Pilot Project Immigration Option for Sponsoring Undeclared Family Members
While applying for permanent residency, foreign immigrants are required to declare a list of all family relatives in their applications. Failure to include family members on their permanent residency application would result in a permanent ban from sponsoring anyone. Recently, Canadian immigration launched a pilot program stream that enables selected candidates to sponsor their previously undeclared family relatives to Canada.
Anyone including a sponsored applicant common-law partner or spouse, unlisted dependent child, or grandchildren is a family member. However, if sponsored applicants fail to include the required information of either of these persons in their permanent residency application, they are automatically considered as ‘undeclared’ in Canadian immigration.
According to Canadian immigration law, the inadmissibility of one or any family member affects all members of that family (s.42 IRPA). In other words, immigration officers would carry out background checks on all declared relatives. The background screening applies to all family members irrespective of their current intentions to migrate to Canada with the sponsored permanent resident.
If permanent residency applicants do not present the necessary information of family members for examination and background screening by the immigration authorities – such relatives may be permanently excluded from being sponsored to Canada (r. 117(9)(d) & 125(1)(d) IRPR). In some cases, applicants could be denied entry into the country based on misinterpretation.
In the case of non-disclosures resulting in permanent bans of undeclared family members, applicants can still sponsor their relatives in Canada. Below are what intending sponsored applicants need to know about sponsoring their undeclared family members:
All permanent residents in Canada follow the process of being sponsored by their common-law partners, spouses, conjugal partners, parents, or grandparents. More so, only permanent residents or Canadian citizens above the age of 18 years can apply to sponsor other family members.
Applicants must ensure that the intended sponsored relative would not make them ineligible to stay in Canada after sponsoring. Intending relatives must either be previously undeclared dependent children, spouses, or common-law partners.
Applicants must confirm that their sponsored relatives meet the eligibility requirements to be sponsored in Canada.
Sponsoring undeclared family members do not require a special application procedure under the pilot project. Canadian citizens or permanent residents only need to follow the regular procedure of sponsoring dependent children, a spouse, or common-law partners. We’ve provided explicit information on sponsorship in the following category. Follow the link to get additional information on Child sponsorship, Spousal or Common-law sponsorship, and Refugee claims.
Every immigrant that migrated from his/her home country under immigration economical categories like the Provincial Nomination Program (PNP) or the Federal Skilled Workers Program (FSWP) are not eligible to apply. Immigrants sponsored in the Family Class by their spouses, parents, grandparents, or common-law partners do not qualify to sponsor undeclared family members.
Also, permanent residents in the permit holder class would be denied the application under this pilot project stream. Not declaring the family member when applying for permanent residency automatically makes the applicant inadmissible to Canada. Immigration authorities can detect that the reason a permanent resident omits undeclared family member’s information is when they can potentially disqualify their immigration process.
Applicants can always appeal to the Federal Court in the case of rejection during the sponsorship application process of previously undeclared relatives. This is a two-step verification process that begins with applying for leave then awaits a judicial review. Firstly, the applicant should send in their applications for leave to any judge of the Federal Court within 15 days after receiving the rejection status.
Candidates that are granted leave by the judge can present their cases before the Federal Court for a scheduled hearing. Denial of leave means immediate dismissal and conclusion of the sponsorship of the undeclared family member. Sending applications to the Immigration Appeals Division (IAD) is only applicable to applicants under family sponsorship streams. Note that IAD jurisdiction does not cover appeals of undeclared family members.
Of course, sponsoring previously undeclared relatives comes with risks for the applicant’s permanent residency status. The pilot program is strict on all admissibility provisions making the immigration authorities launch a full investigation on persons that may be inadmissible as a result of misinterpretation. If a case of misinterpreted material facts surfaces during this investigation, the applicant’s permanent residency would be reviewed.
Misinterpretation includes intentional alteration of documents or provision of falsified information by lying.
This is a serious crime here in Canada and the immigration authorities would immediately deny the application and ban the applicant from reapplying for another five years. The ban is extended to restrict the applicant from entering Canada for the next five years and potentially have their permanent residency or citizenship status revoked.
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