Family Class category is the Canadian immigration program that bridges Canadian citizens and permanent residents with their family members outside Canada. Through this program, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident may sponsor his or her spouse/common-law partner/conjugal partner, parent(s) and grandparent(s), as well as natural and adopted dependent child/children.

Requirements for the Sponsor:

• The sponsor must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident;
• The sponsor must be 18 years of age or older;
• The sponsor must not be in a prison, or under a removal order (if the sponsor is a permanent resident);
• The sponsor must not have filed bankruptcy and should have sufficient means to support the dependent child.

Requirements for the dependent child:

• Must not be a spouse or common-law partner of the sponsor;
• Must be less than 22 years of age;
• If the dependent child is above 22 years of age, then the person need to prove that he or she had been financially supported by the sponsor before the 22nd birthday of the dependent child, and is unable to be financially independent due to reasons pertaining to physical and/or mental condition(s).

Requirements pertaining to the nature of relationship:

• The dependent child must be the biological (natural) child of the sponsor; OR
• The dependent child must be an adopted child (if the adoption process is still in progress, documents substantiating the same can be used while the sponsorship application is made. Or in other words, it has not been made mandatory under this program that the adoption of the dependent child needs to be complete before the application can be made).