A Canadian citizen or permanent resident can sponsor a spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner for permanent residence. There are two processing streams: inland, for couples where the sponsored partner is already living in Canada (which can include eligibility for an open work permit while the application is processed), and outland, for couples where the sponsored partner is living outside Canada. Each stream has different practical trade-offs around travel, work authorization, and processing.
We assess eligibility for both spouses, prepare the sponsorship and permanent residence applications together, and — for inland cases — the accompanying open work permit application. For outland cases, we coordinate with the relevant visa office through to final decision.
The Parents and Grandparents Program is currently paused for new intake by IRCC; we are not accepting new PGP files while intake remains closed. Ask us about the Super Visa as an interim option for visiting parents or grandparents.