basis, so it will be her duty to keep abreast of the updates.

Another important factor is that under the PGP, your daughter, as the sponsor, will be required to sign an agreement that she will support you for a period of three to 20 years, depending on your age. This undertaking is that your daughter will be responsible for you and any dependants that you may have. She will need to sign and agreement that you will not need social assistance from the government of Canada.

 

Online submission form

 

If your daughter would like to sponsor you, she will therefore need to complete an online submission form through the Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) portal when it becomes available. This would be a preliminary application or an expression of interest submission, as an indication to IRCC that she is interested in sponsoring you.

Once your daughter has submitted an expression of interest and you both meet all the requirements, then an invitation to submit a complete application will be sent to the email that was used to submit the expression of interest. You and your daughter must be ready to submit a completed application along with the requisite fees within the time specified. Also, you must be able to pass the medical and security checks, in order for your final application to be approved.

It is anticipated that IRCC will begin accepting new applications under the PGP category early next January and so you should take this time to meet with an immigration lawyer to guide you further and to make sure that you are prepared to submit an application before the cap is reached.

- Deidre S. Powell is a lawyer, mediator and notary public with office in Ottawa, Ontario. Submit your questions and comments to: Email: info@deidrepowell.com. Subject line: Immigration. Find her on facebook.com/jamaicanlawyer or call 613.695.8777