Eligibility & evidence gathering
4–10 weeks
Driven by how quickly the two of you can gather records: we provide the structure and chase the gaps.
Family sponsorship
Bringing family home
Sponsorship files are really two applications stapled together: yours to be a sponsor, and your family member's for permanent residence. The heart of a spousal file is relationship evidence, and the difference between a smooth file and a painful one is almost always how that evidence is organized and explained.
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Complexity: Moderate
Who walks this path
This pathway usually fits when…
- You're a Canadian citizen or permanent resident with a spouse or common-law partner abroad, or in Canada with you
- You're sponsoring a dependent child
- You're exploring the invitation-based program for parents and grandparents
The route
5 waypoints, in order.
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Confirm eligibility on both sides
Sponsors have their own requirements: status, residency intentions, past undertakings. We check both halves before anyone spends a dollar, and we're direct if there's a problem to solve first.
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Build the relationship record
Photos across time, messages, joint accounts, statements from people who know you: organized into a chronology an officer can follow in one sitting. This is where our files earn their keep.
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Forms, fees, and the sponsor's file
Dozens of forms, each version-sensitive. We complete them with you, cross-check every date against your documents, and assemble the government fee payments correctly the first time.
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Submit and track
The complete package is filed with a submission letter. You get confirmation of every milestone (biometrics, medicals, background checks) in plain language, in your language.
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Decision, landing, and what's next
If approved, we walk you through confirmation of permanent residence and the first-week practicalities. If an interview is requested (uncommon, but it happens) we prepare you properly for it.
The paperwork
The documents that decide the file.
Relationship evidence is quality over volume: three hundred unsorted photos say less than thirty, dated and explained.
Read: Documents, done right →- 01 Identity and status documents for sponsor and applicant
- 02 Marriage certificate, or evidence of 12+ months living together for common-law
- 03 Relationship evidence: photos, messages, travel, joint finances
- 04 Statements from family and friends who know the relationship
- 05 Police certificates for the applicant
- 06 Medical exam for the applicant (and dependants)
- 07 Birth certificates, for sponsored children
- 08 Custody documents, where a child has another parent abroad
Timelines, told honestly
What we control, what the government controls.
Assembly & filing
2–4 weeks
Forms, cross-checks, translations, and a final review by a second set of eyes before submission.
Government processing
Commonly around a year: sometimes faster, sometimes slower
Published spousal processing times have moved between roughly ten and twenty-four months in recent years. We tell you the current published figure and update you when it changes: we won't pretend to know more than that.
The wait is the hardest part of sponsorship and no honest firm promises to shorten it. What we can do: file complete, respond to any government request within days, and make sure the wait is never caused by us.
About complexity: Straightforward when the relationship history is simple and well-documented. Previous marriages, long separations, or a prior refusal raise the bar: raise them at the consultation and we'll plan for them from day one.
What it costs
Every service on this pathway has a published flat fee, and a plain list of what's never included, like government fees and translations.
See the family sponsorship feesEducational only, not legal advice. Immigration law and processing times change with little notice, and small facts change answers. A consultation assesses your actual case, documents, and dates. Rules for this pathway have changed more than once in recent years: what you read anywhere (including here) can go stale quickly.
Other pathways
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01
Work permitsWorking in Canada
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03
Permanent residencePoints-based PR
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04
CitizenshipBecoming Canadian
Next waypoint
Ready to walk the family sponsorship path?
One hour with a lawyer or regulated consultant, in your language: you leave with a written plan, the current published processing times, and the exact flat fee for your file.