Canadian citizens have the rights reserved to be able to help their close family members to become permanent residents and citizens of Canada. This also includes their spouses. This does not mean that one automatically gains Canadian permanent resident and citizenship as a spouse of a Canadian citizen. The entire process has many steps such as immigration, gaining permanent resident status and then finally Canadian citizenship.
How To Get Permanent Residence Through Marriage?
Canada places a lot of importance on immigration, to increase the workforce and labour market of the country. They also allow immigration to help reunite families that are living across borders. The culture of Canada places a lot of importance on the cohesive relationship of a family. The country is also tolerant of different cultures and embraces the differences to make a multicultural environment.
A permanent resident of Canada or citizen of Canada can help their common-law partner or spouse to gain Canadian permanent resident status and even citizenship. The fastest way is to let the spouse gain entry into the Canadian border with the help of a work visa. If they are already living in Canada, a spouse with citizenship can sponsor them to gain Canada PR and citizenship.
In October of 2012, the Federal Government of Canada decided to place new regulations with regards to the immigration and sponsorship of spouses. This was done for the benefit of immigrants and Canadian citizens, to prevent fraud, trickery and scams in the immigration system.
A spouse who is being sponsored to reside in Canada and gain permanent residence should have a legally valid and genuine relationship with their partner. The relationship must last for at least 2 years after they receive their permanent resident status. This rule was set in place to prevent fraud in the immigration system.
Getting Married
The first step in gaining citizenship through this process is getting married to a Canadian citizen. The marriage should be legal and recognized. There are a few ways to get your marriage recognized. The most common form is getting a marriage certificate. It is given to you after you get married and it serves as proof of your marriage and a new relationship.
A couple can also be considered to be in a marriage if they have been living together for a long period of time. This is termed a common-law marriage and the rules that are applicable to such a relationship vary in different parts of the world.
When you begin the process of getting citizenship for your spouse, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will first confirm if the marriage is indeed genuine. A couple can show the genuineness of their marriage by having a child together, by staying in the same house and living together or by pooling their funding and resources and other things together that happen in a natural relationship. This step has been put in place so that the CIC can ensure that this immigration process is not being used to fraud the Canadian immigration system.
Permanent Residency
If you have permanent resident status, it means that you can live in Canada as well as work in Canada for as long as you want. A permanent residency card proves that you have a Canada PR, it is an official document. But you do not lose your permanent residency status if your PR card exceeds its expiry date.
If you move away from the country and do not reenter the borders of Canada for a long time or if you commit a crime that is in violation of your permanent residency, then you can lose your permanent resident status. After marriage, the Canadian citizen can submit an application to become a sponsor for their spouse who has immigrated to Canada.
The spouse who has immigrated should then submit an application to gain a Canadian immigration visa. This can be done through a foreign consulate in Canada or with the help of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, Canada. Getting a permanent residence is a vital step in this process. It is required to be followed before you move on to gaining citizenship in Canada.
Citizenship
Once the spouse has gained their permanent resident status, they can begin the process of gaining citizenship in Canada. To gain citizenship, you are required to meet some additional eligibility criteria.
- The permanent residency of the spouse should not be involved in any ongoing investigation or under examination for removal or fraud.
- The spouse who wishes to gain citizenship should have been physically present in Canada for a minimum of 3 years in the last four years. This means in the last 4 years, they should have spent 1095 days in Canada physically.
- The spouse should have a reasonable understanding and competent language skills in at least one of the Canadian official languages, French or English.
- The spouse should have a familiarity with the culture, government and history of the country.
A test will be conducted in the process of granting citizenship. This test will basically be for the examination of the language skills of the spouse as well as their knowledge of Canada. The entire process of gaining citizenship can take a few years to reach completion. The benefits of having citizenship of Canada are:
- You gain eligibility to vote.
- You can help your close family members to gain immigration and citizenship in Canada by becoming their sponsor.
- You can never be legally removed from Canada.
- You can carry a passport from Canada.
Eligibility
A person can become a sponsor if they have the ability to financially support their spouse and have not committed any crime. The most important criterion is that they are able to provide financial support because the government of Canada does not approve of immigrants who may need government assistance to live in Canada as they are a burden to the economy. If you think you may not be able to provide financial support for the person, you can take help from many social programs, but you should be able to prove to the officers in charge that you have the full intention to support your spouse. You must also meet the following conditions if you want to become a sponsor for your common-law partner or spouse.
- You should be 18 years or older.
- You should be living in Canada or have a plan to return to the country after your partner or spouse gains a permanent residence in Canada.
- You should have the ability to provide economic support for the 3 years.
Given below are some documents that will be needed by immigration officers.
- Your Relationship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation questionnaire.
- Your marriage certificate.
- Photos and invitations to your wedding.
- Certificate of birth, as well as a record of adoption, if you have adopted any children alone or with your spouse.
- Registration proof for the marriage license with a government-recognized authority.
The Application
Two separate applications need to be submitted for a spouse to move to Canada. The spouse has to submit an application for permanent residence with the Case Processing Centre in Canada. The spouse with Canadian citizenship should submit an application to become a sponsor to their spouse and both of these should be submitted at the same time.
Any person submitting an application to gain permanent residency will also have to undergo a medical screening process along with a background check, and this applies to spouses too. If they are unable to pass any of these tests, they can be denied entry into the country.
How Long Does Spouse Sponsorship Take?
After the submission of the applications, the processing time has been estimated to be a little more than one month. At the end of the processing time, you will be sent an update regarding if your application was granted or not. It is important to be careful in every step of the process. An error may not lead to the rejection of your application, but it can increase the processing time.
What to Do While You Wait for Approval
You can keep track of the progress of your application with the official Canada website. You can accordingly make preparations for the entry of your spouse into the Canadian border. The spouse who is getting their permanent residency card should make sure they have all the necessary documents ready on them when they enter the Canadian border.
