Inland (the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada class) is for a spouse or common-law partner who already lives with you in Canada and has temporary resident status, or whose status has lapsed in a way a long-standing public policy covers. Outland (the Family Class) works wherever your partner lives, and it is the only route that keeps your right to appeal a refusal. Both use the same application package, and on either route a partner who lives with you in Canada with valid status can apply for an open work permit. The real differences are travel and appeal rights.
First, check that you can be a sponsor
You can sponsor your spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner if you are at least 18, a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person registered under the Indian Act, and you live in Canada. You also sign an undertaking to support your partner.
- Citizens living abroad can still sponsor a partner, but must show they plan to live in Canada when their partner becomes a permanent resident.
- Permanent residents living outside Canada can’t sponsor.
- There is usually no minimum income to sponsor a spouse or partner. It applies only if your partner has a dependent child who has a child of their own.
The promise you make: three years of support
You promise to provide for your partner’s basic needs and to repay any social assistance they receive. For a spouse or partner this lasts three years from the day they become a permanent resident, even if your relationship changes or you lose your job. Quebec has its own undertaking.
What can stop you sponsoring
- You were sponsored as a spouse or partner and became a permanent resident less than five years ago, even if you are now a citizen.
- You sponsored a previous partner and that three-year undertaking hasn’t ended.
- An earlier application to sponsor the same person is still waiting for a decision.
- You are in prison, or behind on an immigration loan, a performance bond or court-ordered family support.
- You didn’t give the support you promised under a past sponsorship, or you have an undischarged bankruptcy.
- You receive social assistance for a reason other than a disability.
- You were convicted of a violent or sexual offence, or an offence against a relative causing bodily harm.
- You are under a removal order.
Some of these, such as support arrears and bankruptcy, don’t apply in Quebec, which sets its own conditions.
Spouse, common-law or conjugal partner
Your relationship decides which routes are open. In every case your partner must be at least 18 (any gender), not inadmissible to Canada, and the relationship must be genuine, not mainly a way to get permanent residence.
Spouse
You are legally married. A marriage abroad must be legal both where it happened and in Canada. Marriages by proxy, phone or internet, where one of you wasn’t physically present, aren’t recognized.
Routes: inland or outlandCommon-law partner
Not married, but you have lived together in a conjugal relationship for at least 12 consecutive months. Short, temporary time apart, for work or family, is fine.
Routes: inland or outlandConjugal partner
Not married or common-law, but in an exclusive, interdependent relationship for at least a year. They live outside Canada, and legal, immigration, social or religious barriers stop you living together or marrying.
Route: outland onlyA conjugal partner can’t be living in Canada and is always sponsored through the Family Class. Spouses and common-law partners can choose either route.
What actually differs between the two routes
“Inland” and “outland” are everyday names. Officially, inland is the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada class and outland is the Family Class. You use one application package for both and pick the class on the document checklist.
| While you wait | Inland | Outland |
|---|---|---|
| Who can use it | Spouses and common-law partners | Spouses, common-law and conjugal partners |
| Where your partner lives | With you in Canada, throughout | Anywhere, including with you in Canada |
| Their status in Canada | Valid temporary resident status, or covered by the out-of-status public policy | Not a condition of the class. To stay in Canada while waiting, they need their own status |
| Open work permit | Yes, once you have the AOR, while living together with status | Yes, on the same conditions, if they are in Canada living with you |
| Leaving Canada | Risky: they may not be allowed back in | Possible, subject to normal entry rules |
| If it’s refused | No appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division. Federal Court review only, with leave | You can appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division within 30 days |
Living together
Inland requires your partner to cohabit with you in Canada. IRCC’s guide says to choose the Family Class if your partner lives with you now but doesn’t plan to stay in Canada during processing.
Status, and when it has lapsed
Inland normally needs temporary resident status: a visitor record, work or study permit, or maintained status. A public policy in place since 2005 lets a partner without status still be processed inland, but only if lack of status is the problem: they overstayed, worked or studied without authorization, or entered without a required visa or passport. You still need a sponsorship undertaking, a genuine relationship and to live together. Other inadmissibility, such as criminality, isn’t waived.
Working while you wait
The open work permit isn’t inland-only. Since 2023, a public policy covers partners sponsored under either class who live at the same address as their sponsor in Canada, have valid temporary status (or have applied to restore it), and whose application has an acknowledgement of receipt (AOR). It can’t be applied for at a port of entry. A partner under the out-of-status policy must first get an approval-in-principle letter.
Travel
Leaving Canada can automatically end your partner’s temporary status. During an inland application, IRCC warns there is no guarantee they’ll be allowed back, especially if they need a visa, and if they can’t return you must submit a new overseas application.
Appeal rights
Only a Family Class refusal can be appealed to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board. The sponsor appeals, and the IAD must receive the notice within 30 days of the refusal. There is no IAD appeal if your partner was found inadmissible for serious criminality, security, organized crime, sanctions or human rights violations; a misrepresentation finding can still be appealed for a spouse or partner. An inland refusal can only be taken to the Federal Court, which must first grant leave, normally within 15 days of a decision made in Canada.
Choosing inland gives up the IAD appeal. IRCC’s own guide tells couples to choose the Family Class if they plan to appeal a refusal.
Inland or outland? Answer five questions
This applies to spouses and common-law partners. If you are conjugal partners, outland is your only route.
A quick way to decide
- Your partner lives outside Canada, or you are conjugal partners: outland.
- They will need to leave Canada while you wait: outland.
- Being able to appeal a refusal matters to you: outland.
- They live with you in Canada with valid status and will stay, and an appeal isn’t a priority: inland.
- They live with you but their status has expired: inland may still be possible. Get advice first.
- They need to work: either route, if they live with you in Canada with valid status and you have the AOR.
If your answers don’t fit neatly, or your partner is out of status, talk to a licensed consultant about family sponsorship before you choose. The class you pick decides your appeal rights, so it’s worth getting right.
From first check to permanent residence
Check eligibility and choose your class
Confirm you can sponsor, that your relationship qualifies, and which class fits. Use IRCC’s application package and the checklist for your partner’s country.
Gather your relationship evidence and family details
The checklist lists what proves your relationship: for example a marriage certificate, or the Statutory Declaration of Common-law Union (IMM 5409). Your partner must also declare all their family members, including children who aren’t coming to Canada, and those children must be examined.
Pay the fees and submit online
There are two applications: yours to sponsor and your partner’s for permanent residence. Your partner submits both together through IRCC’s Permanent Residence Portal with the fee receipt; the biometrics fee is usually paid then too, and the right of permanent residence fee before approval. Check amounts on IRCC’s fee list. An incomplete application is returned.
Acknowledgement, biometrics and medical exam
A complete application gets an acknowledgement of receipt (AOR) and an application number. Your partner then gets a letter asking for biometrics, which they have 30 days to give, and instructions for the medical exam. This is also when a partner in Canada can apply for the open work permit.
IRCC assesses the sponsor, then your partner
IRCC checks your eligibility as a sponsor first, then whether your partner is eligible and admissible. They may ask for more documents or an interview. Report changes in your family or contact details, and see IRCC’s processing times tool for current waits.
Decision and permanent residence
A partner outside Canada receives a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (and a visa if needed) and must land before it expires. A partner in Canada is told how to confirm permanent residence online. Your three-year undertaking starts that day.
You can apply on your own. You don’t need a representative. If you pay one, they must be authorized. Here is how to check a consultant is licensed.
The mistakes that hurt families most
Family you didn’t declare when you immigrated. If you became a permanent resident without declaring your spouse, partner or child and having them examined, the law generally excludes them from sponsorship (section 117(9)(d) of the Regulations; section 125(1)(d) for the inland class). A temporary public policy that eased this ended on 10 September 2026. It still applies to eligible applications IRCC received between 31 May 2019 and 10 September 2026, but not to anything submitted later.
What remains is asking for humanitarian and compassionate consideration, which is discretionary. Get advice before applying.
Leaving something out, or saying something untrue
Hiding or misstating a material fact is misrepresentation. It makes the person inadmissible for five years, and they can’t apply for permanent residence during that time. It can be something left out, for example a child who isn’t coming with your partner, not only something false.
A relationship that exists for immigration
The Regulations say a person isn’t a spouse or partner if the relationship isn’t genuine or was entered into mainly to get status in Canada. Under the out-of-status policy, IRCC says applicants found to be in a fraudulent relationship are refused and referred to the Canada Border Services Agency for enforcement.
Leaving Canada during an inland application
If your partner leaves and isn’t let back in, you start again with an overseas application. If travel is likely, choose outland from the start.
Letting temporary status run out
Your partner should apply to extend a work or study permit before it expires. Without valid status, the open work permit has to wait for approval in principle.
Missing a sponsorship bar
The five-year bar and a previous partner’s running undertaking (section 01) both stop a new sponsorship. Count the dates before you pay any fees.
Questions people ask
Can my partner visit Canada while an outland application is in process?
They can apply for a visitor visa. If you, the sponsor, have the acknowledgement of receipt, their visitor visa application gets faster processing automatically, as long as they meet the usual visitor requirements. Once here and living with you, they can apply for the open work permit.
My partner’s status has expired. Can I still sponsor them from inside Canada?
Often, yes, under the out-of-status public policy described in section 03, if lack of status is their only problem and you meet every other requirement. Have the details checked first.
Can we appeal if an inland application is refused?
Not to the Immigration Appeal Division. The option is to ask the Federal Court for leave for judicial review, normally within 15 days of a decision made in Canada. Your partner must leave Canada at the end of their authorized stay. Get advice quickly.
What if we separate before a decision?
You can ask to withdraw your sponsorship any time before your partner becomes a permanent resident. Once they become one, the three-year undertaking can’t be cancelled, even if the relationship ends.
Who can represent us at an appeal?
You can represent yourself, or a friend or relative can help for free. Paid counsel must belong to a provincial law society, the Chambre des notaires du Québec or the CICC, and a consultant needs the specific IRB licence (Class L3, RCIC-IRB) to appear there.
Sources
- Sponsor your spouse, partner or child, canada.ca (modified 2026-03-05)
- Check if you’re eligible, canada.ca (modified 2026-06-23)
- Who you can sponsor, canada.ca (modified 2026-09-11)
- What it means to be a sponsor, canada.ca (modified 2025-05-14)
- How to apply, canada.ca (modified 2026-09-11)
- After you apply, canada.ca (modified 2026-07-28)
- Optional: Open work permit in Canada, canada.ca (modified 2026-04-17)
- Temporary public policy exempting certain applicants under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class or the Family Class from work permit requirements, canada.ca (signed 2023-02-09, modified 2023-05-26)
- Guide 5289: Sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner or dependent child, complete guide, canada.ca (modified 2026-04-23)
- Public policy under A25(1) of IRPA to facilitate processing of the Spouse or Common-law Partner in Canada class, canada.ca (modified 2018-03-12)
- Public policy for undeclared family members (expired), canada.ca (modified 2026-09-11)
- Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, sections 4, 117, 124, 125, 130 and 132, Justice Laws (current to 2026-09-21)
- Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, sections 25, 40, 63, 64 and 72, Justice Laws (current to 2026-09-21)
- Make a sponsorship appeal, Immigration and Refugee Board (modified 2024-09-12)
- Step 1: File your Notice of Appeal, Immigration and Refugee Board (modified 2026-09-24)
- Representation at the IAD, Immigration and Refugee Board (modified 2024-09-12)
- Check processing times and IRCC fee list (current figures, not quoted here)