Family class · Reunification
The paperwork between you and the people you love.
Sponsorship files are decided on evidence of genuine relationships — photographs, messages, remittances, the ordinary paper of a shared life. We build files that read as true because they are, and we defend them on appeal when an officer gets it wrong.
Spouses and partners: inland or outland
Couples choose between two processing routes. An outland application is processed by the visa office serving the sponsored partner’s country — historically the faster and more flexible route, with appeal rights to the Immigration Appeal Division if refused. An inland application requires the partner to be in Canada, unlocks an open work permit during processing, but offers no IAD appeal and discourages travel. The right choice turns on status, travel needs, the strength of the relationship record and where you can afford to wait.
Either way, the file is won on relationship evidence. We provide a curated checklist — not a generic one — calibrated to how your visa office actually weighs chat logs, joint finances, cohabitation and family knowledge, and we prepare both partners for the interview that a minority of files draw.
Parents, grandparents and the super visa
The Parents and Grandparents Program runs on an interest-to-sponsor lottery with income tests (minimum necessary income plus 30%, shown across three tax years) and long queues. When the lottery does not call your name, the super visa — a multi-entry visa allowing stays of up to five years at a time with private medical insurance — is often the better instrument anyway. We run both, and we will tell you plainly which serves your family sooner.
When sponsorship is refused
Refused sponsorships are not dead ends: most outland refusals carry a right of appeal to the IAD, where the case is heard fresh and new evidence is admissible. Camille Fortin leads that practice — see refusals & appeals.
FAQ
Family Sponsorship: the questions we hear
For spousal sponsorship there is no minimum income requirement (unlike parents and grandparents) — you must show you can support basic needs and are not on social assistance other than disability. PGP sponsorship carries a real income test across three tax years.
On the inland route, yes — an open work permit is typically issued during processing. Outland applicants abroad wait out processing there or visit on temporary status.
No. Officers assess genuineness across the whole record — cohabitation, communication, finances, family awareness. Small weddings are common; thin evidence is the actual risk, and it is fixable.
Begin properly
Your route to Canada deserves counsel, not guesswork.
A one-hour consultation with a lawyer — C$250, credited against your retainer if we act. You leave with routes, timelines and a written fee quote.