The importance of family is essential in Canadian culture. The government of Canada is committed to the family values and for that reason has developed Family reunification programs. One of such programs is the Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program (PGP). This program is aimed at the parents and grandparents of Canadian permanent residents and citizens who immigrated to Canada. Once an immigrant has lived in Canada long enough, he or she may sponsor his/her elderly relatives to Canada.
2018-2019 Changes of the PGP
Following the criticism of the PGP by the Canadian public in the previous years, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) increased the annual quota for the sponsored parents. The initial quota of 10,000 was first increased to 17,000 and later it was announced that the quota for 2019 to be 20,000, and in 2020 – to 21,000.
The other major change was related to the selections system. Earlier, candidates were selected through a lottery that was conducted by IRCC. Only the applications of the lucky candidates were taken, and all others were dismissed.
Another weakness of that system was its vulnerability to the cyber attacks, i.e. it was possible to manipulate the results in the case of a breach. The lottery in 2018 revealed another problem. A significant part of the submitted applications did not meet the requirements of the program. As a result, IRCC was required to do the second round of selection.
In order to resolve the problems, IRCC introduced an online ‘first come, first served’ system. On January 28, the new program system was reopened.
Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program 2019
The 2019 application process lasted for a short time, and 27,000 potential sponsors who submitted the interest to sponsor will now be assessed. Many applicants voiced their dissatisfaction with the new method, as the number of those who tried to submit the applications was about 100,000. IRCC said it may open the interest to sponsor form again in 2019 if there will be additional quotas available.
Eligibility
Every Canadian citizen or permanent resident who wants to bring his/her parents to Canada must have an income of at least $40,000 a year in the last three years. If you want to include grandparents to the sponsorship application, your income must be no less than $60,000 per year. The federal government confirms that an application that meets all requirements is processed within 24 months. The application fee for PGP is $1,000, and it is non-refundable even if the application was not successful.
Would you like to reunite with your family members and grant them a better life if the country of free healthcare? Call us today to get the full guidance on Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program.