Spousal Sponsorship (Inland)

When your spouse or partner is already here, in your home and your daily life, the thought of a long immigration wait can feel unbearable. Inland sponsorship was designed for exactly this situation: it lets your partner apply for permanent residence from inside Canada, so you can keep building your life together while the process unfolds.

What inland sponsorship is, and what it is not

Spousal sponsorship through the family class is a separate path from Express Entry. There is no Comprehensive Ranking System score, no invitation round, and no points competition. What IRCC looks at is simpler and more human: are you an eligible sponsor, is your partner an eligible applicant, and is your relationship genuine?

Inland (from within Canada) means your partner is already living in Canada with you and will apply from here. The alternative is outland (from outside Canada), where your partner is processed at a visa office abroad. This guide covers the inland route. The inland route has one significant advantage over the outland route: your partner can usually apply for an open work permit while the main application is in process. It also carries a travel restriction that outland does not. Both differences are explained in the comparison below.

The goal of the whole process is permanent residence for your partner. Once they receive their PR, they can live, work, and study anywhere in Canada without a permit.

Who can sponsor, and who can be sponsored

To be an eligible sponsor you must be:

• A Canadian citizen or permanent resident
• At least 18 years old
• Living in Canada (Canadian citizens living abroad can sometimes sponsor, but the rules are stricter; see the IRCC guide)
• Not currently receiving social assistance, other than assistance paid because of a disability
• Not in default of a previous sponsorship undertaking (for a different person you sponsored before)
• Not subject to a removal order, and not incarcerated

The person you are sponsoring must be your:

• Spouse: legally married to you
• Common-law partner: someone you have lived together with continuously for at least 12 months in a genuine conjugal relationship
• Conjugal partner: someone who has been in a genuine relationship with you for at least one year but could not live with you or marry you because of exceptional circumstances, usually legal barriers in their country

In all three cases, IRCC will assess whether the relationship is genuine. Marriages entered into for immigration purposes, or relationships that are not authentic, are grounds for refusal. Document your relationship honestly and thoroughly.

You also have to sign a support undertaking: a legal promise to provide for your partner's basic needs for three years after they become a permanent resident, so that they do not rely on social assistance. This obligation remains even if the relationship ends during that period.

Inland vs. outland: the practical differences

Both routes lead to the same destination, permanent residence, but how you get there differs in ways that matter. The table below covers the main distinctions. You can read the outland version in the Spousal Sponsorship (Outland) guide.

How the process works

Inland sponsorship is a two-stage assessment, but both stages are submitted together in a single application package. IRCC first reviews the sponsor's eligibility, then assesses the applicant's eligibility for permanent residence. You do not wait for the first stage to finish before submitting the second.

The complete application includes forms for both the sponsor and the applicant, the relationship evidence, medicals, biometrics, background checks, and the application fees. A checklist in the IRCC application guide (Guide 5525, linked in sources) walks through every document required. Missing documents are one of the most common reasons for processing delays.

Key steps after submission:

• IRCC acknowledges receipt and assigns a file number
• If the application is found eligible for processing, your partner can apply for the open work permit (see next section)
• Both the sponsor and applicant complete biometrics if required
• The applicant completes an immigration medical examination (IME); usually required, with timing instructions from IRCC
• IRCC may request additional documents or information
• A final decision is made on both sponsor eligibility and applicant admissibility
• If approved, your partner receives their Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR)

Working while you wait

One of the main practical benefits of the inland route is that your partner can apply for an open work permit once IRCC confirms the application is eligible for processing. This is sometimes called the spousal open work permit in the family class context (not to be confused with the Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP) available to partners of certain workers and students; that is a separate permit for a different situation).

The open work permit in the inland sponsorship context is specifically for sponsored spouses and partners who applied under the in-Canada class. It lets your partner work for almost any employer in Canada while waiting for the PR decision. It is not automatic (your partner needs to apply for it and pay the applicable fee), but it is generally available once IRCC deems the main application eligible.

Timelines and costs

IRCC publishes a processing time estimate for spousal sponsorship applications for spouses or partners in Canada. Processing times change frequently. The official estimate on the IRCC processing times tool reflects the most current figures, and the badge on this page updates from the same data when available.

The fees for inland spousal sponsorship include a sponsorship fee, a principal applicant processing fee, and a right of permanent residence fee (RPRF). Because IRCC adjusts its fees periodically, do not rely on amounts from older guides or community posts. Check the current fee schedule on the IRCC sponsorship page at the time you are applying. The RPRF is payable before your partner's PR is confirmed, not at the time of initial application.

Additional costs to budget for: biometrics (if not exempt), immigration medical exam, police certificates, and any translation of documents not in English or French.

What to expect while you wait

Waiting for a sponsorship decision is genuinely hard. You are doing everything right. You have submitted, you have complied, you are maintaining status. And still the weeks stretch on. Many couples describe the inland period as one of the most anxious stretches of the whole process, not because anything is going wrong, but because everything is simply out of your hands.

A few things that help: keep your communication with IRCC organized and reply to any requests for additional documents promptly, because delays in responding pause your file. Keep your partner's temporary status valid throughout; this is not optional, and status lapsing while the application is pending creates serious complications. Track your application status through IRCC's online portal, and use this community to read real timelines from people who have been through the same path.

The moment the COPR arrives, the waiting is over. Couples who have been through this describe the relief as enormous. That moment is real and it is coming.