WHATSAPP
The Government of Canada has already finished issuing invitations to the selected sponsors of its Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP). Now those invited can submit their complete application to sponsor their parents/grandparents for permanent residence in Canada. The applications have to be submitted within 60 days of receiving the invitation.
The Parents and Grandparents Program allows eligible Canadian citizens and permanent residents above the age of 18 to sponsor their parents and/or grandparents for permanent residence in Canada. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has set a target to accept a total of 20,000 complete applications to the PGP in the year 2019.
If a Canadian citizen or permanent resident is interested in sponsoring their parents/grandparents for permanent residence in Canada, they must first submit an Interest to Sponsor form during the submission period. The submission period usually falls in January every year. The intake this year was held on January 28, when the PGP accepted a total of 27,000 Interest to Sponsor forms on a first-in, first-served basis. PGP being one of the most sought-after family class immigration programs of Canada, it took only less than 10 minutes for the IRCC to reach the intake limit.
The invitations to apply were issued in the same order as the IRCC received the Interest to Sponsor forms. Before issuing the invitations, IRCC conducted a review of the accepted Interest to Sponsor forms to ensure the eligibility of the applicants and remove duplicate applications, if any. The IRCC began issuing invitations on April 24 and completed the process on April 27.
The invited sponsors can now submit their complete applications along with the supporting documents within 60 days of receiving the invitation. If any of those who have successfully submitted the Interest to Sponsor forms haven’t yet received the invitation to apply, the IRCC will be keeping their submission and contact information, it has been informed.
The IRCC’s website says that it may conduct another round of accepting the interest to sponsor forms in 2019 if Canada needs more potential sponsors.
In 2018 also, IRCC held the second round of invitations to apply to the PGP at the end of July. The annual target of complete applications to be accepted was also increased from 10,000 to 17,000 in the year.
Would you like to know more about sponsoring your parents/grandparents for permanent residence in Canada? Then don’t hesitate to contact us.
