The Procedures for Handling a Discontinued or Withdrawn Undertaking

An undertaking refers to a contract which the parties concerned could discontinue or withdraw only in specific circumstances. For more details, officers would need to go through the details given in the following sections:

• The section titled ‘The Guidelines Concerning Discontinued Undertakings and the Refund of the Permanent Residence Application Fees’ i.e. section 5.39 of IP 2 and,
• The section titled ‘The Guidelines for the Withdrawal of the Undertaking and Cases Where No Refund of the Permanent Residence Application Fee Takes Place’ i.e. section 5.40 of IP 2

The Guidelines for Discontinuing Applications

The officers will typically ask the sponsor to state on the application whether the officers should discontinue processing the application in case the sponsors do not meet the prescribed eligibility requirements. As such, the sponsor’s response that the officers should not continue processing the application is sufficient for officers to automatically discontinue the application before any processing of the application for permanent residence begins.

The tables given below provide more details on this.

It is worth mentioning that in some cases, the authorities might have found the sponsor eligible or ineligible during processing, but the sponsor opted to proceed.

The Guidelines for Withdrawn Applications

A sponsor has the ability to withdrawn an undertaking after the officers have commenced processing the application for permanent residence. However, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will need to give its consent before the officers can set the undertaking aside. The table that follows provides more details on the kinds of scenarios that officers will typically come across.

The Guidelines in Case an Ineligible Sponsor Chooses to Continue with the Application

In some cases, officers might come across situations where an ineligible sponsor chooses to continue with the sponsorship application. In this scenario, officers will not need to refund the processing fee in case they have commenced processing the permanent residence application.

For applications made abroad:

• The Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) will need to download the sponsorship information to Computer Assisted Immigration Processing System (CAIPS), along with an explanation of why the application to sponsor is ‘Not Met’
  • In the case of a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner or dependent children, the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) will need to forward the permanent residence application to the responsible visa office
• The sponsor has the right of appeal
• The sponsored family members will remain eligible to apply for permanent residence still, but it is quite likely that the visa office will refuse the application because the sponsor does not meet the prescribed requirements

For applications in Canada:

• The Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) will need to process the application for permanent residence, but will refuse it in most cases because the sponsor does not meet the prescribed requirements
• The sponsor does not have the right of appeal

The Guidelines for Handling the Withdrawal of Co-Signers

Co-signers have the ability to withdraw from the undertaking as well. But, the authorities require that co-signers who wish to withdraw must apply in writing. In addition, the co-signers will remain subject to the following conditions:

• The authorities will need to receive the written request well before they issue permanent resident visas
• The co-signers will need to provide a copy of the agreement initiated by each of the signatories i.e. the sponsor, the co-signer and the foreign national, which acknowledges the removal of the co-signer
• If the authorities approve the sponsorship, the co-signer will not remain bound under the terms of the sponsorship

In some cases, officers might find that the co-signer has sent in a written request for withdrawing from the agreement, but the authorities have already issued the permanent resident visa. In such cases, the officers will need to inform the co-signers that notwithstanding their request to withdraw their support, the co-signers remain bound by the terms 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