Sponsor Your Children and other Dependents
Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor their children abroad to come to Canada as citizens or permanent residents. The goal of the program is to ensure that family members who reside in different countries live together.
Dependent children, whether natural born or adopted, can be sponsored to live in Canada as permanent residents.
To be eligible to sponsor, you must;
- Be 18 years of age or older
- Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or a person registered under the Indian Act
- Be able to prove your relationship to your child
- Not be in prison
- Not be in default of immigration loan
- Not be on social assistance but for reasons of disability
- Not be in default of a previous undertaking
- Not have a criminal record
As a sponsor you will be required to sign an undertaking that binds you to provide for your child’s basic needs including food, housing, clothing, medical expenses not provided by provincial public health system.
The length of the undertaking for dependent children in Canada who are under 22 years of age is 10 years or until they attain age 25.
The length of the undertaking for Dependent children who are over the age of 22 is 3 years.
Children must meet the following definition of a dependent child
- Be the biological or adopted child of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
- Be under the age of 22
- Not married or in a common-law relationship
A child who is over 22 years of age may be eligible for sponsorship if;
- The child suffers from a physical or mental condition that prevents them from being able to support themselves
- They have relied on their parents for financial support since before attaining age 22