Family Sponsorship

Family sponsorship lets Canadian citizens and permanent residents bring close family members to Canada as permanent residents. The rules are generous — but IRCC scrutinises these applications closely, and a genuine relationship still has to be proven, not just stated.

Who can be sponsored

Spouses & partners

Married, common-law and conjugal partners.

Dependent children

Your own and, in many cases, your partner's.

Parents & grandparents

Through the PGP program and the Super Visa.

Certain other relatives

In limited, specific circumstances.

Inland vs. outland spousal

Inland

The sponsored partner is in Canada and can often apply for an open work permit while the application is processed.

Outland

Processed through a visa office, generally allowing more freedom to travel during processing.

What IRCC actually evaluates

The central question in a partner file is whether the relationship is genuine and not entered into primarily for immigration. Officers look for consistency across your history, communication and finances. Most refusals come down to thin or inconsistent evidence — not a lack of love, but a lack of proof.

How Vik Immigration helps

We build sponsorship applications that tell a clear, documented and consistent story, choose the right inland or outland stream, and handle parent, grandparent and dependent-child files. Where a relationship file has been refused, we analyse the actual reasons before re-applying.

Who can be sponsored

Inland vs. outland spousal

Explore other services.

Not sure if this is the right pathway?