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Moderator Moderator Posts: 4142
Posted On: 1/29/2021
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Hi there,
Thank you for reaching out! We will be happy to answer your question.
While co-signing for his ex-wife’s family does not prevent your husband from co-signing your family’s sponsorship, it is important to know how many people he may have a co-signed for, as this may affect whether or not he can co-sign for your family. Sponsorship is, essentially, a promise to support a person after they have immigrated to Canada. When co-signing, you take on the same obligations and must meet the same requirements as a sponsor. See the IRCC website for more information on co-signing a family sponsorship. Each person sponsored will, for example, increase the income requirements for your husband. Here, you can find a detailed chart of income requirements.
Your husband will remain financially responsible for all persons he sponsored as a co-signer for the duration of the term of commitment. If the sponsorship of his ex-wife’s family was ten years ago, he might no longer be financially responsible for some or all of these people, but if they benefited from social assistance, for any reason other than a disability, this would prevent your husband from co-signing any family sponsorships until that amount is repaid to the government. Social assistance includes, but is not limited to, things such as subsidized housing, tax credits, and childcare subsidies. You may find helpful information on the effect of social assistance on sponsorship on the IRCC website.
For parental sponsorships received before July 24, 2014, a sponsor, or co-singer, remains financially responsible for ten years. For other family members, this obligation is also ten years. See the IRCC website for more information on the duration of responsibility.
To find how many people your husband has co-signed for, you can file an Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) request online, unless you know for a fact it was just the two parents and two siblings. If you are fairly certain that your husband co-sponsored four people, and you are now sponsoring two people, then you need to determine if you have the sufficient income for the sponsorship. In the calculation, you must also include dependents in the household. You can find the requirements for the amount of income you and your husband must meet on the IRCC website.
So, the formula would be: the two parents of his ex-wife + her two siblings + you + your husband + the number of dependents in your home = the amount needed to meet the minimum necessary income.
An ATIP request requires proof of status in Canada, a five-dollar fee, and a consent form if you or someone else is making the request on your husband’s behalf. On the IRCC website, you can find further informationon making a request.
However, it is important to note that the processing of ATIP requests may be affected by delays due to the ongoing pandemic. You must still meet the deadline to apply or respond to the Invitation to Apply (ITA) for sponsorship. As such, this request should be filed as soon as possible, especially if the deadline in your ITA is soon.
Sincerely,
Your Settlement.Org team
Disclaimer:
This document does not contain legal advice.
This document was prepared with the assistance of PBSC University of Toronto law student volunteers. PBSC volunteers are not lawyers and they are not authorized to provide legal advice. This document contains general discussion of certain legal and related issues only. If you require legal advice, please consult with a lawyer.
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