Your Journey Begins Here

If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and are married or in a relationship with a foreign national, you may sponsor that person to join you in Canada and become a permanent resident, as long as you meet certain eligibility criteria. as long as they meet certain eligibility criteria. In order to sponsor your spouse or partner, you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be a Canadian permanent resident living in Canada or a Canadian citizen
• Not be in prison, bankrupt, under a removal order (if a permanent resident) or charged with a serious offence; and
• Not have been sponsored to Canada as a spouse within the last 5 years

In addition, the sponsored person must be at least 16 years of age and not be too closely related by blood to the sponsor. The sponsor and the sponsored person must also prove their relationship, which must fall under one of 3 categories:

• Spouse: the sponsored person and sponsor are legally married. If the marriage took place within Canada, a Certificate of Marriage from the province or territory is sufficient to prove that the marriage is valid. If the marriage took place outside Canada, it must be valid under the laws of that country and as well as under Canadian federal law.
• Common law partner: the sponsored person and sponsor must cohabit continuously for at least one year.
• Conjugal partner: a sponsored person may be defined as a conjugal partner if exceptional circumstances beyond their control has prevented the partners from qualifying as common law partners or spouses, such as immigration barriers or legal restrictions limited divorce or same sex relationships. Furthermore, the partners must be in a mutually dependent relationship for a least one years with the same level of commitment as a marriage or common law partnership. This can be demonstrated through emotional ties, intimacy, financial closeness such as joint ownership of assets and efforts to spend time together and reunite.

It is important to note that same-sex marriages performed within Canada are valid for spousal sponsorship and common law and conjugal partners can be same-sex.

A spouse open work permit (SOWP) allows the spouse of certain temporary Canadian permit holders to work anywhere in Canada, for any employer, with few restrictions. Individuals who have applied to be sponsored by their spouse, or those whose spouses are in Canada on a study or work permit may be able to apply for a spousal open work permit. The requirements for applying for a spousal open work permit depend on the type of status your spouse has in Canada. In order to be eligible to apply for a spousal sponsorship open work permit, a foreign national must have applied for permanent residency sponsorship from within Canada through the in Canada stream of the spousal sponsorship program.

A foreign national must have valid status in Canada (visitor, student, worker, etc.) in order to submit a work permit application at the same time as their permanent residence application. If an applicant is out of status in Canada, they must wait until their permanent residence application has received approval in principle to submit their work permit application. A SOWP is tied to the permit of the spouse, or ‘lead applicant’, and will only be valid for as long as the lead applicant’s permit. If your SOWP expires, you will need to reapply based on your spouse’s permit. If you applied for In-Canada sponsorship on a visitor permit that is expiring, and you have applied for a spousal open work permit, you will be on maintained status. This means you can remain in Canada without a valid permit under the same conditions while awaiting a decision on your SOWP application. While applying for a spousal open work permit, dependent children may also accompany the permit holder by applying for a visitor record. The spouse open work permit application procedure will differ depending on which type of spouse open work permit you need. If you and your spouse divorce or your common-law relationship ends after you’ve received your spousal open work permit, your permit will not be revoked. However, if your relationship ends while your application is still processing, you must inform IRCC of your updated relationship status, and will no longer be eligible for a SOWP.