sponsoring girlfriend without income

[JohnD62]

I read that there is no real income required to sponsor my girlfriend to Canada but that you need to show you can support her for how many years? I have no income, but a house in Canada (all paid for) and a bank account which may have about 30,000 dollars at time of application. But I will be getting Old Age pension in a couple of years which may be about 1500 a month. is this enough? I am canadian citizen, lived there all my life.

 

[ImABule]

I read that there is no real income required to sponsor my girlfriend to Canada but that you need to show you can support her for how many years? I have no income, but a house in Canada (all paid for) and a bank account which may have about 30,000 dollars at time of application. But I will be getting Old Age pension in a couple of years which may be about 1500 a month. is this enough? I am canadian citizen, lived there all my life.

Yes. You do not need a minimum income.

You need to demonstrate that you can support yourselves.

It's not "show you can support for so many years" it's signing a 3 year undertaking that binds you to providing financial support. If your spouse takes social assistance, you're on the hook to repay it.

You will be fine.

 

[JohnD62]

But what is that income for 3 years and before that 3 years oas pension will start.
Would a letter from a family member stating they would offer financial aid if needed be acceptable, and would notarizing it help?
No one is on social assistance. We live simple life and there is no rent or mortgage to pay

 

[canadianwoman]

You can show the plan you have for when the applicant lands in Canada. Whatever you are living on now should be sufficient. You can also include letters from family saying they will help support you if needed. Notarizing such a document always looks better.

 

[MelissaJohn]

I agree you best option is to write up a plan, I applied to sponsor my husband while living in his country unemployed for about a year and a half so I had no income at the time.

I just wrote a plan out for how I plan to support us when I returned. For me, I had to job offers, one from my previous employer, so i showed them my old T4 slips and paycheques. It wasn't a high paying job I had at the time I made 15,000 one year and 13,000 the next because of new management and hours.

So if you can explain how you plan to live off of the 30,000 in your bank for the three years until pension you should be fine. And if your girlfriend does want to work you can say so, you could write about how you have 30,000 and your girlfriend will be looking for a job herself. But if not, I am sure 30,000 well budgeted can last you until pension! Basically explaining anything in a letter that might cause the officer to doubt or ask questions will help them to understand and avoid delays!