Some Undeclared Family Members Can Now Be Sponsored

Canada is taking action to help newcomers sponsor family members that they didn’t initially declare.

When you apply to immigrate to Canada, you’re required to declare all your family members. If you don’t declare them before you get your permanent residency status, you’re forever barred from sponsoring them to come to Canada.

On September 9, 2019, immigration Canada will launch a 2 year pilot project which will allow a person who came to Canada to sponsor an undeclared immediate family member.

IRCC defined sponsors covered by this pilot program as:

1. Resettled refugees
2. Those conferred refugee protection in Canada, or
3. Those who were themselves sponsored as a spouse, partner or dependent child.

You can read IRCC’s news release here.

Applications that are already in process with IRCC will also benefit from this pilot project.

Failing to declare immediate family members will not only prevent you from sponsoring these family members in the future. It may also be grounds for misrepresentation. This pilot project gives some sponsors a second chance in bringing their family members to Canada.

Examples of those who may qualify under this pilot project:

• Laura was sponsored by her Canadian husband. She had a son out of wedlock before she met her husband. She had no intention at that time to take her son to Canada, she decided not to include him in her application. Since her son was not examined before she became a permanent resident, Laura can no longer sponsor her son as he is considered as an excluded family member. With the pilot project, Laura will now have a chance to sponsor her son for permanent residency to Canada.

• Juan came to Canada as a sponsored dependent of his father, Pedro. Before he came to Canada, Juan got his girlfriend pregnant and Pedro decided not to declare that Juan had a child. Pedro was under the impression that it will delay the processing of Juan's visa that's why he didn't want to add his grandson in the application. 3 years after landing in Canada, Juan married his girlfriend and is sponsoring her as a spouse. However, he won't be able to sponsor his son because he is considered an excluded family member since he was not examined before Juan became a permanent resident. The pilot project will now allow Juan to sponsor his son.

If you'd like to avail of this pilot project, I suggest you seek the assistance of a  Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant. I assume that you're in this situation because you didn't have the proper guidance when you applied for your permanent residence. This pilot project may be your only chance to correct your previous mistake, so you'd want to do it right this time.