The authorities require that all sponsors provide an undertaking in support of the application for permanent residence by a member of the family class. The sponsors would need to provide this undertaking to the Minister or to a provincial authority, in situations where a federal-provincial agreement gives responsibility for financial assessment of sponsors to the province i.e. Quebec R131. For more details on undertakings in Quebec, officers will need to go through the provisions specified in the section titled ‘The Guidelines for Sponsorships in Quebec’ i.e. section 5.41 of IP 2.
Sponsors and co-signers will typically need to complete and sign the undertaking in the IMM 1344AE. Situations could arise where a sponsor does not sign an undertaking. In this scenario, the sponsorship application will not be complete. As such, officers will need to return it. For details on the obligations and periods of the undertaking, officers will need to refer to the provisions specified in:
- The section titled ‘The Duration of Undertakings’ i.e. section 5.22 of IP 2 and,
- R132
Sponsors of spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners and dependent children will need to sign an undertaking as well. It is worth mentioning that these individuals remain obligated to care for their spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners and minor children. This is applicable even if they do not have to meet an income test.
The undertaking in IMM 1344AE provides detailed information on the obligations that sponsors and co-signers will be assuming. It provides details on the meaning of default as well as the consequences of default. The signatures of these individuals on the undertaking serves to acknowledge that these individuals understand all the requirements that the undertaking entails.
In addition, the authorities require the sponsors to provide basic requirements to the member of the family class. Basic requirements will typically comprise shelter, food, clothing and other goods or services (such as dental and eye care) and medical care that provincial health insurance programs do not provide.
In some cases, the sponsored people might receive social assistance. In this scenario, sponsors and co-signers will be in default. Sponsors and co-signers have the ability to sponsor again. However, for this, they will need to ensure that they have reimbursed all social assistance payments. In addition, they will need to resume all their obligations. Otherwise, they will continue to remain in default in the eyes of the authorities.
The Guidelines for Sponsors Under Guardianship or Power of Attorney
On occasions, people applying to be sponsors might have appointed representatives for managing their personal, legal or financial affairs.
These kinds of arrangements will usually vary from province to province. In addition, they could vary within the province depending on the situation as well. For instance, potential sponsors might be under a guardianship, tutorship or a power of attorney. This situation is not in and of itself a bar to sponsorship, because it might still be possible for the sponsor to live up to the responsibilities of the sponsorship, even if sometimes, this might be under the supervision of another person.
Sponsors with cognitive disabilities or impairment might or might not be ineligible for meeting the requirements of sponsorship. This is in accordance with the provisions specified in R133 (1) (b). As such, the critical point that officers will need to consider in such cases is whether evidence exists that the sponsor intends to fulfil the obligations in the sponsorship undertaking and whether the undertaking is enforceable.
In such cases, it will be necessary for the officers to examine each situation on a case-by-case basis for determining all the things that the sponsor is capable of doing on their own behalf or through their representative. This could also entail examining the relevant judicial orders made with respect to the sponsor. Carrying out these instructions will help officers ensure the enforceability of the sponsorship undertaking.
Chapters
- What This Chapter is About
- The Program Objectives
- The Instruments and Delegations
- The Departmental Policy
- The Definitions
- The Roles and Responsibilities
- The Overview of the Case Processing Centre (CPC) Activities Pertaining to Sponsorship Applications
- The Procedures for Reviewing Sponsorship and Permanent Residence Applications for Spouses, Common-Law Partners, Conjugal Partners and Dependent Children
- The Guidelines for Reviewing Sponsorship Applications for Other Members of the Family Class
- The Procedures for Processing Sponsorship Applications by the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) for Spouses or Common-Law Partners in Canada
- The Procedures for Handling a Discontinued or Withdrawn Undertaking
- The Guidelines for Assessing a Sponsor’s Eligibility
- The Guidelines for Assessing Bars to Sponsorship
- The Guidelines Pertaining to Undertakings
- The Guidelines Concerning the Sponsorship Agreement
- The Guidelines for Applying the Financial Test
- The Procedures for Processing Sponsorships Involving Adoptions
- The Guidelines for Referring Sponsorship Applications for Investigation to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
- The Procedures in Case the Applicant is Not a Member of the Family Class
- The Guidelines for Assessing Additional Family Members
- The Procedures for Dealing with Changes in Circumstances
- The Guidelines for the Suspension of Processing
- The Guidelines for Applications from Sponsors in Quebec
- Appendix A – The Eligibility Check for the Sponsor and the Co-Signer
- Appendix B – The Sample Letter to the Provincial / Territorial Adoption Authority to Request for the Issuance of the No Objection / No Involvement Letter or Notification of Agreement
- Appendix C – The Sample of Sponsorship Approval Letter for Adoption Cases from the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) to the Sponsor
- Appendix D – The List of Offences Under the Criminal Code that Could Equate to Offences of a Sexual Nature and Offences Concerning Violence Against a Family Member
- Appendix E – The Low Income Cut Offs (LICO) and the Quebec Income Scale – 2011
