The program allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their parents and grandparents in order to reunite with them in Canada.
Sponsors who have received invitations to apply for the Parent and Grandparent Program should have submitted their applications before June 28, 2019.
The updated program was launched at the beginning of this year. Initially, applications have been processed under the principle of a lottery and later on a first-come, first-served basis.
On January 28, 2019, the express of interest system opened within the Parents and Grandparents Program. As thousands of potential sponsors began to fill out forms, the system crashed, and the submission of applications was completed 4 minutes after the start. Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said more than 100,000 people tried to access the system and fill out a form. 27,000 of them managed to do it. The rest were outraged, and some filed lawsuits in court.
On April 24, the government began sending invitations to those who were faster than the rest.
Later, the media has spread the information that the Canadian federal government has ‘quietly’ provided an opportunity to sponsor parents and grandparents to at least 70 applicants in exchange for withdrawing lawsuits.
The press service of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says that the controversial application registration system is currently being revised.
To participate in the Parents and Grandparents Program, potential sponsors must first express their interest, then receive an invitation to apply from the government (this year, 20,000 people received invitations) and submit all necessary documents within 60 calendar days. Those who had time to express interest and received a confirmation number, but did not get an invitation to apply this year, will have the chance to do it next year.