he level of analysis Toronto Immigration lawyers use when assessing the Low Income cut-off has become more than merely looking up a table. The amounts for parents are 30% higher than the amount also known as the Minimum Necessary Income, for the sponsorship of a spouse/common law partner.
The spousal application’s relationship to the Low Income cut-off is more of a guide; in other words, it isn’t always followed strictly but is assessed in relation to the Immigration Refugee Protection Act at section 39:
- A foreign national is inadmissible for financial reasons if they are or will be unable or unwilling to support themself or any other person who is dependent on them, and have not satisfied an officer that adequate arrangements for care and support, other than those that involve social assistance, have been made.
Parent sponsorships, on the other hand, are characterized by a strict reading of the income requirement. Further, the income of the sponsor three years prior to lodging the application is relevant for an officer’s assessment of whether the sponsor qualifies. In addition, processing times for parents are minimally five years. There is thus the possibility that a sponsor’s income would be assessed over a period of eight years: three before filing the parent sponsorship, and another five until the application is assessed by an officer.
During the lengthy processing of parents’ sponsorship, the sponsor’s family may have increased in size. Similarly, the sponsor’s husband may have commenced the sponsorship of his own parents. Such facts would change the amount needed to sponsor. Similarly, the sponsor’s husband may have sponsored in the past and the undertaking associated with that sponsorship may have expired, thus reducing the MNI.
Sometimes, officers refuse a sponsorship by miscalculating the income. This necessitates an appeal for motivated sponsors. At the appeal, there may be some overlap between whether the current (additional 30%) income is required or whether the older income requirement is sufficient, particularly, for parent sponsorship cases that were filed before 2011.
If you have issues relating to sponsorship and income requirements, contact Chaudhary Law Office.
