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The details of the upcoming intake for the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) for 2020 will be released soon, according to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The Parents and Grandparents Program is one of the most popular sponsorship programs among permanent residents and citizens of Canada.
The program allows eligible permanent residents and citizens of Canada to sponsor their parents or grandparents for permanent residence. A huge number of persons depend on this program to bring their parents/grandparents to Canada. The program adopted first-come, first-served system for accepting applications in 2019. Under this system, eligible sponsors may submit Interest to Sponsor forms online when the system is open to accept the forms. The system remains open till the previously decided number Interest to Sponsor forms are accepted. After reviewing these forms, IRCC issues invitations to the sponsors to submit the complete application, which can be done within 60 days of receiving the invitation. As in the case of 2019 intake, IRCC has retained the forms of those who have submitted an Interest to Sponsor form and received a confirmation number, but did not receive an invitation to apply, to be considered in the 2020 intake.
The program has faced a lot of criticism in the past few years for its methods of selection. The online first-come, first-served process of application was introduced in 2019, replacing the lottery system of selecting sponsors. Under the lottery system, the sponsors could submit Interest to Sponsor forms during a month-long window of January after which IRCC randomly selected a set number of sponsors.
After introducing the first-come, first-served system, the program was opened on January 28, 2019. But the system remained open for only a few minutes and many could not submit Interest to Sponsor forms. This also led to much controversy as it was argued that the system discriminated against those who were unable to fill the form quickly and whose internet connection was slow. The maximum number of Interests to Sponsor forms accepted in the 2019 intake was 20000.
Later, the federal government of Canada had to award 70 places under the program to settle two lawsuits that claimed that the online first-come, first-served system of accepting Interests to Sponsor was unfair. According to a report by the CBC News the settlement was made secretly in which the members of the lawsuits were allowed to sponsor their parents/grandparents.
Canada’s immigration system gives highest priority to keeping families together. Get in touch with our expert immigration consultants to explore your options to move to Canada permanently with family.
