The spousal sponsorship program is part of Family class immigration. Under this program, a Canadian Citizen or Permanent resident may sponsor a spouse or common-law partner for Canadian Permanent residency. The Canadian government allows citizen and permanent resident of Canada to sponsor members of the family class, but it required that arriving immigrants receive care and support from their sponsors.

In Order to receive a visa through this immigration program both parties sponsor and sponsored must be able to prove their relationship and should be under one of the three categories:

• Spouse
  Means that Sponsor and sponsored person are legally married and have legal document to support their claim
• Common Law Partner
  Common-law relationship both parties should live together continuously for at least 1 year excluding brief absence of business or family reasons
• Conjugal Partner
  A conjugal partner is a foreign nation residing outside Canada who is in a conjugal relationship with a sponsor for at least 1 yea but could not live with the sponsor as a couple.

NOTE: Canada recognizes same-sex marriage, and same-sex partners may be eligible to apply under any of the above three categories, provided they meet all eligibility requirements.

Requirement of Spouse or Common Law partnership

Requirement for Sponsor	Requirement for Sponsored person
Must be at least 18 years of age	Must be of legal age to get married
And should have clean record of offence nor should be in bankruptcy	Must be able to have clean record of offense in home country
Must not  have spouse sponsored in last 5 years	Should be medically healthy
Must be Canadian Citizen or Permanent resident

This sponsorship program allows a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to sponsor his or her spouse/common-law partner for permanent resident status, regardless of where the spouse is currently residing.

There are two parts to the spousal sponsorship application

1. The Canadian or Permanent resident applies to sponsor his or her spouse or common-law partner; and
2. The spouse or common-law partner applies for Permanent residence

Outland Sponsorship Program

The outland sponsorship route is generally chosen when the sponsored person is living outside Canada. However, it is possible for a spouse or common-law partner living in Canada to apply through the outland program. This option may permit the sponsored person to travel in and out of Canada throughout the application process but it’s always discretion of Canadian immigration authority to decide whether the sponsored person may re-enter Canada or not.

Outland application is processed through the visa office that serves the applicant’s country of Origin or where they have resided legally for at least one year. In the case of spousal and common-law partner sponsorships, IRCC committed to issuing visas as quickly as possible in order to rapidly reunite families. This is especially true for outland application as they are already together.

Inland Sponsorship Program

Inland sponsorship category, the foreign spouse/common-law partner must have legally entered in Canada. If the sponsored person already has a work or study permit, he or she may continue to work or study as long as the permit is valid.

Inland application generally takes longer as compared to the outland, however person being sponsored through the inland program may be eligible to get an open work permit while his or her application is being processed.  If there is a need for an interview than IRCC will notify in written of the date, time and location of the interview and all documents which are required.

No matter which program the applicant choose but they have to meet specific requirement in order to be considered eligible.