published on 13 October 2022 @ 2:48 pm · COMMENT

New Invitations to Apply Issued for Parent/Grandparent Sponsorship Program

On October 11, 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced they are issuing another round of invitations to apply to the parent/grandparent sponsorship program. 23,100 invitations to apply will be issued to potential sponsors over the next two (2) weeks. In light of the covid-19 pandemic, IRCC has also lowered the minimum necessary income requirements sponsors are required to meet for the 2020 and 2021 tax years.

In this draw, IRCC will only be selecting from applicants who had already submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) in the 2020 year. New Expressions of Interest are not being accepted at this time.

By drawing only from the pool of potential sponsors who previously submitted an EOI in 2020, IRCC excludes new permanent residents or citizens from applying to sponsor their parents this year.  Additionally, many applicants who submitted EOIs in 2020 may no longer be eligible to apply. Changes in circumstances such as the sponsor’s income/employment, martial status or family size can all affect eligibility to sponsor a parent. Parents or grandparents may also have experienced changes in their health over the last two years which could affect their medial admissibility.

In light of the above, we anticipate that IRCC is likely to open up the parent/grandparent sponsorship program to new Expressions of Interest in the 2023 year.  In the interim, Canadian permanent residents or citizens who wish to bring their parents to Canada may qualify to apply for a parent/grandparent super visa. The super visa now allows parents or grandparents to visit Canada for up to 5 years continuously, with the option to extend their visit by an additional 2 years.

filed under: IMMIGRATIONPERMANENT RESIDENCE