IRCC to Invite More Applications Under Parent and Grandparent Program

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will invite more sponsors of foreign parents and grandparents to submit an application under the Parent and Grandparent Program (PGP).

The upcoming round of invitations, which will begin on September 6 and continue over a few days, is the second round to take place in 2017. Potential sponsors who were not invited to apply in the first round, which took place in April, now have a second chance of being invited to apply.

The upcoming invitation round will be restricted to potential sponsors who submitted an Expression of Interest through the PGP ‘Interest to Sponsor’ form in early 2017, but who have not yet been invited to apply. Invited sponsors will have to submit their application by December 8 in order for it to be accepted.

Individuals who were invited in the first round, but who did not submit an application by the August 4 deadline, will not be invited in the upcoming round, nor will individuals who did not submit a form in early 2017.

However, IRCC also confirmed that registration to enter the PGP ‘Interest to Sponsor’ pool of potential sponsors will reopen in early 2018, allowing more potential sponsors to plan on bringing their parent(s) or grandparent(s) to Canada as permanent residents.

Sponsors must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and must meet certain minimum income criteria.

More information on this announcement can be found here:

https://www.cicnews.com/2017/09/ircc-to-invite-more-applications-under-parent-and-grandparent-program-099525.html

New Lottery System for Parents, Grandparents Sponsorship Announced

Canada is adopting a lottery system to replace the current first-come, first-served immigration process to reunite parents and grandparents.

The change, which will take effect in the new year, is designed to make the system more fair for all applicants, according to a release from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. In past, the number of applications has far exceeded the number of available spots, creating a backlog in applications.

Between Jan. 3 and Feb. 2, 2017, Canadian citizens and permanent residents who want to sponsor their parents or grandparents will be required to complete an online form on the IRCC website within 30 days.

Once the information is properly transmitted, the prospective sponsor will get a confirmation number. The release from IRCC says duplicate entries will be removed. It warns that completing the form does not mean person has applied to sponsor under the program.

Instead, at the end of the 30 days, IRCC will randomly pick 10,000 people and invite them to complete the full application for the Parent and Grandparent Program. They will have 90 days to submit a full application.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-immigration-parents-grandparents-1.3895808