You Get These Immigration Points if You Have Relatives in Canada

Can I receive points for my Express Entry Application by having relatives in Canada?

Canada will give you 5 points towards your Express Entry qualification points score if you have an eligible relative in Canada.

Why does Canada grant points for people who have a relative in Canada?

Canada sees that your transition into your new life as a landed immigrant in Canada will be easier, smoother and generally successful when you have family to help you. They expect that you will make an easier transition into Canada and for this they award points to help support your application.

Which relatives in Canada qualify for the 5 Express Entry points?

The relative in Canada must be your:

• Aunt or Uncle, Niece or nephew, Grandmother or Grandfather, brother or sister, half-brother or half-sister, mother or father, child or grandchild.

• You can not gain the 5 points for cousins.

• You can only claim 5 points total for relatives in Canada, regardless of how many relatives you have in Canada.

• The relative can be your spouse’s relative, so long as your spouse is accompanying you to Canada. If your spouse is not accompanying you to Canada their relatives can not be counted.

Do my relatives in Canada have to be Canadian Citizens?

• To count, your relative must be a Permanent Resident of Canada at the time you submit your documents or be a Citizen of Canada.
• If your relative is living in Canada but not yet a permanent resident, then they do not count for the purposes of express entry points.

Does my relative need to be living in Canada?

Yes. It is essential that your relative is currently living in Canada, otherwise you cannot count them. This also applies to relatives who are Canadian citizens, they must be living in Canada to be counted. You will be required to prove your relative is living in Canada currently to gain the points on offer.

Will I also receive points in the CRS Comprehensive Ranking System for having a relative in Canada?

This is where things change a bit. Canada will only give points in the CRS system for a sibling in Canada. Now remember, your CRS score only becomes relevant after you have qualified to submit your application into the express entry pool.

You can gain 5 points at the Express Entry stage for a relative listed above, but after you have qualified for Express Entry, you will only gain CRS level points for a sibling who is a permanent resident or citizen of Canada and currently living in Canada.

How many Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking Score points will I receive?

You will receive 15 CRS points for having a Sibling in Canada.

Does a half-sibling count?

Yes, your half-sibling will count, so will your adopted sibling.

How do I gain these points?

You will need to prove 3 things in order to gain the points on the Canada Immigration offer.

1 – You need to prove your relationship, that they are indeed your relatives.

2 – You need to prove their status in Canada, that they are indeed a Canadian Permanent Residents or a Canadian Citizen.

3 – You need to prove they are currently living in Canada.

How will I prove the relationship to my relative?

This usually requires you drawing a Family Tree diagram. Point out your relative on the diagram and show yourself clearly and any family members applying with you on the tree too.

Next, you will need to provide documents to show each relationship in the chain to your relative.

eg – if it is your uncle living in Canada, your mother’s brother. You would need to provide documents to show your mother is your mother (e.g. birth certificates, marriage certificates etc), then documents to show your mother and your uncle are siblings (such as both their birth certificates and their parents (your grandparents) birth certificate or marriage certificate).

Your aim is to make it clear and provable that you are indeed related to your relative the way you are claiming.

How do I prove my relatives “Status”?

You must show documents that prove your relative is a Permanent Resident of Canada or a Canadian Citizen.

To prove they are a Canadian Citizen, a copy of their passport will be enough for this. To Prove they are a permanent resident, a copy of the Permanent Residency card will be enough proof.

How do I prove my relative is currently living in Canada?

As discussed above, the reason you are being given these points is because you have a relative that is residing in Canada and because they’re physically living there. The Government sees that having relatives nearby can make your life and your transition to your new life easier. If your relatives are not residing in Canada, these benefits of support and ease of transition are not available to you, so you wont be given points for it. Therefore, you must prove their current residence in Canada.

You will need to prove your relatives residence in Canada with very recent documentation. You want documents no more than 90 days old.

Things you can provide: their rental lease or house mortgage documents, utility bills, phone bills, bank statements (particularly if the rent is paid out of it or their salary is paid into it), credit card receipts or other items that show clearly they are living there. It is always good to provide a number of these documents to show a clear picture.

If you need more evidence, you could ask your relatives’ employer to write a letter confirming their work and ongoing employment, if they are a student or their children are, then a letter from their school or college, if they have a regular family doctor or solicitor they could provide a letter as well. Just keep going until you are certain the residency will be able to be clearly demonstrated.

Once you have proven these 3 things, being your relationship, their status and their current residence in Canada, the Immigration Officer will be satisfied and will confirm the award of family points for Canada in your application.