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Overseas Processing of Family Members of Inland Applicants for Permanent Residency

When inland applicants apply for permanent residence they must include all family members for examination. Overseas family members are examined by the responsible overseas office, whether or not they will join the applicant in Canada.

Processing steps

The Application

First, once Case Processing Centre Vegreville (CPC-Vegreville) determines that the applicant in Canada meets the requirements, CPC-Vegreville then sends a memo with the overseas family members’ details (names and addresses) to the overseas office. CPC-Vegreville processing times are on CIC’s website.

Next, the overseas office sends instructions to the family members on how to complete forms and submit them with supporting document to the visa office.

Note: If the applicant in Canada has not provided CPC-Vegreville with up-to-date addresses, e-mail address and telephone numbers, the overseas family members are less likely to receive the instructions.

After the overseas office receives a completed application, depending on the family’s particular situation, the overseas office may need to request additional documents in order to:

confirm the identity of a family member;
establish the family member’s relationship with and/or dependency on the applicant in Canada;
ensure a family member meets the statutory requirements.

Only once these requirements are met, does the overseas office issue requests for medical examinations.

If during the processing of the application, applicants in Canada decide at any point that they want a non-accompanying family member to accompany them to Canada, or if the family composition changes (example, the birth of a new baby) they must immediately inform CPC-Vegreville and pay the requisite processing fees. Alternatively, a non-accompanying dependant may be sponsored in the Family Class at a later date.

Visa Issuance

The overseas office cannot issue visas to accompanying family members until:

the principal applicant in Canada is a permanent resident;
all fees are paid;
each family member submits a valid passport.

Visa issuance to family members also depends on processing volumes at the visa office, and on global visa targets set annually by the Parliament of Canada. Therefore, travel tickets should be purchased only once visas are issued.

Processing Times

Processing times are calculated from the time the visa office receives a complete application.

Current processing times for Overseas Family Members in Manila

Due to the high volume of correspondence that Manila receives, we cannot respond to case status enquiries if the application is still within the posted processing times.