Sponsor (spousal) in receipt of Social assistance according to IMM Officer

[VermiciousKnish]

Hey all,

I'm just a little confused as to what the rules are regarding social assistance. A spousal sponsor does not need to meet any income requirement. However, they are not supposed to be in receipt of any social assistance other than disability. What is the reason for this?

Sponsor in this case made an application to sponsor her spouse in Jan of 2016. Sponsor fell ill in May of 2016 and was hospitalized for a serious illness. At this point in time she applied for welfare and child benefits (had one child together with her spouse being sponsored) because she could no longer afford to make mortgage payments after losing her job. IMM officer now says that sponsor is ineligible because she is receiving social assistance and therefore will forfeit application. Officer says onus is on her to prove she is not in receipt of any social assistance. Sponsor is still in the hospital.

Can she still be in receipt of these benefits and continue her sponsorship? Should she drop the benefits? Is it too late for that now?

 

[CDNPR2014]

a sponsor can't be accepting welfare from canada and be eligible to sponsor a spouse. if they need government assistance to support themselves, how are they going to support a spouse just starting out in Canada?

if the sponsor wants to qualify for sponsoring a spouse, then she needs to stop receiving the benefits AND she needs to get a letter from the agency she gets the support from noting the date she cancelled her welfare support. if that's not possible, then this application should be withdrawn with a new application should be submitted when the sponsor is well enough to support themselves and an immigrant spouse in canada without welfare. in that application, the sponsor will be responsible for proving they no longer receive welfare support.

 

[scylla]

The officer is right. This is an extremely basic rule.

A sponsor cannot be receiving welfare / social assistance and qualify as a sponsor. Child benefits are fine. Welfare / social assistance is not. Sponsor needs to get off assistance before re-submitting the application and remain off assistance while the application is being processed.

While the sponsor does not need to demonstrate minimum income - they do need to demonstrate that their spouse won't place a financial burden on Canada.

Sponsor should wait until they are off social assistance for a few months before reapplying.

 

[VermiciousKnish]

The officer is right. This is an extremely basic rule.

Sponsor should wait until they are off social assistance for a few months before reapplying.

This is really tragic scenario and not super simple. The spouse came down with an illness that landed her in the hospital. For this reason she applied for welfare because she was afraid she would lose her house. The illness progressed and she is currently in a coma. The applicant is caring for their 1 year old child but there is no positive prognosis for the spouse. She did not sign a power of attorney and can not simply withdraw the application.

 

[scylla]

This is really tragic scenario and not super simple. The spouse came down with an illness that landed her in the hospital. For this reason she applied for welfare because she was afraid she would lose her house. The illness progressed and she is currently in a coma. The applicant is caring for their 1 year old child but there is no positive prognosis for the spouse. She did not sign a power of attorney and can not simply withdraw the application.

You should expect the sponsorship application to be refused unfortunately.

Once the application is refused, I would recommend the applicant apply for PR under H&C.

Hope things work out for the sponsor. Very sad story...

 

[VermiciousKnish]

Is it possible to apply for an H and C while the spousal sponsorship application is still in progress? If the result is likely a rejection then it would probably be worthwhile to get the application going now.

 

[Aquakitty]

Is it possible to apply for an H and C while the spousal sponsorship application is still in progress? If the result is likely a rejection then it would probably be worthwhile to get the application going now.

Did they apply inland or outland? I think the PA can apply for H&C at any time. I'm assuming this is an inland application, so he needs to inform the office ASAP about his intent to file for H&C. Take a look at this: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/handc.asp


I believe the only form he'd have to send is IMM 5283. Along with all the proof for the H&C consideration. It might be good to consult with an attorney, or at least do some research and read all the documentation carefully.

This would definitely qualify for "best interests of a child".

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/perm/hc/intake.asp