Canada has decided to relieve income requirements for family-class immigrants. This will let people sponsor their near and dear ones even if they suffer monetary losses due to the recent Covid-19 pandemic.
Canadians, sponsoring their family members from abroad, need not meet the 30% higher than the least income requirement for their specific region this year. Those sponsoring their family members will also be able to consider regular Employment Insurance benefits in their annual income calculation for the year. This is opposed to the special El benefits.
However, the above discussed changes will not be applicable to Quebec sponsors.
It is necessary for sponsors to fulfill the minimum required income along with all other application needs that are relevant to other taxation years. In layman terms, sponsors have to meet the additional 30% income requirement in all the other relevant taxation years but can have special Employment Insurance benefits to contribute to the final total.
The new policy is applicable for Canadians who apply through the Parents and Grandparents Program or PGP. This program opened for EOI or Expression of Interest on October 13. It is also applicable to the below mentioned classes of family members:
- Dependent children
- Common-law partners and spouses
- Relatives of the sponsor, irrespective of age, provided the sponsor does not have any close family relatives who are also Canadian
- Nieces, nephews, and minor siblings, along with grandchildren whose parents have died
Although the new policy got introduced on October 2nd, it will end once all the eligible applications are successfully processed.
The Canadian minister of immigration, Marco Mendicino, has signed new ministerial instructions stating that the reason for the special exemption is because of the financial challenges that Canadian citizens have faced due to the recent pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus. There are several businesses in the country that were forced to either shut down completely or reduce their staffing. As a result of this, many people lost their source of income.
The new policy is designed to ensure that sponsors are not impacted in any unfair manner by the negative effects of the pandemic as far as their sponsorship applications for the year or any future year is concerned. Future years are also included, since applications in future years may get affected by the income level of the year 2020.
Contact us today to sponsor your family members as permanent residents.