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Sponsorship for foreign spouses gets tougher

Jul 28, 2014 | Spousal Sponsorship

Canadian citizens applying to sponsor their foreign spouses will be hit hard by the government’s doubling of processing time due to a backlog of applications.

Applicants in Canada will now have to wait 11 months, up from six months, to get past the first stage, which, if approved, will let the foreign spouse work in Canada and access health care while phase two is being finalized.

Currently, Canada allows a foreign national married to a Canadian to apply for sponsorship in the country if they’re already here legally with valid temporary status. They also have the option to return to their homeland and apply from there, but most couples prefer the in-Canada route.

The recent unexpected delays in inland sponsorship processing have caused both emotional and financial hardships for thousands of these Canadian couples because the foreign spouses lack full status here.

It’s not known how many inland spousal applications are backlogged, but more than 8,000 new in-Canada applications (one-fifth of all spousal cases) are processed each year.

While immigration officials have said applicants are free to choose whether to apply in or outside Canada, a letter from Chris Alexander’s office obtained by the Toronto Star stated the government’s preference: “It is always in the client’s best interests to apply abroad.”