Top 9 Reasons for Canada Spousal Sponsorship Refusal and their solutions

Reasons for Canada Spousal Sponsorship Refusal: Canada does not like separating families and this is why the immigration service of the country has plans to unite more than 240,000 couples via spousal sponsorship by 2025. The current processing times for a spousal visa is about 13 months for inland spousal sponsorship and 16 months for outland spousal sponsorship.

The record has shown that IRCC has processed about 80% of spousal visa/sponsorship applications submitted within a 12 months period. So, your Canada Spousal sponsorship/visa can be among the next ones to be processed and approved.

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However, there are a few common reasons why IRCC might refuse your Canada Spousal Sponsorship/Visa application. In this article, I’ll tell you about the Top 10 Reasons for Canada’s Spousal Sponsorship Refusal and their solutions.

Reasons for Canada Spousal Sponsorship Refusal

1. Not Admissible

Applicants who are found to be inadmissible due to criminal or medical reasons can have their sponsorship application refused.

One of the reasons why IRCC will reject your Spousal Sponsorship application is not been admissible due to criminal or medical reasons. Simply put, if your spouse has a criminal record in their home country or has serious health issues, these can make IRCC refuse the application.

Possible Solution:

Tell your spouse to avoid getting any criminal records in their home country. An offense such as DUI (Driving Under the Influence) conviction in their home country is considered a criminal offense and is a ground for not being admissible for the Canadian Spousal Sponsorship program.

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2. No Genuine Relationship

An immigration officer will reject your spousal sponsorship application if they feel there is no genuine relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored spouse. If you can’t prove the connection between yourself and your spouse, then the spousal visa will likely get rejected.

Possible Solution:

Establish a genuine relationship from the get-go and show IRCC that the person is actually your spouse. Submit relevant documents to support your claim. Some of the things you can do to prove your relationship is genuine are:

1. Submit your Marriage certificate
2. A wife should submit a change of name certificate including the new paper publication
3. Marriage photos (include the ones you took with family members on your marriage day)
4. Photos of the whole family at home (if you have children)
5. Any other related documents to prove your relationship with your supposed spouse are genuine.

Note: The spousal sponsorship program is not designed for you to use as a medium to bring someone else to Canada. It’s designed for the purpose of bringing your family to join you in Canada. So, if you can’t prove that your relationship with the said spouse is genuine, the application will be thrown out the window.

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3. Misrepresentation

If the sponsor or sponsored spouse gives inaccurate information or misrepresents oneself throughout the application procedure, the application may be refused. Lying or sending false information or forged documents to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is a severe offense and can lead to years of ban.

Sometimes, applicants, unauthorized agents, or consultants unknowingly provide incorrect dates or just an estimated date. The above can be caused due to a clerical error and it’s considered misrepresentation if IRCC finds out.

Possible Solution:

Applicants, unauthorized agents, or consultants should double-check the information they upload to IRCC. Check dates and make sure the information on documents is accurate.

4. Insufficient Financial support

A sponsor needs to show that they have enough money to support their spouse once they arrive in Canada. The application may be denied if they don’t give enough proof of financial support. Note that according to IRCC, a spouse has 3 years of financial obligation and the immigration officer does assess the financial situation of the sponsor.

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Possible Solution:

The sponsor should have sufficient money and this could be in form of pay stubs or a balance in the saving account. The spouse can also provide proof of financial support to assist the sponsor.

5. Inconsistent Answers in Interview

Sometimes, to clear out the doubts in an application or just to establish if a relationship is genuine, an Immigration officer may call some sponsored spouses for an interview. The sponsored spouse should use this opportunity to satisfy the officer by providing correct and accurate answers.

Note that lies can be easily detected based on the answers provided by the sponsored spouse. If the answers provided are not accurate or inconsistent with the information on the submitted documents, then the application might be rejected.

Possible Solution:

1. Know almost all the details of your spouse
2. Know important dates e.g. date of marriage, etc.
3. Know background information about your spouse

6. Failure to Declare all the dependents

Declaring all the dependents on the application is very important to getting your application approved. You should also accurately declare your non-accompanying family members on the family information form. If the sponsor fails to declare all of their dependents in their application or if their financial assistance is judged insufficient for all dependents, the application may be denied.

Possible Solution:

1. Accurately declare the number of dependents
2. Show sufficient funds to care for them when they arrive in Canada
3. Clearly declare family members that won’t be coming to Canada

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7. Proof of Residency

The sponsor must prove that they’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada. They should be residing in Canada to submit a sponsorship application. And their application could be refused if they are unable to show adequate proof of residence.

Possible Solution:

The sponsor should have a place they’re staying in Canada. Understand that the more dependents you plan on bringing to Canada, the bigger the space or your house live in. For example, you can’t bring a family of 6 to a one-bedroom apartment.

8. Previous Sponsorship Defaults

A sponsor who has previously failed to fulfill a sponsorship commitment may be judged ineligible for a new spousal sponsorship. In addition, the spouse will not be able to sponsor their partner, if the previous sponsorship undertaking has not yet ended.

9. Incomplete Application

Make sure to submit a complete application because an application can be refused if the application form is incomplete. The application is also deemed incomplete if the required fees are not paid or if sufficient information is not provided. Immigration officers always have the discretion of refusing an application or they may ask for additional documents.

Possible Solution:

1. Fill out the application form
2. Pay any required fee associated with the application
3. Provide enough information for your application

These are some of the common reasons for Canada’s Spousal Sponsorship Refusal. I have also added some possible solutions to help guide you on what to do when applying for spousal sponsorship/visa. If you have any questions or need help, please use the Contact Us page to send us a message.