tuyen said:
What about the income requirement? Without a job, he would be classified as unemployed while trying to sponsor a wife and child.
If he has $30,000 in the bank, that might help persuade CIC (assuming he includes a letter clearly stating it and proving it), but his application would still be going in for processing as unemployed.
There is no income requirement for sponsoring a spouse and dependent. The income requirement only applies if the dependent has dependents.
Here is the IRPR section (Section 133) that refers to minimum income (and no social assistance):
(j) if the sponsor resides
(i) in a province other than a province
referred to in paragraph 131(b), has a
total income that is at least equal to
the minimum necessary income, and
(ii) in a province referred to in paragraph
131(b), is able, within the
meaning of the laws of that province
and as determined by the competent
authority of that province, to fulfil the
undertaking referred to in that paragraph;
and
(k) is not in receipt of social assistance
for a reason other than disability.
However, there is an exception to this rule:
(4) Paragraph (1)(j) does not apply if
the sponsored person is
(a) the sponsor's spouse, common-law
partner or conjugal partner and has no
dependent children;
(b) the sponsor's spouse, common-law
partner or conjugal partner and has a dependent
child who has no dependent
children; or
(c) a dependent child of the sponsor
who has no dependent children or a person
referred to in paragraph 117(1)(g).
In the OP's case, the exemption applies based upon (b)and (c).
While CIC presumably can refuse to allow a sponsorship application if they are convinced the sponsor cannot meet the obligations of the sponsorship application, I have seen multiple successful applications in which the sponsor has no recent or current employment and yet is still allowed to sponsor - in such cases, they
do consider the skills and abilities of the applicant as well.
One thing to mention here is that the rules differ for Quebec (this is alluded to in the rules).