Canada's Parent And Grandparent Program Likely To Re-Open In 2015

17 Nov 2014

Canada’s parent and grandparent immigration program is now available and applications are likely to re-open early in the coming year.

Grandparents and parents of the Canadian nationals and permanent residents are qualified for Canadian residency and possibly, for citizenship under parent and grandparent program (PGP).

Conversely, parent and grandparent program has been closed for nine months, as the cap of applications for this program was achieved within a few weeks.

During the initial week of February 2014, CIC (citizenship and immigration Canada) has announced that already 5,000 applications had been accepted and the program would be closed, and the new round of applications will be re-opened in the next year.

As of now, no information regarding the start of 2015 program have been disclosed, however, the industry leaders suggest there is no such reason for the program to remain closed.  The last application round for PGP started on January 2, 2014.

Interested candidates are suggested to prepare their files and be ready to submit their application once the acceptance of applications resumes, as the popularity of this immigration programs remains very high.

Canadian national or permanent resident age should be at least 18 years, to sponsor their parents or grandparents. However, the sponsor must meet the minimum financial requirements, which shows the finances for three years before the lodge of application and concur to accompany the family members, for a 20-year period of, if required.

On 5 November 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has closed the accepting of applications for the family immigration stream because of long processing times and backlog of applications. From then, CIC has been following the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification, planning to minimize the backlog.

During 2012-2013, around 50,000 parents and grandparents were accepted as Canadian permanent residents and further 20,000 were admitted in 2014, out of which 5,000 were latest applicants.

In the meantime, a substitute option was extended under the Super visa Program.

According to the Super visa Program, grandparents and parents of Canadian citizens and residents can apply for a visitor visa for a maximum period of two years, and extend this visa for 10- year period.

Under this program each month about 1,000 applications were accepted in the previous year, and an average of 87% of applications are granted.

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