Notice of Assessment for Parents Sponsorship

[campana]

My brother and me are planning to submit an application to sponsor both our parents early next year 2017.
Our situation is as follows with regards to the Notice of Assessments (NoA) required for 2015, 2014, 2013:

.- If I am the sponsor my NoA for 2015 doesn't qualify because I was on maternity leave, and my income (including EI) is below minimum for that year. It is above minimum for 2012 and earlier, so I could provide the NoA of previous years where I would qualify, but 2015 is definitely below minimum.

.- If my brother is the sponsor, he landed late 2014 in Canada, so he only has one NoA corresponding to 2015 and nothing for the previous years as he was earning foreign currency and with the exchange rate would likely show below minimum.

I have a friend that started her application to sponsor her mother shortly after landing and would be in a similar situation as my brother. She tells me she applied with what she had at the moment, only one NoA, and since has had 2 kids (2 years on Maternity Leave), so she had to send papers to update her mother's file.


I'd be happy to read any advise or similar experiences that could help us make up our minds. We are unsure who is the best to sponsor our parents, we wouldn't want our application rejected.

 

[scylla]

Unfortunately you and your brother cannot be co-sponsors. Unless one of you has a spouse that can co-sign so that you meet LICO for all three years, you'll need to wait until 2019 to apply (once your brother has NOAs for 2015, 2016 and 2017).

 

[campana]

I do not believe they are that inflexible. Just contacted my friend and she clarified her process:

She landed in late 2009, applied in 2011 to sponsor her mom with the NoA of 2009 (no income) and 2010.
In 2015 she was contacted by CIC to give them the NoA of 2012, 2013 and 2014.
She had a a baby in 2013 so that NoA was below minimum. She says she never explained she was on EI. But she assumes that they know why the income was low that year.
Her mother took the medical examination this year in June and submitted the police records in September.

That could very well mean that my brother can apply or even me, considering I could submit proof of income/employment in 2016 and an explanation letter indicating I was on EI (mat leave) that year.

 

[scylla]

I do not believe they are that inflexible. Just contacted my friend and she clarified her process:

She landed in late 2009, applied in 2011 to sponsor her mom with the NoA of 2009 (no income) and 2010.
In 2015 she was contacted by CIC to give them the NoA of 2012, 2013 and 2014.
She had a a baby in 2013 so that NoA was below minimum. She says she never explained she was on EI. But she assumes that they know why the income was low that year.
Her mother took the medical examination this year in June and submitted the police records in September.

That could very well mean that my brother can apply or even me, considering I could submit proof of income/employment in 2016 and an explanation letter indicating I was on EI (mat leave) that year.

Rules were different when your friend sponsored her mother. Sponsors were only required to prove their income for the previous year back then (not previous three years). Unfortunately your application will be assessed under the current rules which require three years of income (unless you happen to live in Quebec).

 

[Rob_TO]

Right the rules changed drastically in 2014. Before this time the rules were much easier requiring just 1 year of income and income proofs could be in multiple forms with explanations.

Starting in 2014, they changed this to needing 3 years of income and requiring CRA tax assessments as the only acceptable proof, no exceptions.

So you should expect that if you're even $1 short of income requirement for any of 3 preceding years, your app will simply be rejected.