Ministerial Instruction 4 (MI-4): Temporary Pause on Family Class Sponsorship Applications for Parents and Grandparents

Starting November 5, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will temporarily stop accepting new applications for Family Classs Sponsrship for Parents and Grandparents. This new policy is contained in the Ministerial Instruction 4 (MI-4) published at Canada Gazette.

Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act which was amended on June 18, 2008, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration authority was given authority to issue instructions that would ensure the processing of applications and requests be conducted in a manner that, in the opinion of the Minister, will best support the attainment of immigration goals set by the Government of Canada.

The temporary pause will be implement only for 24 months while a better program is being considered. Cutting down the backlogs and faster family reunification are the main objectives of this new action plan. And to give chance for parents and grandparents to be with their families in Canada, Citizenship and Immigration introduced Parent and Grandparent Super Visa which will be available starting December 1, 2011. Simply put, this Parent and Grandparent Super Visas is a multiple-entry visa (valid up to 10 years) will allow an applicant to remain in Canada for up to 24 months at a time without the need for renewal of their status.

For the full text of the MI-4 instruction, click here.