Ministerial Instructions 9 (MI9): Parents and Grandparents
On June 15, 2013, new Ministerial Instructions (MI9) were issued that manage the processing of new applications for sponsorship of Parents and Grandparents as a member of the family class. These MIs contain two measures. One, the temporary pause on the acceptance of new applications for sponsorship of Parents and Grandparents – which has been in place since November 5, 2011, and was due to expire in November 2013 – will remain in place until January 1, 2014, in order to align with the expected coming into force of program changes. Two, the MIs establish that beginning January 2, 2014, a maximum of 5,000 new complete applications for sponsorship of Parents and Grandparents will be accepted for processing each year. This limit, which is necessary to support the continued reduction of the current backlog of applications, will remain in place unless a new MI is issued in the future.