Canadian Citizen spousal sponsorship from native country.

[Mikecanada]

Dear All,

I would like to get your comments on spousal sponsorship on three points.

My name is Mike, I was working in Canada for the last 8 years since I immigrated (in July 2016) thereon express entry PR with my ex-wife with whom I got divorced in 2020.

• First Point: Basically during these years (July 2016 to March 2023) I was working in Canada (mostly low wages jobs) sometimes full-time jobs, sometimes part-time jobs, sometimes self-employed, and in between got a few times unemployed too and I applied for employment insurance also. During all these ups and down I used my savings in Canadian TD Bank to support myself. I also stayed in India for almost 2.5 years from 2020 to 2022 and I used my savings which is in my local Indian bank also my brother supported me with Cash money financially while staying in India. Query: In the application, they ask that if you were unemployed that is how you supported yourselves. Can I show my local Indian bank statements from Feb 2020 to Sept 2022 to show that I used my savings to survive in India? Do I also need to ask for any documents to show that my brother also supported me or not need to?

• Second Point: I recently got a Canadian citizen in Feb 2023 and then I left my job and came back to India and got married to an Indian girl and want to file the spousal sponsorship while staying in India and once she received PR then we both plan to move to Canada. I am unemployed while my wife is working in a reputed IT company in India. Query: I have a TD bank account in Canada which is active but I don’t have many funds and just have $2000 in it. I have a local Indian bank account in which I have only some money that I am using to survive in India. I don’t have any joint account with my spouse in India and also it seems not possible to open a joint account now as I am a foreign citizen and it’s very complicated to open a joint account. As there is no proof of funds requirements for spousal sponsorship but still I need to show that I can support myself and my spouse (no child involve) once we go back to Canada. Can I show the money in Indian currency (roughly equal to CAD $16000) in my wife's account and she can also make an affidavit to show that this money is for us for supporting ourselves in Canada once she gets PR?

• Third point: Intent to move to Canada. Query: I don’t have any property or any financial assets in Canada. All these years I was living on rent in Canada. Now I am in India so I don’t have any rental agreement in Canada. Before coming to India though I have taken two types of documents from my friends in Canada. 1st is a conditional letter from my friend that he will provide me with a place to live on rent once I will back to Canada after spousal sponsorship. And 2nd is a conditional job offer letter from one of my friends (who owns a small company) that he will provide me with a job once I will back to Canada after spousal sponsorship. These documents are good enough to show my intent or do I need to provide other documents and what can be they which I can get or do by myself from staying in India?

• Request: I would like to get your expert comments on that based on the above scenario, can I apply for spousal sponsorship from staying in India with my spouse?
• Many many thanks in advance.
• Mike

 

[Ponga]

Ok, you REALLY should have led with the #2 info, IMHO.

Since you are [now] a Canadian citizen, you can apply to sponsor your wife whilst being abroad. There is no minimum income requirement, but you need to show IRCC your plan on how you are going to support your wife without the need for any type of Social Assistance. Her job in India will not be of any value to you, when she moves to Canada. She is helping to support you now in India, so if she plans to work in Canada after becoming a PR, it would help if she also had some job leads...maybe?

Also, you need to be mindful that YOU will be financially responsible for your wife for 3 years once she becomes a PR. This means that if she has to go on Social Assistance, you will be the one that has to pay it back.

Good luck!

 

[Ponga]

Query: I have a TD bank account in Canada which is active but I don’t have many funds and just have $2000 in it. I have a local Indian bank account in which I have only some money that I am using to survive in India. I don’t have any joint account with my spouse in India and also it seems not possible to open a joint account now as I am a foreign citizen and it’s very complicated to open a joint account. As there is no proof of funds requirements for spousal sponsorship but still I need to show that I can support myself and my spouse (no child involve) once we go back to Canada. Can I show the money in Indian currency (roughly equal to CAD $16000) in my wife's account and she can also make an affidavit to show that this money is for us for supporting ourselves in Canada once she gets PR?

Be prepared if IRCC starts to question why she wants to become a PR. If she is the `bread winner' now, and she will use {mostly] her money to help get both of you established in Canada...you can see how this could be a possible area of questioning. Not saying that it's worth worrying about, but make sure you have a very well laid out plan. Start drafting that plan NOW!