Parents and Grandparents sponsorship application cap increased to 20,000 in 2019

To help reunite even more parents and grandparents with their families in Canada, today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced that the Government of Canada will accept up to 20 000 applications for the sponsorship of parents and grandparents, in 2019. This is 4 times the number of applications accepted when the program reopened in 2014, when the cap was set at 5000 applications.

This decision to increase the number of applications that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will accept for processing is a result of continually high demand in the Parents and Grandparents (PGP) Program and the fact that we have significantly reduced the inventory of applications. The inventory has dropped from a peak of 167 000 people, in 2011, to just under 26 000 people, in June 2018.

Minister Hussen also announced that, as a result of listening to stakeholders and closely examining the PGP Program, the government is making further changes to the application intake process that will streamline access to the program and improve client experience.

Using this modified intake process will give the government more flexibility in the application process, ensuring that we receive as many applications as possible.

In 2019, as in previous years, the Interest to Sponsor form will be available online, at the beginning of the year, so eligible potential sponsors can let IRCC know they wish to sponsor their parents and grandparents to come to Canada. However, instead of randomly selecting the sponsors to apply, we will invite them to submit an application to sponsor their parents and grandparents based on the order in which we receive their Interest to Sponsor forms. This process will continue until we reach the 2019 cap of 20 000 complete applications.

Further details of these improvements to the system will be announced this fall.

Quotes

“Over the last few years, we have made substantial improvements to the parents and grandparents sponsorship process and eliminated the backlog of applications. Now, by accepting even more applications this year and next as well as enhancing the intake system, the Government of Canada is demonstrating its commitment to helping families live, work and thrive together, in Canada.”

– The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

 

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2018/08/more-families-to-reunite-in-canada.html

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