General requirements for overseas dependents

Family members of in-Canada applicants for permanent residence who are residing in Canada and abroad must be declared on the original application form of the PA. The PA must list all family members living inside and outside Canada on their application for permanent residence. The PA may, however, choose which family members they want to include in their application as accompanying. Family members of in-Canada applicants who were not declared and examined may be subsequently excluded from the family class and may not be sponsored in the family class at a later date [R117(9)(d) and R125(1)(d)]. Family members must be assessed for eligibility and for admissibility. Both accompanying and non-accompanying eligible family members must undergo a medical examination and also establish that they are not inadmissible for criminal and security reasons. This requirement does not apply to the family members abroad of protected persons in Canada; they do not need to be examined to enable the protected person to become a permanent resident.

Family members of protected persons must meet statutory requirements in order to be issued a visa. However, the inadmissibility of a family member has no bearing on the permanent residence application of the protected person in Canada [A42]. Also, the inadmissibility of one family member abroad does not have a bearing on the admissibility of other family members included in the protected person’s application for permanent residence.

There is a temporary public policy to facilitate the granting of permanent resident status of certain sponsored foreign nationals who were not declared as family members. Find more information on the pilot and public policy.