Regulation 121 — Sponsorship application
Text of provision
Subject to subsection 25.1(1), a person who is a member of the family class or a family member of a member of the family class who makes an application under Division 6 of Part 5 must be a family member of the applicant or of the sponsor both at the time the application is made and at the time of the determination of the application.
Plain English
Regulation 121 provides that a sponsorship application is valid when it is made on the prescribed form, accompanied by the required fee, the signed undertaking, and documentation establishing the family relationship. For in-Canada spousal sponsorships, the application may be submitted to the Case Processing Centre in Canada; for outland sponsorships, the permanent residence application is filed abroad.
Practical effect
The sponsorship application and the permanent residence application are related but distinct. In the inland (in-Canada) process, both the sponsorship and PR application are submitted together and processed simultaneously. In the outland process, the sponsorship is approved in Canada first, then transferred to the relevant visa office abroad for the PR stage. Processing times differ significantly between the two streams and between visa offices. Maintaining open communication with IRCC during processing is important as additional documents may be requested.