Changes to spousal sponsorship

Cracking Down On Marriages Of Convenience – New and Proposed Measures

The Government of Canada has put in place a bar on sponsorship in an ongoing effort to deter people from using a marriage of convenience to come to Canada. Regulatory changes now in force mean sponsored spouses or partners will have to wait five years from the day they are granted permanent residence status in Canada to sponsor a new spouse/partner. Until now, a sponsored spouse/partner arriving in Canada as a permanent resident could leave their sponsor and sponsor another spouse/partner themselves, while their original sponsor was still financially responsible for them for up to three years.

In addition to the sponsorship bar, a new measure is being proposed to further strengthen Canada’s ability to crack down on marriage fraud. Under the new proposal, a spouse/partner being sponsored by a Canadian or permanent resident would be required to live together with their sponsor in a legitimate relationship for two years following receipt of their permanent resident status in Canada. If these steps are not pursued, the sponsored spouse/partner’s status could be revoked, possibly leading to their removal and in some instances, criminal charges could also be laid. For all legitimate relationships, the condition would cease to apply once the conditional period has elapsed.