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.