Invitations to apply (ITAs) will be sent out by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to sponsors who completed “Interest to Sponsor” forms via the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) as of today, May 21.

For a period of two weeks beginning today, the IRCC will send out 35,700 invitations in an attempt to approve 20,500 full applications for permanent residency (PR). Sponsors who initially submit their “Interest to Sponsor” form will get ITAs at the email address they provided.

Who is qualified to be invited to the PGP in 2024?

  • In order for sponsors to be qualified for an invitation under the PGP this year, they need to:
  • Have filled out an Interest to Sponsor form on the IRCC website in 2020 (but not in 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023, when they were not sent an ITA);
  • Be a registered Indian under the Canadian Indian Act, a citizen of Canada, or a permanent resident of Canada;
  • Be at least eighteen years old;
  • Reside in Canada (during the Interest to Sponsor process, prospective applicants will be required to furnish proof of status);
  • Surpass the program’s minimum income requirement (if married or in a common-law partnership, the sponsor’s and spouse’s income can be combined) and give the IRCC documentation of your income; and

Sign a contract:

 

  • Must provide 20 years of financial assistance for the sponsored (beginning from the day of their permanent residency); Quebec applicants will be required to sign a 10-year undertaking;
  • Must reimburse the sponsored family members for any social assistance benefits received (if any) over a 20-year period; and
  • A supplementary “undertaking” with the province of Quebec needs to be signed if the sponsor calls that province home.

After receiving an ITA from the PGP, what should I do?

 

Sponsors must reply to an ITA by the deadline specified in the invitation email by submitting an application. At this point, application costs (which typically start at $1,205 CAD) must also be paid.

The IRCC advises sponsors to prepare their application by reading the instruction manual in its entirety and completing the application package. Keep in mind that you have to send in your completed application to IRCC by the time mentioned in the email inviting you. Applications that are incomplete, submitted after the deadline, or completed incorrectly may result in issues or, in certain cases, be simply rejected.

Applications are going to be sent back if

  • They lack certain details;
  • There are no fees;
  • They are sent in after the ITA email’s specified deadline;
  • The applicant did not at first acquire an ITA; or
  • The application’s contents and the information on the “Interest to Sponsor” form do not match.

Applications must be filed via either the Representative Permanent Residence Portal (if the sponsor is working with a representative) or the Permanent Residence Portal.

If sponsors don’t get an ITA this year, what can they do?

 

The immigration service will only take into consideration PGP candidates from the 2020 intake this year for the fourth year in a row.

The Super Visa is an additional means via which Canadian citizens and permanent residents can reconnect with their parents and grandparents, according to the country’s immigration laws.

Parents or grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents may be sponsored to visit and temporarily dwell in Canada through the Super Visa temporary residence stream. Family members can travel to Canada for up to five years at a time with the Super Visa starting in June 2022, without needing to reapply for status. Holders of Super Visas are also eligible to seek for a two-year visa extension, which would allow them to stay in the country for up to seven years at a time.

The Super Visa, which is available year-round and has no cap on the number of applications processed by IRCC, provides an accessible means of bringing family members to Canada, even if it only grants temporary residence status to parents and grandparents.

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