Guide to the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program

This publication is intended for private sponsors (i.e., Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs) and their Constituent Groups (CG), Groups of Five (G5) and Community Sponsors (CS)) in Canada who are interested in sponsoring refugees from abroad.

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Private sponsorship of refugees program
  • 2.1 Who may be sponsored?
  • 2.2 Who may not be sponsored?
  • 2.3 Who may submit a private sponsorship?
  • 2.4 Who may not submit a private sponsorship?
  • 2.5 How is a sponsoring group formed?
  • 2.6 What are the responsibilities of the sponsoring group?
  • 2.7 How can I estimate how much financial support will be required?
  • 2.8 What are the financial support requirements after the refugee arrives?
  • 2.9 Are there any extra costs?
  • 2.10 How does a sponsoring group identify a refugee to sponsor?
  • 2.11 What is a Refugee Status Determination and when is it required?
  • 2.12 What is a non-accompanying family member and the One-Year Window (OYW) of Opportunity?
  • 2.13 What is a de facto dependant?
  • 2.14 Addition of a dependant to an application
  • 2.15 How does a group begin the sponsorship process?
  • 2.16 The Refugee’s Application for Permanent Residence
  • 2.17 How to submit a sponsorship application package to ROC-O
  • 2.18 How is the application processed?
  • 2.19 When will I receive information on the processing status of the sponsorship and refugee application?
  • 2.20 How can I check my application status?
  • 2.21 What are the refugee's responsibilities?
  • 2.22 When will the refugee arrive?
  • 2.23 Sponsorship Withdrawals
  • 2.24 Secondary migration and self-destination
  • 2.25 Sponsorship Breakdown
  • 2.26 Other useful information
• 3. Additional sponsorship opportunities
  • 3.1 Blended Visa Office-Referred Program
  • 3.2 Other Visa Office-Referred (VOR) Program
  • 3.3 Joint Assistance Sponsorship
  • 3.4 Urgent Protection Program
• 4. Where do I send information and where should I go for information?
  
  • Check processing times
  • Check on your application status
  • Obtain case status updates on files
  • Sponsorship withdrawals, addition of dependants and One-Year Window requests
  • Provide information on changes in organization or updated contact information for Groups of Five or Community Sponsors
  • Update an applicant’s contact information or case information
  • For matters on Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAH) sponsorship agreements, annual reports and allocations, or to provide updated SAH contact information
  • For information on Visa Office-Referred and Joint Assistance Sponsorship matches