Applicants who wish to sponsor a spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner must be citizens, permanent residents, or registered Indians under the Canadian Indian Act. To demonstrate your capacity to serve as a sponsor, you must be 18 years of age or older and satisfy any other conditions, such as having a stable financial situation.

In the event that you do meet these criteria, you might be permitted to sponsor a spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner who must also be eligible. The first stage in the Canada Spouse Visa Process is for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to apply to be a sponsor. After that, the spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner will submit a permanent residency application.

Canada Spouse Visa Requirement

  • To take part, you need to be at least 18 years old.
  • Once your spouse or partner is a permanent resident, you must either dwell here now or have plans to do so in the future.
  • You must be able and willing to provide for the basic financial needs of your spouse or partner for the ensuing three years.
  • If your partner is not a member of the family class, you will not be able to sponsor them. If you want to sponsor your spouse, partner, or child you must be a citizen, a permanent resident, or hold a valid work visa.
  • You must be in a genuine relationship with your spouse, one that wasn't created just to help you get a permanent residence. You both need to have been dating for at least a year.

Canada Spouse Visa Document Checklist

  • Passport and travel records, as well as background information, are among the documents needed to sponsor a dependent under the Canada Dependent Visa.
  • Documentation for the spouse or partner, such as a
  • marriage license,
  • other evidence of the relationship,
  • income documentation for the sponsor to demonstrate sufficient funds
  • the completed application form,

Free Canada Immigration Assessment Form

Files Needed for a Canada Dependent Visa

  • Passport data and previous travels
  • Background-check documentation
  • documents for a spouse or partner, like a marriage license
  • Additional signs of a connection
  • The sponsor must present evidence of income in order to show sufficient finances.

The Criteria for Spousal Sponsorship Canada for a Dependant

  • To join, you must be at least eighteen years old.
  • You must be a citizen of Canada or a resident who has lived there continuously.
  • You should not accept government assistance unless you have a disability.
  • You must be above the poverty line set.
  • You and your partner must be legally wed.
  • Genuine communication with your dependents is necessary.
  • Evidence of Your Relationship

Especially if the partner is applying as a common-law or conjugal spouse, Canadian immigration authorities may request proof of your relationship.

Documentation that is helpful in establishing a proper relationship:

  • The existence of a joint bank account or another financial account
  • Proof of a joint lease on a residence
  • Proof of a real estate mortgage or purchase agreement
  • Affidavits from individuals with direct knowledge that your relationship is sincere
  • Any additional proof that can demonstrate the sincerity of your relationship

Financial Support

You must sign a Sponsorship Agreement that commits you to support your spouse financially in full for three years starting on the day that permanent residency is granted. This agreement is required of you as the sponsor. Even if you and your partner get a divorce or separate, this commitment still stands.

Also read:

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💡 How can I demonstrate to the IRCC my relationship with my spouse or partner?

You may not be able to sponsor someone if you:

  • are sponsoring a spouse or partner but you signed an undertaking for a previous spouse or partner and it hasn't been three years since they became a permanent resident; or
  • Previously sponsored someone and did not repay any social assistance they received while the undertaking was in place.
  • Default immigration loan or a performance bond
  • failed to make payments as required by the court for alimony or child support;
  • filed for bankruptcy but it wasn't discharged; and/or
  • was found guilty of:
  • a sexual offence, a violent crime, a bodily harm offence against a family member, or o a threat or attempt to conduct any of the aforementioned offences, depending on the specifics of the offence when it occurred, and if you were pardoned for it.
  • you are sponsoring a spouse or partner and you were previously sponsored as a spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner and became a permanent resident of Canada less than five years ago,
  • you are subject to an order of removal,
  • you are incarcerated or otherwise housed in a penitentiary, jail, reformatory, or prison,
  • You have previously applied to sponsor your current spouse or partner but haven't been successful.

Spouse visa Documents checklist and forms

  • Form IMM 1344, Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement, and Undertaking, to be filled by the sponsor and the partner;
  • Form IMM 0008, Generic Application Form for Canada, to be completed by the partner (the principal applicant seeking immigration to Canada);
  • Financial Evaluation Form IMM 1283, which needs to be signed by the sponsor
  • The main applicant and all adult children must complete Form IMM 5406, Additional Family Information.
  • Form IMM 5476, Use of Representative, if any portion of the application was really completed by a third party, such as a Canadian immigration lawyer or consultant.
  • Forms IMM 5532, Relationship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation, which must be filled out by both the sponsor and the primary applicant,
  • Form IMM 5533, Document Checklist for Spouse (Including Dependent Children), and
  • Form IMM 5534, Document Checklist for Dependent Child
  • Document Checklist for Common-Law Partners, Form IMM 5589 (Including Dependent Children)
  • Document Checklist for Conjugal Partner (Form IMM 5629) (Including Dependent Children)
  • Copy of application fee receipt;
  • Form IMM 5669, Schedule A - Background/Declaration (the partner and each adult member of the partner's family must sign separate copies of this form);
  • Medical Condition Statement: the findings of a physical examination performed by a physician who has been approved by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (no longer required upfront)
  • If the sponsor is not a citizen of Canada, a copy of the sponsor's Permanent Resident Card or another form of proof of their citizenship, or a photocopy of both sides of that document (such as a citizenship certificate, birth certificate or passport)
  • If your sponsorship is based on a valid marriage, a photocopy of your marriage license.
  • The Sponsor's Notice of Assessment for the most recent tax year; documentation of the dissolution of any prior marriages through a divorce, annulment, or death.
  • A letter from your employer, with the employer's original signature (not a copy), confirming the sponsor's employment status, pay, and hours worked; or proof of company or self-employment income during the previous 12 months.
  • A photocopy of each passport page for the spouse
  • Evidence of your partner's immigration status in Canada, if you are applying together from that country (inland sponsorship)
  • Documentary evidence of a common-law or conjugal connection, if necessary. A photocopy of the partner's U.S. Alien Registration Card on both sides (please see below for examples)
  • Two passport-style photos of the partner; photographs of your marriage or common-law partnership ceremony

What procedures must you follow when requesting your spouse's sponsorship for a visa?

You and your partner must both be older than 18 in order to apply for a visa for your spouse or domestic partner.

In order for you to sponsor your partner, they must belong to the family class. Your spouse can only be sponsored if you are a citizen, a permanent resident, or hold a valid work permit.

You must be married to your spouse in a sincere relationship that wasn't started just to obtain Canada permanent residence status. You two must have been together for at least a year.

What is the Canada spouse visa processing time?

Spousal Sponsorship Canada applications typically take 12 months to process. It could, however, be shorter than or as long as 36 months, depending on the locality and the conditions. 

What is the Cost of a Canada Spouse Visa?

Sponsor your spouse or partner Sponsorship fee ($75), principal applicant processing fee ($475) and right of permanent residence fee ($500) in all you need to pay 1050 CAD.

Also read:

✅ Sponsor your spouse or partner to Canada with Canada Spouse Visa

✅ How to sponsor your child for Canadian immigration