December 11, 2018

Can We Sponsor My Brother’s Wife?

Today I respond to a reader’s question. It is a question that we hear lot which involves two questions we receive who can sponsor whom to Canada and what are the income requirements? The question below involves aspects of those questions.

Q: My brother married a woman overseas three years ago. They now have a child together. After he married about a year and half ago, he submitted a sponsorship application to CPC Mississauga. The immigration office asked him to provide his income and apparently he did not respond. He is self-employed and I am not sure of what his income is each year. He travels back and forth very often, to visit his wife and child, but he never mentions the sponsorship application. We would like to help him, but do not know where to start. Can we sponsor his wife and child on my brother’s behalf? Can they come as visitors to Canada or can we make an application for permanent residency on her behalf?

A: Your question raises a number of issues. First, you must speak to your brother and clarify whether he still has any interest in pursuing this matter, then establish whether his sponsorship application is still in process or the file has been closed. He does not have to meet a specific income requirement for a spousal sponsorship, meaning it is not a bar against sponsoring, but, at the same time, the income must be declared. We cannot be sure without your brother’s consent to access his file or speak with him if the sponsorship remains active.

Unfortunately, you cannot sponsor. Only your brother can sponsor his wife and child. The wife and child may apply, of course, for a temporary resident visa (visitor), but first of all any counsel would want to know what happened with the sponsorship application as they will be screened by the visa post and they will be asked questions about her case. We would also want to know why your brother was reluctant to respond. There is nothing in the legislation preventing her to apply for a visitor visa, but she has to demonstrate that she is willing to return home at the end of the validity of her visitor visa. We would recommend your brother consult immigration counsel.

Thank you for your questions.