WHATSAPPAs the Government of Canada has already finished issuing invitations to the potential sponsors of its Parents and Grandparents Program, also known as the PGP, it is now up to those invited to submit their complete application within the stipulated 60 days.
The Parents and Grandparents Program allows eligible Canadian citizens and permanent residents above the age of 18 to sponsor their parents and/or grandparents for permanent residence in the country. For the year 2019, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has set a target to accept a total of 20,000 complete applications to the PGP.
The first step for potential sponsors to apply to the PGP for sponsoring their parents/grandparents for permanent residence in Canada is to submit an Interest to Sponsor form during the annual submission period, which usually occurs in January. The intake this year was held on January 28, when the PGP accepted a total of 27,000 Interest to Sponsor forms on a first-in, first-served basis. As PGP is one of the most sought-after programs, IRCC reached its intake limit in less than 10 minutes.
IRCC has issued the invitations to apply in the same order it received the Interest to Sponsor forms. The invitations were issued after a review to ensure the eligibility of the applicants and remove duplicate applications, if any. The IRCC began issuing invitations on April 24 and completed the process on April 27.
The invited sponsors can now submit their complete application along with the supporting documents within 60 days of receiving the invitation. In case those who have successfully submitted the Interest to Sponsor forms are yet to receive the invitation to apply, the IRCC will be keeping their submission and contact information.
According to information available on IRCC’s website, it may conduct another round of accepting the interest to sponsor forms in 2019, if it thinks Canada needs more potential sponsors.
In 2018 also, IRCC held a second round of invitations to apply to the PGP at the end of July. It also increased its annual target of complete applications from 10,000 to 17,000 in the year.
Would you like to know more about sponsoring your parents/grandparents for permanent residence in Canada? Then don’t hesitate to contact us
