{"id":129454,"date":"2023-11-02T13:36:20","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T17:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/immigration.ca\/canada-extends-pilot-allowing-undeclared-family-members-to-be-sponsored-for-immigration\/"},"modified":"2023-11-02T13:37:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T17:37:19","slug":"canada-extends-pilot-allowing-undeclared-family-members-to-be-sponsored-for-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/immigration.ca\/fr\/canada-extends-pilot-allowing-undeclared-family-members-to-be-sponsored-for-immigration\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada Extends Pilot Allowing Undeclared Family Members To Be Sponsored For Immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canada has extended a public policy allowing undeclared family members to be sponsored for immigration<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The program came into effect on September 9, 2019, in order to address the concerns expressed by stakeholders and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, pertaining to a lifetime bar on those foreign nationals excluded under IRPR\u2019s aforementioned statutes.<\/p>\n

When an individual applies to become a permanent resident, all of their family members (spouse, common-law partner, dependent children, dependent child of a dependent child) need to be declared, even if they are not accompanying the principal applicant to Canada.<\/p>\n

In most cases, said family members also need to be examined, so that the department officials have all relevant information to make a decision on a permanent residence application and ensure that these family members would not make the principal applicant ineligible and inadmissible.<\/p>\n

Under IRPR, failing to have a non-accompanying family member examined as such may result in a lifetime bar on being able to sponsor that member, as per paragraphs 117(9)(d) and 125(1)(d) of the Regulations. These regulations were emplaced to encourage complete disclosure by immigration applicants, to enhance the overall integrity of Family Class<\/span><\/a> immigration, to \u201cprotect the health, safety, and security of Canadians,\u201d as per the IRCC website.<\/p>\n

\n

Read More<\/b><\/p>\n

Public Support For Immigration To Canada Falls Amid Financial And Housing Crises\u202f<\/a><\/span>
\n<\/b>Marc Miller To Present Strategic Review Of Canada Immigration System On Tuesday<\/span><\/a>
\n<\/b>Canada\u2019s Immigration Minister Reveals New Set Of Targets On Wednesday\u202f<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

After the implementation of the 2019 pilot project, a subsequent public policy was issued in September 2021 for two years due to the unprecedented circumstances and challenges created by COVID-19.<\/p>\n

The policy was set to expire on September 9, 2023, but the department had pre-empted that to allow for continued facilitation and \u201cfurther monitoring of these cases,\u201d IRCC would be implementing a consecutive public policy to come into effect when the current one expires.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consecutive public policy will allow the Department to gather fulsome data on the population utilizing this public policy to consider potential amendments to immigration legislation while ensuring the same benefits to clients,\u201d IRCC wrote in an older posting on its website.<\/p>\n

As promised, the Minister signed the consecutive public policy and is in effect since September 10, 2023, to September 10, 2026. Applications pending on the day this public policy was implemented will be processed according to this public policy.<\/p>\n

Family Class instructions relating to this public policy have been updated and reflect the new dates in terms of which applications are to be processed under this public policy.<\/p>\n

Updated Instructions<\/h3>\n

The temporary public policy applies to all of the following applications:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • applications still in process on May 31, 2019 (no final decision made before that date)<\/li>\n
  • applications received between May 31, 2019, and September 10, 2026<\/li>\n
  • applications pending reconsideration between May 31, 2019, and September 10, 2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Eligibility<\/h3>\n

    All\u202fof the following requirements\u202fmust be met\u202ffor the public policy to apply and to exempt applicants from the paragraph R117(9)(d) or R125(1)(d) exclusion:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • The foreign national has applied as\u202feither:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      • a spouse or a common-law partner under the SCLPC class<\/li>\n
      • a spouse, a common-law partner, conjugal partner or a dependent child under the family class<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n
        • The sponsor was granted permanent residence status in Canada as any of the following:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            \n
          • a\u202fresettled refugee\u202f(such as a Convention refugee or a person in similar circumstances, or an applicant under the country of asylum class)<\/li>\n
          • a\u202fprotected person<\/li>\n
          • a sponsored spouse, a common-law partner, a conjugal partner or a dependent child under the family class<\/li>\n
          • a sponsored spouse or a common-law partner under the SCLPC class<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
              \n
            • The foreign national, if declared and examined at the time their sponsor immigrated to Canada, would\u202fnot<\/b>\u202fhave made their sponsor ineligible in the class under which the sponsor applied and was granted permanent residence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Dependent children\u202fhave to be defined as such per the lock-in date policy. For family class applications, the age lock-in date is the date their application for permanent residence is received by the department.<\/p>\n

              For applicants whose\u202fsponsor resides in the province of Quebec, the sponsorship undertaking must be approved by the\u202fGovernment of Quebec\u2019s Minist\u00e8re de l\u2019Immigration, de la Francisation et de l\u2019Int\u00e9gration\u202f(MIFI).<\/p>\n

              Where Does the Public Policy Not Apply?<\/h3>\n
                \n
              • If the applicant is already exempt from the paragraph R117(9)(d) or R125(1)(d) exclusion as a result of the exception in subsection R117(10) or R125(2), where an officer has determined that under IRPA, or the former Act, the foreign national did not need to be examined.<\/li>\n
              • The public policy also does not apply if the sponsor was granted permanent residence status under any other immigration category not specified by the public policy. This includes:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                  \n
                • any of the\u202feconomic classes<\/li>\n
                • other members of the family class (such as parents and grandparents and their dependent children, orphaned relatives and other relatives)<\/li>\n
                • permit holder class<\/li>\n
                • permanent residence from within Canada based on humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) grounds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                    \n
                  • If the foreign national, if declared and examined at the time their sponsor immigrated to Canada, would have made their sponsor ineligible in the class under which the sponsor applied. For example, if the sponsor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                      \n
                    • Immigrated as a spouse, but was married to the current applicant when the sponsor gained permanent residence status (that is, was in a bigamous or polygamous relationship)<\/li>\n
                    • Immigrated as a dependent child of a principal applicant (including one in a refugee category) or as a dependent child under the Family Class, but did not declare their spouse or common-law partner, so that they could be considered as a dependent child<\/li>\n
                    • Would have had to meet financial requirements under the Family Class or the SCLPC class if the dependent children of a sponsored dependent child were disclosed<\/li>\n
                    • Come to Canada through a program that required them to have no dependents<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                      Family members of a sponsor who came to Canada as privately sponsored refugees should not be excluded from this public policy on the basis that the existence of this family member would have meant that their sponsors would have had to meet higher financial requirements.<\/p>\n

                      \n

                      Watch video:<\/b><\/p>\n