Canadian Family Visas
Canadian Family Visas allow foreign citizens and their families to come to Canada to join a relative and settle there permanently.
If you want to immigrate to Canada from the UK and take your family with you, talk to our immigration lawyers on 0333 305 9375.
Page Contents
- What are the Canadian Family Visas?
- What is the Family Class Sponsorship?
- What are the eligibility requirements for UK citizens?
- How can UK citizens apply for Family Class Sponsorship?
- What is the Express Entry?
- Who can come to Canada under the Express Entry program?
- How can Total Law help?
- Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Canadian Family Visas?
Canadian Family Visas are immigration permits that allow foreign citizens, including UK ones, to come to Canada with their families to join a relative there. Categories of family members that can come to Canada under these visas include spouses, partners, dependent children, siblings, parents, and grandparents.
The most common routes to immigrating to Canada with one’s family are the Family Class Sponsorship and the Express Entry programs.
Before you apply for a Canadian Family Visa, you should talk to one of our immigration lawyers. They can analyse your situation and advise you on which visa for Canada is the best choice for you.
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What is the Family Class Sponsorship?
Family Sponsorship is a program intended for those who are already in Canada and who wish to sponsor their family members from the UK or other countries to come to join them. If their application is successful, their British relatives can settle in Canada as permanent residents.
Under this program, Canadian citizens or permanent residents can sponsor their spouses and partners, dependent children, parents and grandparents, siblings, and nieces or nephews.
To be able to become sponsors Canadian citizens or permanent residents have to meet the following requirements:
- Be a Canadian citizen, Canadian permanent resident, or a person registered under the Canadian Indian Act
- Be at least 18 years old
- Live in Canada
- Have enough funds to offer financial support to the sponsored family member
- Not have declared bankruptcy
- Not be in debt
- Not be serving a prison sentence
- Not be receiving social assistance unless it’s for a disability
- Be related to the sponsored individual
- Have received an invitation to apply to become a sponsor for a family member
- Be willing to commit to providing financial support to the sponsored individual for a specific period of time after their arrival in Canada.
What are the eligibility requirements for UK citizens?
To be able to join their Canadian relative, the sponsored individuals coming from the UK have to meet the following general requirements:
- Be living in the UK or another country that is not Cannada at the time of applying
- Be related to the Canadian citizen or permanent resident
- Not have a criminal record
- Try to financially support themselves after they arrive in Canada.
There are also additional requirements specific to the relative categories.
For sponsored children these are:
- Be younger than 22 years of age or be older than 22 years of age but unable to financially support themselves because of a disability
- Be a biological or adopted child of the Canadian sponsor
- Not be married
- Be financially dependent on the Canadian sponsor.
UK spouses of Canadian citizens need to meet the following criteria:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be legally married to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
As for parents and grandparents, they have to be biological or adoptive parents of the Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
How can UK citizens apply for Family Class Sponsorship?
The application process for the Family Class Sponsorship starts with the Canadian citizen or permanent resident filing a petition to be invited to sponsor their UK family member. The Canadian sponsor also has to pay a few fees such as the visa processing fee, or the right of permanent residence fee.
After the Canadian relative completes these steps, the UK citizen wanting to immigrate to Canada needs to have their fingerprints collected and their photographs taken. They also have to attend a medical exam and obtain a police certificate showing that they do not have a criminal record.
If the sponsorship application is approved, the UK relative can apply for permanent residence in Canada.
The application process for Family Class Sponsorship can be complex so it is advisable that you seek advice from an immigration lawyer before initiating it.
What is the Express Entry?
The Express Entry program, intended for skilled workers who can contribute to the economy of Canada, is one of the fastest ways to receive permanent residency in Canada. The immigration programs that fall under the Express Entry system include:
Foreign citizens applying for Express Entry receive a score based on their language abilities, occupation, and other relevant factors. The Express Entry programs allow applicants to include their immediate relatives in the application. If it is accepted, they and their families can come to Canada to settle there permanently.
Who can come to Canada under the Express Entry program?
The Express Entry program is intended for the immediate family of Canadian citizens and permanent residents. It allows them to immigrate to Canada and obtain permanent residence there.
Those who are eligible for the Express Entry are:
- Spouses, common-law partners, and conjugal partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents
- Dependent children of Canadian citizens and permanent residents
- Dependent children of spouses or common-law partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents
- Dependent children of dependent children of Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
All categories of dependent children are only able to come to Canada under the Express Entry program if they are unmarried and younger than 22 years of age. The only exception is if the child is older than 22 years of age but unable to support themselves financially because of mental or physical disability.
How can Total Law help?
Applying for Canadian Family Visas is not easy and you might feel overwhelmed if you are going through this process alone. Luckily, here at Total Law, our lawyers are familiar with the Canadian immigration system and can make it much less complicated.
Our lawyers can assess your eligibility for Canadian Family Visas and can tell you in detail what you have to do to immigrate to Canada with your family permanently. They will help you complete all the application forms and gather the necessary supporting documents. They will always be around to answer your questions and will liaise with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on your behalf so you can focus on other, more important aspects of the application process.
As a firm of highly qualified immigration lawyers, we can help you no matter how complex your case is.
To find out more about how we can help, call us today on 0333 305 9375.
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Related pages for your continued reading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Those who are applying for the Family Class Sponsorship have to be ready to pay the following fees:
- Sponsorship fee of $75
- Principal applicant processing fee of $475
- Application processing for children fee of $75
- Right of permanent residence fee of $500
- Including dependent children on the application fee of $150.
You will also have to pay biometrics fees that vary depending on your location.
The sponsor has to be at least 18 years of age, be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and be living in Canada. In addition to that, they cannot be in prison, bankrupt, or in debt.
Those who want to sponsor their foreign family members have to have enough money to be able to support them financially after their arrival in Canada. They also have to be able to promise that they will do it.
The processing of family sponsorship applications varies but most of them take around 12 months to be processed. It is uncommon for them to be processed quicker. Nevertheless, the waiting time is often longer than 12 months, especially if you make mistakes in the application or fail to include some of the required documents.
To make sure your application is completed correctly, hire one of our immigration lawyers. They will review it before the submission and will help you fix any mistakes that could delay the processing of your application.
If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you have the right to bring your family members to Canada. The best way to do that is to apply for Family Sponsorship. If your application is successful, they will be able to join you in Canada and settle there indefinitely as permanent residents.
To find out more about what the best route to bringing your loved ones to Canada is, talk to our immigration lawyers. They will explain to you what are the requirements and the application process for the Family Sponsorship and will answer all your questions.