Sponsor Income?

[Screenager]

Sponsor is a citizen living exclusing outside of Canada, sponsoring her spouse for Immigration.

Facts:
Sponsor is a Home maker, a stay-at-home mom and hasn't had a job in the past 5 years in the current country of residence. No Question of a Notice of Assessment from Canada Revenue Agency.
Sponsor is financially supported by Main Applicant currently, we are married for 5 years and have a child together (already a canadian citizen).

Problem:
Form IMM5532e asks in Part A, Question 1: Sponsors employment history and monthly salary/income. So if sponsor writes homemaker, supported by husband (Main Applicant), and 0 in the income field, Can CIC still ask from some proof of income or proof that the Sponsor will follow through with the undertaking of "financially sponsoring the main applicant for a period of two years". We plan to reestablish life in Canada, applicant is an MBA and has very employable credentials and sounds finances, Sponsor will also work.

Some guidance please.

 

[profiler]

The trouble here is that you will have to satisfy an officer that the sponsor can support the family without the need of social assistance. You can't really use the principal applicant's ability to earn, as it's the responsibility of the sponsor to ensure that Canada is not paying to sustain the sponsor's family for a period of 2 years after the application is approved and the PR issued. As a Canadian, you are guaranteeing to the government that there will be no use of social assistance for that period.

With this in mind, how do you plan to support yourselves when you (re)settle in Canada? Will you be staying with family/friends while looking for work? Will you live off savings? etc. You will have to provide this in a plan to satisfy the officer that you plan to resettle in Canada, and how you will avoid social assistance.

The good part here, is there is no low-income cutoff assessment done on the application for spouses. So, there is some flexibility in the income or savings that can be used to convince the officer.

 

[Screenager]

The trouble here is that you will have to satisfy an officer that the sponsor can support the family without the need of social assistance. You can't really use the principal applicant's ability to earn, as it's the responsibility of the sponsor to ensure that Canada is not paying to sustain the sponsor's family for a period of 2 years after the application is approved and the PR issued. As a Canadian, you are guaranteeing to the government that there will be no use of social assistance for that period.

With this in mind, how do you plan to support yourselves when you (re)settle in Canada? Will you be staying with family/friends while looking for work? Will you live off savings? etc. You will have to provide this in a plan to satisfy the officer that you plan to resettle in Canada, and how you will avoid social assistance.

The good part here, is there is no low-income cutoff assessment done on the application for spouses. So, there is some flexibility in the income or savings that can be used to convince the officer.

If the sponsor opens a bank account in Canada and deposits funds enough for 12 months, plus produces letters/offers from friends and family offering housing till the time we get a job, can this suffice? (To demonstrate willingness to follow through with the undertaking to sustain the family for 2 years.)

We are preparing a separate set of proofs of intent to reestablish life in Canada.

 

[Tubsmagee]

Sponsor is a citizen living exclusing outside of Canada, sponsoring her spouse for Immigration.

Facts:
Sponsor is a Home maker, a stay-at-home mom and hasn't had a job in the past 5 years in the current country of residence. No Question of a Notice of Assessment from Canada Revenue Agency.
Sponsor is financially supported by Main Applicant currently, we are married for 5 years and have a child together (already a canadian citizen).

Some guidance please.

Your situation is almost the same as mine. My wife sponsored me in 2007, as a homemaker (we had a CAN child, and another on way). She had only one year of employment in the previous five years, and that had ended over a year before the application. I don't have the application any longer, but I believe we stated intention to live off savings until established (which were minimal, <$4,000). There wasn't a problem, and my recollection is that my application was approved very quickly.

 

[Screenager]

Your situation is almost the same as mine. My wife sponsored me in 2007, as a homemaker (we had a CAN child, and another on way). She had only one year of employment in the previous five years, and that had ended over a year before the application. I don't have the application any longer, but I believe we stated intention to live off savings until established (which were minimal, <$4,000). There wasn't a problem, and my recollection is that my application was approved very quickly.

That's great to know. We should be good I think.
Did she also apply as a citizen living exclusively outside Canada?

 

[profiler]

If the sponsor opens a bank account in Canada and deposits funds enough for 12 months, plus produces letters/offers from friends and family offering housing till the time we get a job, can this suffice? (To demonstrate willingness to follow through with the undertaking to sustain the family for 2 years.)

We are preparing a separate set of proofs of intent to reestablish life in Canada.

You will want some concrete proof. So if the sponsor has a bank account in Canada that can work in concert with those letters, etc.

You will also need to clear up your CRA situation (assuming you didn't file or change your status to 'Non-Resident' with CRA). That should be pretty easy to clear up, but you will need to do this so you can get the Option C (or NoA) to prove you are not in collection of social assistance.

 

[Screenager]

You will want some concrete proof. So if the sponsor has a bank account in Canada that can work in concert with those letters, etc.

You will also need to clear up your CRA situation (assuming you didn't file or change your status to 'Non-Resident' with CRA). That should be pretty easy to clear up, but you will need to do this so you can get the Option C (or NoA) to prove you are not in collection of social assistance.

The sponsor has been living outside of Canada for 15 yrs. she was a still a minor when she left Canada. So, in this case will the CRA need to be officially notified of her non-resident status? so they can issue us Option C and we submit this Option C with our application? If ive understood it correctly.

 

[profiler]

The sponsor has been living outside of Canada for 15 yrs. she was a still a minor when she left Canada. So, in this case will the CRA need to be officially notified of her non-resident status? so they can issue us Option C and we submit this Option C with our application? If ive understood it correctly.

Yeah. As I said, it's pretty easy. Just advising. Call CRA, tell them the situation, and they can even file $0 returns for you on the phone if they need to.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Problem:
Form IMM5532e asks in Part A, Question 1: Sponsors employment history and monthly salary/income. So if sponsor writes homemaker, supported by husband (Main Applicant), and 0 in the income field, Can CIC still ask from some proof of income or proof that the Sponsor will follow through with the undertaking of "financially sponsoring the main applicant for a period of two years". We plan to reestablish life in Canada, applicant is an MBA and has very employable credentials and sounds finances, Sponsor will also work.

They won't request income proof if she has no income. Write a solid plan on how you will support yourselves in Canada. You can show your income, income potential, savings, investments etc.

There is no need to obtain an NOA or Option C for sponsors living abroad.

 

[Tubsmagee]

That's great to know. We should be good I think.
Did she also apply as a citizen living exclusively outside Canada?

Yes, she had been out of country more than five years. We didn't provide anything from CRA, and I'm pretty sure she didn't file 0 income those intervening years.

 

[mr-moose]

Hmmmm. Our situation is almost identical to that of the OP. My wife is sponsoring us, and has never actually lived in Canada. For the past 5+ years, she has lived as a stay-at-home Mum just being there for the kids.

The difference is, she has run her own photography business where income is somewhat variable ~$10k to $15K per year. I (the principal applicant) am the main breadwinner in the family. I have been an independent IT consultant for the past 6 years and do this via a sole trader company. My wife is a joint director of this company and so we provided 12 months worth of bank statements for both her photography business as well as our consultancy company bank accounts. We also included a photocopy of the documents used to set up the company showing that we are both directors of the company. As she has never lived in Canada before, we photocopied her previous years Australian tax return which shows both her income as well as mine.

I was under the impression that there is no minimum income requirements for the sponsor if it is a spousal application. I hope that is the case...as we've just submitted our application now.

I guess we'll find out.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hmmmm. Our situation is almost identical to that of the OP. My wife is sponsoring us, and has never actually lived in Canada. For the past 5+ years, she has lived as a stay-at-home Mum just being there for the kids.

The difference is, she has run her own photography business where income is somewhat variable ~$10k to $15K per year. I (the principal applicant) am the main breadwinner in the family. I have been an independent IT consultant for the past 6 years and do this via a sole trader company. My wife is a joint director of this company and so we provided 12 months worth of bank statements for both her photography business as well as our consultancy company bank accounts. We also included a photocopy of the documents used to set up the company showing that we are both directors of the company. As she has never lived in Canada before, we photocopied her previous years Australian tax return which shows both her income as well as mine.

I was under the impression that there is no minimum income requirements for the sponsor if it is a spousal application. I hope that is the case...as we've just submitted our application now.

There is no minimum but you do need to be able to prove that you can support yourselves in Canada without welfare. The proofs you included should be perfectly fine.

 

[Screenager]

They won't request income proof if she has no income. Write a solid plan on how you will support yourselves in Canada. You can show your income, income potential, savings, investments etc.

There is no need to obtain an NOA or Option C for sponsors living abroad.

Here's what we have decided to submit as part of the plan:
1) Open Sponsor's bank account in Canada and deposit 10-12K or more to demonstrate Sponsor has enough savings to support applicant for 2 years.
2) A Letter explaining sponsor's plan to use savings and working freelance to support the family while looking for full time work or establishing a business.
3) Letters from Sponsor's sister and brother-in-law that live in the same city offering to house us in their basement or extra room till we settle in and find work and stand on our feet.
4) Screenshots from job searches done by sponsor on Canadian Jobsites
5) Screenshots from email exchanges by sponsor and university about sponsor's plans to do a certificate course to better equip her for finding employment/marketing her services
6) Setting up / registering a business (offering writing services). This can be registered online even before we arrive in Canada.

Any suggestions for adding or subtracting from this list?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Here's what we have decided to submit as part of the plan:
1) Open Sponsor's bank account in Canada and deposit 10-12K or more to demonstrate Sponsor has enough savings to support applicant for 2 years.
2) A Letter explaining sponsor's plan to use savings and working freelance to support the family while looking for full time work or establishing a business.
3) Letters from Sponsor's sister and brother-in-law that live in the same city offering to house us in their basement or extra room till we settle in and find work and stand on our feet.
4) Screenshots from job searches done by sponsor on Canadian Jobsites

You seem to be focusing completely on the sponsor. You said your wife hasn't worked for 5 years. It is perfectly fine if the plan is for her to continue to stay at home and for you to support the family. IRCC looks at the family income/finances as a whole, not just the sponsor. This is how stay-at-home/student/unemployed/low-income people sponsor without issue.


1. Transferring the money to Canada is a good way to show proof of intent to return. In terms of showing how you will support yourselves, it doesn't matter if the money is in a Canadian account or a foreign account.

2. You need a family plan, not just a sponsor plan.

3. The letters can be good proof of both intent to return and financial support.

4. Given her 5 year unemployment and the fact that you support the family, job searches for yourself would be worth more, so be sure to include those as well.