Intake process for family class applications for parents and grandparents

This page contains instructions on the intake process for the sponsorship of parents and grandparents.

On this page

• Program model for the 2022 intake of parents and grandparents applications
• Round of invitations
• Randomized selection of intake
• Interest to Sponsor form
• Invitation to Apply letters
• Determining whether to accept sponsorship and permanent residence applications for processing
• Accepting parent and grandparent applications within the cap for processing

Program model for the 2022 intake of parents and grandparents applications

Similar to the 2021 intake of parents and grandparents applications, to ensure all applications are received by the end of the 2022 calendar year, for the 2022 intake, the Department will select potential sponsors from the remaining Interest to Sponsor forms that were received in 2020 rather than conducting a new Interest to Sponsor form submission period.

Round of invitations

Due to time constraints, only 1 round of Invitation to Apply letters will be issued for the 2022 intake. The Department will issue more Invitation to Apply letters than the annual cap on applications since previous years have shown that not everyone who receives an Invitation to Apply letter will submit an application. For the 2022 intake, IRCC will randomly select and invite potential sponsors from the remaining pool of Interest to Sponsor forms submitted in 2020.

Randomized selection of intake

IRCC is using a randomized selection intake process to manage the intake of applications for the 2022 intake. Ministerial Instructions authorize the implementation of the randomized selection intake process and specify the number of complete applications the Department can accept for processing in a calendar year.

Interest to Sponsor form

Potential sponsors had a 3-week period in 2020 (from October 13, 2020, to November 3, 2020) to let the Department know that they were interested in sponsoring their parents or grandparents by submitting an Interest to Sponsor form on IRCC’s website. Potential sponsors uploaded a copy of their status in Canada document with their Interest to Sponsor form, as this assisted IRCC in identifying duplicate submissions. All fields on the Interest to Sponsor form had to be completed in order for a potential sponsor to be considered for randomized selection.

The Interest to Sponsor form is not an application for sponsorship. From among those who successfully submitted an Interest to Sponsor form in 2020 and were not selected to apply as part of the 2020 or 2021 intakes, the Department will randomly select potential sponsors and invite them to submit a sponsorship application as part of the 2022 intake. A new Interest to Sponsor form will not open in 2022.

• Client confirmation numbers for successfully completed forms
• Supporting documents
• Changes to the Interest to Sponsor form after submission

Client confirmation numbers for successfully completed forms

If the potential sponsor was successful in submitting an Interest to Sponsor form online in 2020, a confirmation screen displayed a computer-generated confirmation number, which the potential sponsor was instructed to write down. The Department also automatically sent the potential sponsor a computer-generated email, which included their confirmation number.

Potential sponsors who completed an alternative copy of the Interest to Sponsor form received a pre-generated confirmation number (either by mail or by email). IT Operations pre-generated and provided a list of confirmation numbers to the Centralized Network – Headquarters (CN-HQ) before the 2020 intake launched. The pre-generated confirmation numbers had a slightly different numerical format than confirmation numbers that were randomly generated by the online submissions.

If the potential sponsor’s Interest to Sponsor form was not successfully submitted online in 2020, they would have seen an error message on the webpage advising them that their submission was not transmitted and they had to try again.

Supporting documents

Potential sponsors uploaded and included a scanned or photographed copy of 1 of the following status in Canada documents with their Interest to Sponsor form:

• permanent resident card (PR card) with both sides scanned
• Record of Landing form [IMM 1000], only if the sponsor has not received a permanent resident card
• Confirmation of Permanent Residence form [IMM 5292 or IMM 5688]
• Canadian citizenship certificate or card with both sides scanned
• Canadian birth certificate
• birth certificate from the Quebec Directeur de l’état civil
• passport page showing all of the following:
  • number
  • date of issue and expiration
  • photo
  • first name
  • surname
  • place and date of birth
• Secure Certificate of Indian Status (SCIS)

When potential sponsors submitted their Interest to Sponsor form in 2020, the potential sponsor’s status in Canada document did not have to be valid.

If a potential sponsor is invited to submit a sponsorship application for the 2022 intake, a copy of the same status in Canada document that was submitted with their 2020 Interest to Sponsor form must be included in their application. In the case of any difference in information between the Interest to Sponsor form and the sponsorship application, the application must include an explanation of the reason for the change in information and satisfactory evidence that the application pertains to the same potential sponsor as identified on the Interest to Sponsor form submitted in 2020.

The status in Canada document’s unique number helps IRCC to more accurately identify duplicate Interest to Sponsor forms. Unlike names and birth dates, which can sometimes be the same for different people, there should not be any duplicate status in Canada document numbers. These documents will also contain the sponsor’s name, date of birth, and other identifying information, which can be used to validate the information the person filled out in the 2020 Interest to Sponsor form, and to confirm that they were invited to apply.

Changes to the Interest to Sponsor form after submission

In the event that a potential sponsor no longer has access to the email account that they used to submit their Interest to Sponsor form in 2020, they will be able to indicate that they have a new email address through the “Sponsor your parents and grandparents: Find your lost confirmation number” tool, which becomes active online once all Invitation to Apply letters have been sent out. Through this tool, potential sponsors have the opportunity to enter and confirm their new email address if the email address they used to submit their Interest to Sponsor form in 2020 is no longer active. This tool does not update a potential sponsor’s email address on the Interest to Sponsor form submitted in 2020 or update their email address on their prospective application, but it gives IRCC the ability to communicate with potential sponsors who have been locked out of the email account that they used to submit their Interest to Sponsor form in 2020. Through this tool, potential sponsors will also be able to receive their confirmation number and a copy of their Invitation to Apply letter, if applicable. All change requests, such as name, mailing address and email address, must be listed in the potential sponsor’s sponsorship application, along with evidence and an explanation for the change.

Invitation to Apply letters

The selection of potential sponsors to be invited to apply for the 2022 intake occurs from the already randomized list of the remaining Interest to Sponsor forms submitted in 2020. An agent in CN uploads the selected number of email addresses to a bulk email tool, starting with the first sequential entry that has not already been invited. This bulk email tool sends potential sponsors an Invitation to Apply letter, which invites them to submit a sponsorship and permanent residence application package. For the 2022 intake, IRCC will send out 23,100 Invitation to Apply letters with the goal of accepting up to 15,000 complete applications. IRCC sends out more Invitation to Apply letters than the 15,000 application goal because not everyone who receives an Invitation to Apply letter will submit an application.

Those invited to apply have a minimum of 60 days from the date of their Invitation to Apply letter to submit their sponsorship application and permanent residence application package. All applications for the 2022 intake must be received by IRCC by December 24, 2022, at 11:59pm EST. The Invitation to Apply letter is not transferrable to other potential sponsors or applicants. In cases where the Invitation to Apply letter email is undeliverable, IRCC agents will print the email and mail it to the sponsor’s mailing address as identified on their Interest to Sponsor form submitted in 2020.

Determining whether to accept sponsorship and permanent residence applications for processing

The sponsorship and the permanent residence applications must be submitted together online through the Permanent Residence Portal. If there is an authorized representative, the authorized representative must submit the sponsorship and permanent residence applications together online through the Representative Permanent Residence (PR) Portal. The application package submitted online must be complete as per the Document Checklist requirements; however, documents may be requested in accordance with the deadlines in the Ministerial Instructions. At minimum, the required fees as well as the IMM 0008 and IMM 1344 forms, containing both the biographic and contact information for the sponsor and principal applicant must be provided. If applications do not meet these completeness requirements, they may be rejected as per sections 10 and 11 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) and returned to the client through the Permanent Residence Portal or the Representative PR Portal.

If an authorized representative, sponsor or applicant cannot apply online through the Permanent Residence Portal and requires accommodations, including for a disability, they may request an application in an alternative format (which will be available in paper copy, braille or large print) of the 2022 parents and grandparents application package by sending an email to IRCC at IRCC.2022PGPALTRequest-2022PGPDemandeALT@cic.gc.ca.

If the authorized representative, sponsor or applicant chooses to receive the alternative format application package by email, IRCC will send them the links to the application package, which they can then print. The clients must then fill out and sign the hardcopy forms and return the forms by mail or courier to the mailing address in the Department’s response. Otherwise, the authorized representative, sponsor or applicant can choose to have the alternative format application package (notably if a request is made for braille or large print) mailed to their address to complete.

The authorized representative, sponsor or applicant must include a copy of IRCC’s response, which is called the cover letter, with their mailed application submission to demonstrate that they received approval from the Department to submit their application in an alternative format. Any applications submitted via mail that do not include IRCC’s cover letter response (giving the authorized representative, sponsor or applicant the approval to apply in an alternative format) may be rejected as per the Ministerial Instructions, as submitting applications electronically is mandatory unless an exemption has been granted by the Department. Processing agents have been granted access to the GCDocs folder owned by the Client Experience Branch in order to verify and confirm the cover letters that have been sent out authorizing an alternative format application submission. The deadline to submit the alternative format application to IRCC is the same deadline that is indicated on the Invitation to Apply letter.

The cover letter authorizing an authorized representative, sponsor or applicant to submit an application in an alternative format must match the sponsor’s information (name and confirmation number) on the Invitation to Apply letter. Any applications where the 2 letters partially match must contain an explanation for the discrepancy; if one is not provided, the processing office may request one. Any applications where the 2 letters do not match at all may be rejected.

Accepting parent and grandparent applications within the cap for processing

When agents at the Case Processing Centre – Mississauga receive the sponsorship and permanent residence application electronically or in an alternative format (paper, large print or braille) (if the authorized representative, sponsor or applicant cannot apply online through the Permanent Residence Portal and require accommodations, including for a disability), they will verify that:

• The application has been received by the due date indicated on the Invitation to Apply letter.
• The sponsor has been invited to apply (that is, they received a confirmation number) and that the information in the person’s application matches the information provided on the Interest to Sponsor form submitted in 2020 (validation process).
• The application meets completeness requirements, as per sections 10 and 11 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) and the Ministerial Instructions.

Priority of processing

IRCC will continue to process applications to sponsor parents and grandparents based on the first in, first out principle. This means that new applications submitted in this category when the 2022 intake opens will be placed in the queue behind the applications in the existing inventory of sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents.

Validating applications

An agent in CN validates the name, date of birth, address, country of birth, name of potential sponsor, and status in Canada document number by comparing the information in the sponsorship application to the information in the master list of information provided in the 2020 Interest to Sponsor forms. Agents scan a bar code on the Invitation to Apply letter (which the applicant submits with their application) and identify the associated 2020 Interest to Sponsor form. From here, 3 scenarios are possible:

• an exact match is found
• a partial match is found
• no similar entry is found

If the application has one or more discrepancies, the officer reviews any explanatory documents sent by the applicant and either finds that the application passes validation or sends a letter to the potential sponsor requesting more information within a 30-day timeframe, thus giving them an opportunity to explain the partial match. The officer then reviews any response received and assesses either passed or failed validation in the Peregrine tool.

If the application does not match or appear similar to any Interest to Sponsor form submission from 2020, the application is considered to have failed validation and is not accepted for processing. The decision is recorded (as above) and the application is returned to the client with an explanatory letter.