Does my husband need a minimum income to sponsor me when he's a student?? HELP!

[mrs.sweden]

Hi everyone!

Oh my I was so happy when I found this forum tonight cause I ve been worrying sick ever since I read on CIC's website that my husband that is sponsoring my Permanent Residence needs a net income of over 23.000 dollars! Is his really true or did I understand it wrong?

First of all I guess I should introduce myself a little? My name is Annie, 25 years old from Sweden and studying to become a liscensed practical nurse. My husband is a Canadian citizen by birth and we have been together for almost 4 years now and been married for almost 3 years. I lived in Canada with him for almost two years (had a working holiday visa and visitors) and last year we decided to move to Sweden so I could go to school and my husband wanted to study Swedish and Welding. We are currently still living and studying in Sweden but have decided to move back to Canada as soon school is over which would be around the same time as my PR would be done.

We totally freaked out though when I read that my husband possibly needs an income to Sponsor me? Im the one who is currently supporting him though my part time job as a caregiver in a nursing home while putting us though school.
But when we get to Canada we would obviously both get jobs to start our new life in Canada. We also have friends and family that will let us live with them for free until we both have jobs and have founds an apartment or house.

Is he not gonna be able to sponsor me know because of this? Has anyone else been in the same situation?
I would be so happy if someone could give me an answer so I could sleep well tonight and not feel like this is an hopeless case.

Thanks!

 

[Chevy23]

Hi everyone!

Oh my I was so happy when I found this forum tonight cause I ve been worrying sick ever since I read on CIC's website that my husband that is sponsoring my Permanent Residence needs a net income of over 23.000 dollars! Is his really true or did I understand it wrong?

First of all I guess I should introduce myself a little? My name is Annie, 25 years old from Sweden and studying to become a liscensed practical nurse. My husband is a Canadian citizen by birth and we have been together for almost 4 years now and been married for almost 3 years. I lived in Canada with him for almost two years (had a working holiday visa and visitors) and last year we decided to move to Sweden so I could go to school and my husband wanted to study Swedish and Welding. We are currently still living and studying in Sweden but have decided to move back to Canada as soon school is over which would be around the same time as my PR would be done.

We totally freaked out though when I read that my husband possibly needs an income to Sponsor me? Im the one who is currently supporting him though my part time job as a caregiver in a nursing home while putting us though school.
But when we get to Canada we would obviously both get jobs to start our new life in Canada. We also have friends and family that will let us live with them for free until we both have jobs and have founds an apartment or house.

Is he not gonna be able to sponsor me know because of this? Has anyone else been in the same situation?
I would be so happy if someone could give me an answer so I could sleep well tonight and not feel like this is an hopeless case.

Thanks!

Not sure where you have read that but there is no income requirement for spousal sponsorship

He just can't be on welfare

 

[andrew-brit]

Welcome!

There is no financial or income requirement. There are people on this forum who have been sponsored by their partners who were full time students at the time of applying. The only financial related requirements is your partner must not be on welfare and not declared bankrupt in the past.

The only thing I would say is if you both move to Canada (you as a visitor) it will be slightly easier to apply. If you apply from Sweden you will need to provide proof that your husband intends to move to Canada permanently once your PR is issued. Obviously if you both live in Canada then you do not need to provide that proof.

Also the fact that you have friends and family in Canada is great for 2 reasons. 1. They can provide a letter stating that you are a genuine couple and 2. Perhaps the family members can also state they will have your back financially while you wait for PR.

If you have any other questions let us know!

 

[mrs.sweden]

Welcome!

There is no financial or income requirement. There are people on this forum who have been sponsored by their partners who were full time students at the time of applying. The only financial related requirements is your partner must not be on welfare and not declared bankrupt in the past.

The only thing I would say is if you both move to Canada (you as a visitor) it will be slightly easier to apply. If you apply from Sweden you will need to provide proof that your husband intends to move to Canada permanently once your PR is issued. Obviously if you both live in Canada then you do not need to provide that proof.

Also the fact that you have friends and family in Canada is great for 2 reasons. 1. They can provide a letter stating that you are a genuine couple and 2. Perhaps the family members can also state they will have your back financially while you wait for PR.

If you have any other questions let us know!

Thank you so much for your wonderful answer! I must have understood it wrong somwheres along the way as I was reading and filling the forms out. The forms and guides tends to be a bit hard to understand at times Yes the fact that neither of us is in Canada while we are applying is another worry of mine. In the forms they want some kind of proof that we actually are moving to Canada after my application has been approved like a lease, job offer or morgage but thats nothing we could get from over here in Sweden. I wonder if it would be enough with a letter from our best friend stating that we will be living with her once we arrive in Canada?

Once again thank you for you answer and for making me feel welcome!

 

[andrew-brit]

Thank you so much for your wonderful answer! I must have understood it wrong somwheres along the way as I was reading and filling the forms out. The forms and guides tends to be a bit hard to understand at times Yes the fact that neither of us is in Canada while we are applying is another worry of mine. In the forms they want some kind of proof that we actually are moving to Canada after my application has been approved like a lease, job offer or morgage but thats nothing we could get from over here in Sweden. I wonder if it would be enough with a letter from our best friend stating that we will be living with her once we arrive in Canada?

Once again thank you for you answer and for making me feel welcome!

You're welcome.

One of the Sponsor (your husband) forms, IMM 5481 asks for current employment and salary. For this you could put $0 (if your husband was not working at the time). For every form, it is perfectly acceptable to add additional sheet(s) with extra information. On this extra sheet of paper just be sure to put your name, form name and the question you are answering. I also stated words along the lines of "Here is my complete answer to question 3" for example, just so the officer knows why some details are on the actual application form and some are on the additional sheets. This is because some questions ask for details which cannot be fully typed in to the boxes on the forms. I hope that makes sense!

In regards to your question, if you know you are going to be staying with your friend, why not ask her to draw up a little contract? All it would have to mention is both of you and your husbands name, the address and the length of time you will be staying there. This way it is acting as a lease agreement. Do not pretend that your friend is only your land lord/lady but in your application you can also say that your good friend Jane Doe is letting us stay with her until we get PR/jobs/etc.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

In the forms they want some kind of proof that we actually are moving to Canada after my application has been approved like a lease, job offer or morgage but thats nothing we could get from over here in Sweden. I wonder if it would be enough with a letter from our best friend stating that we will be living with her once we arrive in Canada?

I suggest you get at least a few more letters from family and friends.

We also applied while outside of Canada. I included several letters from family and friends confirming our intent to return to Canada. The most important was a notarized letter from my parents stating that we would be living with them AND that they would support us until we got on our feet; that was proof of intent to return AND financial support. I also included statements from my Canadian bank accounts/credit cards to show that I had maintained my finances in Canada. Other than that, I didn't have anything. I explained that I couldn't commit to a lease/job/school/etc. until my partner's app was approved because if it was refused, I would not be returning to Canada. We had no issues and CIC never asked for anything further.

There is no financial or income requirement. There are people on this forum who have been sponsored by their partners who were full time students at the time of applying. The only financial related requirements is your partner must not be on welfare and not declared bankrupt in the past.

Though there is no minimum income requirement, it is incorrect to say that there is no financial requirement. Applications can and have been refused on financial grounds when CIC believed a couple could not support themselves without welfare. It is important to show that you can support yourselves, through any combination of savings, sponsor income, applicant income, family support or even a detailed plan of how you will get jobs when you return to Canada based on your credentials and the expected income. If you will be staying rent-free with your friend or even just paying a little bit of rent, that is a very important point for her to include in her letter, as it's one less financial concern.

 

[MantisToboggan]

Just to make you feel a little better, I am in a similar situation in that I am currently a full-time student sponsoring my common-law partner and I received sponsorship approval yesterday. I made sure to detail in my explanation sheet the circumstances of my being a full-time student and attached my transcript which proved it.

My transcript also showed the 20 units worth of classes I'm currently taking this semester. In California, 12 units per semester is considered full time, as defined here: http://www.cpec.ca.gov/SecondPages/Glossary.asp?ListType=15 It wouldn't hurt to find similar information from your husband's college or university and include it in the application.

 

[mrs.sweden]

You're welcome.

One of the Sponsor (your husband) forms, IMM 5481 asks for current employment and salary. For this you could put $0 (if your husband was not working at the time). For every form, it is perfectly acceptable to add additional sheet(s) with extra information. On this extra sheet of paper just be sure to put your name, form name and the question you are answering. I also stated words along the lines of "Here is my complete answer to question 3" for example, just so the officer knows why some details are on the actual application form and some are on the additional sheets. This is because some questions ask for details which cannot be fully typed in to the boxes on the forms. I hope that makes sense!

In regards to your question, if you know you are going to be staying with your friend, why not ask her to draw up a little contract? All it would have to mention is both of you and your husbands name, the address and the length of time you will be staying there. This way it is acting as a lease agreement. Do not pretend that your friend is only your land lord/lady but in your application you can also say that your good friend Jane Doe is letting us stay with her until we get PR/jobs/etc.

Thank you for the advise! I will definetly do that to be even more detailed in our application

The lease from our friend is something I was thinking about too, I just wasent sure if it would be "offical" enough for CIC. But I guess together with letter from other friends and family it should be proof enough that we are actually moving there

I was also wondering if the processing times on the webiste is accurate... since im from Sweden my application will be going through the visa office in London and it says it will take 11 months for an correct application. Should I count on it taking the 11 months or longer? Or would it be possible of it not taking as long?

 

[mrs.sweden]

Just to make you feel a little better, I am in a similar situation in that I am currently a full-time student sponsoring my common-law partner and I received sponsorship approval yesterday. I made sure to detail in my explanation sheet the circumstances of my being a full-time student and attached my transcript which proved it.

My transcript also showed the 20 units worth of classes I'm currently taking this semester. In California, 12 units per semester is considered full time, as defined here: It wouldn't hurt to find similar information from your husband's college or university and include it in the application.

Congratulations on getting your sponsorship approved! How exciting! Also thanks for the adivse, I'll make sure to send both mine and my husbands credits and classes from our school. Im hoping to be able to use my education here from Sweden and work as an Licensed Practical Nurse when I arrive in Canada, so I guess that would be something I could put in the application aswell

 

[andrew-brit]

Thank you for the advise! I will definetly do that to be even more detailed in our application

The lease from our friend is something I was thinking about too, I just wasent sure if it would be "offical" enough for CIC. But I guess together with letter from other friends and family it should be proof enough that we are actually moving there

I was also wondering if the processing times on the webiste is accurate... since im from Sweden my application will be going through the visa office in London and it says it will take 11 months for an correct application. Should I count on it taking the 11 months or longer? Or would it be possible of it not taking as long?

The processing time is for 80% of applications. Most applications take less time, but something to remember is that the 11 months is only for Stage 2 (the Principal Applicant part). Stage 1 (the Sponsor part) is currently taking 41 days.

There is a spreadsheet here where you can view timelines of people who have applied through London. You will see some applications get approved much quicker than 11 months.

 

[MantisToboggan]

Congratulations on getting your sponsorship approved! How exciting! Also thanks for the adivse, I'll make sure to send both mine and my husbands credits and classes from our school. Im hoping to be able to use my education here from Sweden and work as an Licensed Practical Nurse when I arrive in Canada, so I guess that would be something I could put in the application aswell

Absolutely! Anything that shows you want to settle in Canada and contribute to the Canadian economy will improve your application. You should also investigate what you need to do in order to have your nursing credentials recognized in Canada and include any research you've done on that and/or proof that you've started that process.

My partner's degree is in fine arts, so this didn't apply to us, but we still mentioned that we had done research on the job market and qualification requirements for people in that field so that she could prepare for work in Canada.

 

[mrs.sweden]

Absolutely! Anything that shows you want to settle in Canada and contribute to the Canadian economy will improve your application. You should also investigate what you need to do in order to have your nursing credentials recognized in Canada and include any research you've done on that and/or proof that you've started that process.

My partner's degree is in fine arts, so this didn't apply to us, but we still mentioned that we had done research on the job market and qualification requirements for people in that field so that she could prepare for work in Canada.

I actually found online where I could send my future diploma and the courses that I've taken here in Sweden to have them viewd if I could have it recognized in Canada. If not I will most likely after we get settled in Canada take a one-year program at collage to become a Primary Care Paramedic so either way there will be something in the future within health care for me

 

[mrs.sweden]

The processing time is for 80% of applications. Most applications take less time, but something to remember is that the 11 months is only for Stage 2 (the Principal Applicant part). Stage 1 (the Sponsor part) is currently taking 41 days.

There is a spreadsheet where you can view timelines of people who have applied through London. You will see some applications get approved much quicker than 11 months.

Alright that will help! Thanks so much once again!