FAMILY CLASS SPONSORSHIP PROCESSING TIME

Processing time for a family sponsorship application varies depending on the category, completeness of a package and any concerns an immigration or visa officer has. 

Sponsoring the following family members or relatives will take:

• 1 year - spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, and dependent child.

• 2 years - parents and grandparents.

• 31 months - Humanitarian and Compassionate cases - H&C.  Any category of family sponsorship may involve a request for consideration of humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

• Sponsorship time for adopted children and other relatives should be checked with the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on a case by case basis.

Complications, such as missing documents, wrong or incomplete forms, a wrong type of application may cause a delay or even return of an application. 

IRCC may change the processing time for certain categories depending on the backlog and other factors. 

To check current family sponsorship processing time, visit the IRCC Check Processing Times page. For the already submitted applications, use the IRCC Check Your Application Status tool. Also, a family sponsorship application can be linked to an online account.