Increased intake to Parents and Grandparents Sponsorships in 2019

by Rekha McNutt

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced today that they have increased the number of applications that will be accepted for processing under the Parent and Grandparent sponsorship program. Starting in 2019, the government will accept 20,000 applications! 

You can read the full release here.

As always, we are happy to assist you with any questions you may have with respect to this or other immigration matters! Feel free to reach out to us.

Permanent Residence for under 22 children - Temporary Public Policy

by Rekha McNutt

This post follows up on our last post announcing the coming into force the change to the age of dependent children. 

You might be wondering how to gain permanent residence for a child who wasn't eligible prior to October 24, 2017. CIC has a temporary public policy in place which provides guidance on how to get this done.

The government announced the change to the age of dependency on May 3, 2017, even though it only came into force a few days ago. As such, this public policy only applies to those applications made by the parents of these children between May 3, 2017, and October 23, 2017. 

The Policy provides the following guidance for eligibility:

Based on public policy considerations, delegated officers may grant an exemption from the provisions of the Regulations listed below to foreign nationals who meet the following eligibility criteria and conditions:

A permanent residence application for a child can be made if the:

1. Child was 19, 20, or 21 as of May 3, 2017 (the date of final publication of the regulatory amendment) or as of date the parent’s permanent residence application was made, if received on or after May 3, 2017 and before October 24, 2017;
2. Parent or child had a permanent residence application that was either pending on May 3, 2017 or was received on or after May 3, 2017 and before October 24, 2017 (the child must have been previously identified as “additional family” on their parent’s application);
3. Child is not a spouse/common-law partner; and,
4. Child is not otherwise inadmissible.

The child can be:

1. Processed or added to an application (as a dependent child) if the permanent resident visa or Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) had not been issued at the time the Department was notified of the intention to add the child; OR
2. Sponsored as a member of the Family Class once the parent is granted permanent residence.

Note: Refugees and protected persons may add a child who was 19, 20, or 21 on May 3, 2017 and (not a spouse/common-law partner) as an accompanying or non-accompanying dependant on a pending application; non-accompanying dependants would be able to apply for permanent residence within the one-year window.

An application to sponsor a child who is eligible under this public and is 22 or over at time of sponsorship, must be received by the Department within one year after their parent is granted permanent residence. Children who are under 22 at time of sponsorship will be processed under the regular sponsorship regulations.

Notification Period: Parents who wish to apply for their child to come to Canada must notify the Department of their intention to do so by January 31, 2018, in accordance with instructions provided by the department.

For those parents whose PR applications have been finalized already, and who may still have children under 22, a simple/regular sponsorship of a child application is still possible. 

Immigration Appeal Division - National Post Article

by Peter Wong

The Immigration Appeal Division is an important tribunal that is integral to our immigration system.  It deals with cases where Canada Immigration has refused spousal sponsorships, parental sponsorships and permanent residents who may be removed from Canada for various issues including the meeting of residency requirements after becoming a permanent resident.  There is a current crises within the IAD as many members appointed by the previous government are not being renewed, and the current government has not yet appointed new members to replace the past members.  This National Post Article discusses this problem:

http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/western-canadas-immigration-appeal-system-in-crisis-lawyers-say/wcm/71bd83cf-4149-4b7d-9ee6-4fad16662560 

Changes to application intake process for 2017 Parent and Grandparent Program

IRCC just released the following announcement on the changes to the Parent and Granparent sponsorship program. It appears that intake levels remain the same (10,000 applications), however the selection of those 10,000 will be by lottery. Starting in January 2017, those interested in sponsoring family must complete an online form indicating their interest. If they are among the 10,000 selected, they will be notified and given 90 days to submit their application.

The problem with a true lottery system is that an applicant may never be chosen, having applied year after year. This introduces significant uncertainty into this already restricted process. It remains to be seen how this pans out in reality...

Full text of the release here: http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1168899