Family Class: Determining Family Membership

Note: Foreign nationals sponsored under the family class or the spouse or common-law partner in Canada (SPLPC) class may be exempt from paragraph R117(9)(d) or R125(1)(d) provisions if they meet the requirements of the temporary public policy (the following section). For instructions, see Pilot program to exempt permanent residence applicants in the family class or the spouse or common-law partner in Canada (SPLPC) class from paragraph R117(9)(d) or R125(1)(d) exclusion.

Go4Visa.com note: Original policy effective: September 9, 2019 to September 9, 2021, however, due to Covid19, it was extended for another 2 years.

Relationships of convenience

See Assessing the relationship between spouses and relationships of convenience.

Dependent not declared and/or examined

The reason for the exclusion in R117(9)(d) and R125(1)(d) is to:

• encourage honesty and full disclosure of information at the time of application in order to prevent applicants from circumventing immigration rules; and
• protect the health, safety and security of Canadians

Sometimes a principal applicant may be unable to have a non-accompanying family member examined.

The only circumstances under which R117(9)(d) would not apply to a family member who was not examined would be if, at the time of the sponsor’s original application for permanent residence, the Act and Regulations did not require the family member to be examined [R117(10) and R125(2)].

This applies to:

• family members of refugees and protected persons
• non-accompanying family members who were not required to be included or who were not eligible to be included at the time of the sponsor’s original application

When the client presents compelling reasons for not having disclosed the existence of a family member, it may also be appropriate to consider the use of H&C factors.

For example:

• a refugee presents evidence that they believed their family members were dead or that their whereabouts were unknown; or
• a client presents evidence that the existence of a child was not disclosed because it would cause extreme hardship because the child was born out of wedlock in a culture that does not condone this

Temporary public policy on paragraph R117(9)(d) or R125(1)(d) exclusion ( temporary public policy )

A pilot program has been put in place via a temporary public policy to facilitate the immigration of certain sponsored foreign nationals under the family class or the SPLPC class that would normally be excluded, per paragraph R117(9)(d) or R125(1)(d). See Pilot program to exempt permanent residence applicants in the family class or the spouse or common-law partner in Canada (SPLPC) class from paragraph R117(9)(d) or R125(1)(d) exclusion for further instructions.

Excluded members of the family class – Humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) consideration

See also Humanitarian and compassionate consideration 【add link later!】