Who is included in an application for a Permanent Resident Visa?
Applications for permanent residence will include the principal applicant and all of his/her dependants. This means the applicant must include his/her spouse and all dependent children. The applicant and all dependants must be determined to be admissible, even if they have no intention of accompanying the principal applicant, in order for visas to be issued to the principal applicant or any dependants. Generally, parents are not included as accompanying dependants of the principal applicant. Parents can be sponsored after the applicant becomes a Canadian permanent resident. In exceptional cases, an elderly parent can be included as an accompanying dependant pursuant to the “Last Surviving Member” policy. The Canadian immigration law define spouse as someone of the opposite sex to whom an individual is joined in marriage. Therefore, common-law spouses and same-sex partners are not considered spouses for immigration purposes and will be processed as Independent Class immigrants.
