Spousal sponsorship with dependent children

[Isfeidirlinn]

My girlfriend can't sponsor me because she is a single parent in receipt of social welfare. I have a temporary permit to work in Canada right now.
Assuming I saved up an amount of money that I could give them to live on for a few months, is it possible for her to just sign off the welfare, sponsor me, and then get back on it?
Or if I marry her, do I need to be earning enough money to support all of us? Assuming it will be outland sponsorship, how can that even be proved, since I would have to quit and get a new job if the sponsorship is approved.
As her spouse what then is my responsibility towards the children, and how would my income affect their eligibility for welfare?

 

[screech339]

Your girlfriend is not suppose to be on welfare of any kind during the PR sponsorship and even after you land as PR for 3 years as she is responsible for you for 3 years.

It doesn't matter how your income would affect her ability to get welfare. It does affect it but the point is that she cannot be on welfare when she applies for PR, during PR and after you land as PR for 3 years. She would have to submit Option C print out and this is where CIC will see that she has been on welfare and thus may make it difficult to sponsor you depending on how long she has been on welfare. CIC needs to be convinced that she is not on welfare at time of submitting application, during PR sponsorship process and 3 years after you land.

 

[zardoz]

I believe that she would have to stay off welfare for many months, until all of the sponsorship application is completed. It's also possible that CIC may, given her history, delay her approval until they are convinced that she no longer requires welfare. We have seen some refusals where the sponsor has only recently come off welfare. I'm assuming that she would not require welfare once you are a PR and living together.

 

[screech339]

As zardoz mentioned, it is likely that your gf would have to wait a year of not being on welfare before she even qualifies to sponsor you.

There are cases whereby CIC disqualified the sponsor due to being off welfare before submitting PR application and haven't been on it since.

Other times, not very often, CIC has allowed the sponsorship to continue despite just getting off welfare just prior to submitting application.

 

[Isfeidirlinn]

What a mess. So basically I would have to support her for a year, from abroad, until such time that CIC accepts that our combined income can support them?
As I understood, I would not be able to go on welfare in the following 3 years, but I thought that she would be able to, if anything went wrong.

 

[screech339]

What a mess. So basically I would have to support her for a year, from abroad, until such time that CIC accepts that our combined income can support them?
As I understood, I would not be able to go on welfare in the following 3 years, but I thought that she would be able to, if anything went wrong.

No, she cannot be on welfare herself since it basically mean that the government is financially supporting you if she goes on it herself which is a no no.

 

[zardoz]

In fact, could she even claim welfare if you are providing an income?

 

[Isfeidirlinn]

In fact, could she even claim welfare if you are providing an income?

I don't think so but I wonder how my provision of an income can be recognised if I am not in Canada. Maybe I would have to transfer funds and give payslips. I have not come across any cases of this kind of thing though. I don't know how my wages can be calculated as household income when I will not be resident in the country.

 

[screech339]

I don't think so but I wonder how my provision of an income can be recognised if I am not in Canada. Maybe I would have to transfer funds and give payslips. I have not come across any cases of this kind of thing though. I don't know how my wages can be calculated as household income when I will not be resident in the country.

Once you are married, the gf must report to Canada revenue that she is married. Once that happens, CRA will want report of total income, including yours if you are supporting her as she is a resident of Canada.

You won't pay taxes on it but CRA will need to know world wide income to determine her ability to be on welfare.

 

[Isfeidirlinn]

Thanks both. Starting to get my head round this now.

 

[TplusCC]

No, she cannot be on welfare herself since it basically mean that the government is financially supporting you if she goes on it herself which is a no no.

I need some clarification if possible. I'm a sponsor who has just been approved and the application is now on the way to the embassy. I have a severe form of heart disease and was an ODSP recipient for almost a decade. I went off ODSP to take advantage of an educational opportunity, where I was forced to give up my pension. I recently re-applied and was denied. I'm a mother of a two year old and desperately need an income. I have been surviving in the Child tax benefit and was expecting ODSP to kick in. So now I am forced to seek out OW but I'm not sure what will happen to my application. According to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations I should be able to apply once my husband is here, while he's looking for work. Here is the quote. Does anyone know anything about this?


133. (1) A sponsorship application shall only be approved by an officer if, on the day on which the application was filed and from that day until the day a decision is made with respect to the application, there is evidence that the sponsor

(k) is not in receipt of social assistance for a reason other than disability.


It looks to me like I can apply for OW once my application is approved on the embassy end. As in there is no regulation stopping my application.

Feedback appreciated.

 

[Rob_TO]

My girlfriend can't sponsor me because she is a single parent in receipt of social welfare. I have a temporary permit to work in Canada right now.
Assuming I saved up an amount of money that I could give them to live on for a few months, is it possible for her to just sign off the welfare, sponsor me, and then get back on it?

First off, you need to be officially married or common-law before you can even think about sponsorship.

Technically, yes she can go off welfare, sponsor you, and then apply for welfare again after you are fully approved as PR. The only official rule on welfare for a sponsor, is they must be off it completely as of the date of the application, and right up until PR is approved.

However there are many things that can go wrong.
- CIC will see she has been on welfare in the past 12 months, and they will investigate. The welfare office will have had to completely remove her from their list of active recipients, before the date she submits the PR app.
- CIC will want to see a financial plan, on how you both intend to live in Canada and support yourselves. If they are not satisfied with your plan, they could refuse the PR
- After getting PR, she would need to re-qualify for welfare. I'm not sure how that works when her family situation has changed and her spouse (you) is PR and can't themselves receive welfare.