Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program Issues Invitations for 2020 Intake!
IRCC began sending invitations to apply to applicants who applied for the 2020 Parents and Grandparents Program in the fall. Applicants should check their email accounts regularly throughout the week. Once you receive an invitation, please ensure that you have all the documents and necessary information to complete the application.
Eligibility for Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP)
The PGP program allows Canadians and Permanent Residents of Canada sponsor their parents and/or grandparents to become permanent residents. Every year, the Canadian government opens up the program for a specific intake period and accepts a certain number of applications, depending on the immigration levels allocated for that year. The PGP category of family sponsorship is separate from sponsoring your spouse, partner or dependents, which has its own requirements, fees, application process.
You can sponsor your own parents and grandparents, related by blood if:
- You are at least 18 years old
- You live in Canada
- You are a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act
- You have enough money to support the persons you want to sponsor
- To show that you have enough, you’ll have to provide your proof of income.
If you live in Quebec, the requirements are different and you must check the Government of Quebec website for specific eligibility.
Process
All interested applicants must submit on interest to sponsor form and wait for an invitation to submit a complete application. Sponsors must be able to show proof of financial support, which is also known as an “undertaking”.
The undertaking requires you to provide support for your sponsored family member for 20 years and you will be required to pay any provincial social assistance if your sponsored family member gets during that period.
In addition to the undertaking, a sponsorship agreement must be signed by you and your sponsored family member. The agreement undertakes that that you provide the basic needs of your sponsored family member and that the sponsored person will make every effort to support themselves and their family members.
Given that many sponsors may have been financially impacted by the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, IRCC has introduced a temporary public policy that reduces the income requirement for the 2020 tax year to the minimum necessary income, instead of the minimum necessary income plus 30%.
Your sponsored parent or grandparent must provide medical exams, police certificates, and biometrics. Processing times are typically 20-24 months.
Fees
All fees must be paid when you submit the final application. Application fees must be paid online. A sample of fees is provided below. Please note, if biometrics is required for your country, an additional $85 per person / $170 per family will be added.
How Many Applications Does the Government Accept Each Year?
Although the annual limit of applications accepted in 2019 was 20,000, the application process was changed for 2020 as the 2019 intake was highly criticized by applicants as it offered only a small window (one day) to complete the online interest to sponsor the application.
For 2020, the process changed, instead of providing one-day to submit, applications were accepted over a 3-week period. Specifically, the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) for 2020 opened up on October 13, 2020, and ended on November 3, 2020. Once this window closed, potential sponsors were randomly selected by IRCC within 60 days. This randomized selection process will continue in 2021.
For 2020, a maximum of 10,000 applications were accepted for processing. Although there was a decrease of 10,000 from the 2019 levels, for 2021, IRCC plans to accept a total of 30,000 new applications. The intake date for 2021 has not been announced yet.
If you received an invitation and would like assistance to submit your complete application, please contact our office for a consultation.
