Immigration Blog about US & Canadian Immigration matters.

Can I sponsor my children to Canada?

Have you fallen in love with the wonderful aspects of Canada? Want to live the rest of your life indulging in maple syrup and poutine along with your family? If so, you may want to consider sponsoring your children. If you are eligible to be a sponsor, you may be able to successfully be reunited with your dependent children who are currently living abroad.

Family Sponsorship Eligibility

Before applying to sponsor your children, you must confirm whether or not you are eligible to be a sponsor. You must be either a Permanent Resident or Canadian Citizen in order to be able to sponsor your family. Note that if you live in Quebec, there may be different requirements; thus, you will need to refer to the Quebec conditions on becoming a sponsor. Though these are the requirements you will need in order to be eligible to apply, there are still other factors that could cause your ineligibility. This usually involves past actions regarding your children or your sponsorship. For example, factors that may cause you to be ineligible to sponsor include: previous history of violating your sponsorship agreement, failure to pay child support despite court order, are on social assistance (with the exception of being disabled), were convicted of a violent/sexual crime OR specific criminal threats, missed payments on immigration loans, have declared bankruptcy, or are currently in prison. Though these are pre-determined factors that will affect your eligibility, there may be other reasons why immigration officers will reject your application.

Family Sponsorship Eligibility

For Canadian citizens and permanent residents, submitting a family sponsorship application is a popular way to bring a relative over to Canada. Once the relative is here, he or she will be eligible for a wide range of Canadian social services and other benefits that come along with being a permanent resident of Canada. In order to sponsor a relative to come to Canada as a permanent resident, you must meet the criteria established by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

You are unable to sponsor if you:

• Are not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident