The Canadian government allows the resettlement of at-risk Afghans who have the financial support or sponsorship of private organizations under the special and humanitarian refugee program in this country. This special refugee program is also known as Canadian special humanitarian visa for Afghans through sponsorship. This program is through the Privately Sponsored Refugees (PSR) program announced by the Canadian government for Afghans. During the privately sponsored asylum program, Afghans receive humanitarian permanent residence visas with the support of their sponsors, immigrate and settle in Canada.

Qualified Afghan citizens can immigrate to Canada using a humanitarian visa through sponsorship in three ways. These three methods of immigration are sponsored by organizations, immigration sponsored by groups of five, and immigration sponsored by the Canadian community.

In this article, the conditions and steps of receiving asylum through sponsoring organizations have been analyzed and investigated.

Who is eligible for a humanitarian visa?

Women leaders, human rights defenders, religious or ethnic minorities, journalists, people who have contributed to the Canadian media and journalists who are at risk of persecution after recent political developments are eligible to apply for a Canadian humanitarian visa. A spouse or partner and dependent children under the age of 22 are also eligible for resettlement in this country.

General conditions

To be eligible for this special program, the applicant must be a citizen of Afghanistan, not be legally barred from entering Canada, not be inadmissible to this country, have the necessary documents to be included in one of the categories accepted for a Canadian humanitarian visa, leave Afghanistan and settled in another country, their humanitarian visa application may be accepted through the privately sponsored program to immigrate to Canada.

Asylum sponsored by the organization

Asylum sponsored by the organization is such that if people have the financial support or sponsor of a private organization as refugees, they can immigrate to Canada. These sponsors can be organizations that have a financial support agreement with the Government of Canada that helps support refugees during resettlement in this country. These organizations must provide financial support to the refugees or people introduced by them to the Canadian government for up to one year and bear all their living expenses. Financial support includes the following expenses:

• Costs of starting life such as providing furniture, equipment and clothes and other necessary items
• Monthly expenses on an ongoing basis to meet essential needs such as housing, food, and public transportation
• Social and emotional support for people under protection

Also, asylum seekers in Canada can contact the relevant organizations in Canada and agree with the sponsoring organization to cover some or all of their expenses.

Sponsoring organizations

In Canada, some organizations have been established to help and support refugees during resettlement, which have signed financial support contracts for refugees with the Canadian government. These organizations are called Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAH). What are the conditions of the support contract of the Canadian government for the organizations and how the organizations obtained the support contract with this country, you can refer to this  link  .

How do I find sponsoring organizations?

Applicants who are eligible for resettlement to Canada, go to this link and choose one of the states in which they want to be resettled, considering their conditions, and view the list of all the sponsoring organizations that have support agreements with the Canadian government. Then the applicants visit the websites of these organizations, contact them, convince the organization for financial support or sponsor and listen to the guidelines of these organizations.

Arrangement of the application by the sponsoring organization

Usually, Canada offers a limited resettlement opportunity or quota to sponsoring organizations, which means that most refugees cannot be considered for resettlement to Canada in a given year. These organizations submit all the applicant’s information, including what category the eligible applicants are under the Canadian humanitarian program, under a single application to the Canadian government.

Applicants or eligible individuals cannot apply directly to this humanitarian program. For applicants, sponsoring organizations and groups usually prepare asylum applications and send them to the Canadian government. Asylum through private sponsorship is open every year during a certain period, which in 2022, this program is open from May 30 to August 31 of this year and accepts applications from applicants.

In most cases, people in need of protection and eligible for the program or humanitarian visa are covered by sponsoring organizations and their asylum application is sent to the Canadian government under the private protection program. Organizations may identify individuals in need of protection and interview them online to gather information needed for resettlement through Canada’s privately sponsored program.

Forms related to the sponsoring organization: After identifying the people in need of protection and eligible for asylum in Canada, the sponsoring organization goes to this  link  and downloads and fills out the following forms:

• Form imm5373e related to the information of the sponsoring organization or the organization under the contract of the Canadian government
• Form imm5440e related to resettlement plan in Canada
• Form imm5492e related to the evaluation of the sponsoring organization
• The imm5956e form is related to the type of sponsorship, the completion of which is optional and not mandatory 

Organizations have complete knowledge of forms with the Khanpari method. If needed, the organizations can go to this link  and read the complete guidance of Hanepari of these forums and act accordingly.

Forms related to applicants or protected persons: those eligible for Canadian asylum go to the link and download and fill out the following forms:

• General form imm0008enu request 
• Form imm5669e related to applicant’s information
• Form imm0008 related to asylum seekers, which is required to be filled out separately for all members aged 18 and above. 
• Form imm5476e is related to the representative who fills the forms instead of applicants. If the applicants fill out the above forms, then it is not necessary to fill out this form.

Read the complete and comprehensive guidance regarding the house filling of the forms related to people eligible for asylum in this  link  . It should be remembered that in most cases, the sponsoring organizations fill out the forms for those eligible for Canadian asylum, and there is no need to fill out and send these forms by the applicants.

To which address will the request be sent?

The sponsoring organization sends the application package to the Canadian government via email address (IRCC.INROCO-CORORI.IRCC@cic.gc.ca). After submitting the request, the sponsor will receive an instant and secure email to the email address from which the request was sent. This email confirms that the privately sponsored asylum application package has been received.

On its official website, the department recommends that in addition to sending the application via email, the sponsoring organization should also submit the supplementary application physically to the following address:

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Resettlement Operations Center in Ottawa (ROC-O)
Sponsorship Agreement Holder Unit
365 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, ON K1A 1L1

Read the guidelines, conditions, criteria and additional specifications in relation to sending the application by the sponsor in this  link .

Important application points

• Enter your information honestly.
• Send documents in PDF format.
• The quality of documents should be high and readable.
• A total of 6 forms should be arranged separately.
• The maximum size of a form should not exceed 5 MB.
• The entire request must not exceed 10 MB.
• Documents in a folder (Zip Folder) are not acceptable and will be rejected.
• Attach the required documents.
• Be sure to submit the request by receiving an automatic reply.
• Enter (SAH Sponsorship Application – Principle Applicant FAMILY NAME, First name) in the subject of the email.
• Keep a copy of all application forms with you.

request review

The application and required documents of refugee eligibility sent by the sponsor have now been received by the Canadian government and are being reviewed. The Resettlement Operations Center in Ottawa (ROC-O) is responsible for reviewing the application. This center provides a number (G-Number) for each request. If the documents and other application items are incomplete, the sponsor will be contacted again. By using this number, the application is identified in the mentioned center and the sponsoring organization completes the application with the help of that number.

Request acceptance

The final decision on whether or not to accept people as refugees for resettlement is made by the Resettlement Operations Center in Ottawa (ROC-O). An immigration officer at the center will review the application and supporting documents to decide whether the sponsoring organization meets the criteria. Read the terms and criteria of financial support by the organization in this  link .

If the immigration officer is satisfied that the organization meets the conditions, the organization’s request for sponsoring eligible persons will be approved and the decision will be notified to the sponsor via email.

After acceptance, the application will be transferred electronically to the political representation or embassy of Canada in the relevant country for the next steps. If necessary, the sponsor and persons under humanitarian protection provide other required documents at the request of the Resettlement Operations Center in Ottawa (ROC-O) or the Canadian Embassy in the relevant country. It should be remembered that after the application is accepted, the ROC-O office provides the necessary guidance to the applicants regarding the next steps.

What happens after the application is accepted?

After the application is accepted, the political representation or the relevant Canadian embassy contacts the protected persons and informs them about the acceptance of their application. Before a humanitarian visa is issued to the applicant and his family members, it is necessary for the visa applicants to go through the following steps:

• perform their health examinations to ensure their health and provide their documents;
• Passes security checks and ensuring that crimes are not committed;
• Biometric information including fingerprints and digital photo of the applicant is collected.

After the successful completion of the above steps, the Canadian government will ensure that the applicants have not committed serious crimes, have not posed a security risk to Canada, and have not been falsified in their identity. This is where applicants are considered refugees and eligible for resettlement in Canada.

After immigrating to Canada

When sponsored persons arrive in Canada, they are met by a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer. At this stage, all travel documents, including passports and Canadian permanent residence visas, are checked. The officer gives confirmation of permanent residence (COPR) to the refugees.

The representatives of the sponsoring organization welcome the sponsored people at the airport and take them to a place or hotel where they will stay for a few days. The organization helps refugees find a permanent place to live.

The sponsoring organization may provide some supplies for the protected people or refugees and support them financially so that the people can buy their own food and clothes and have access to health, banking and transportation services. Also, the sponsoring organization helps people to get to know the Canadian society, get involved and become self-sufficient during one year. The sponsor provides comprehensive assistance to the sponsored people to start life in Canada, but it is important that people have realistic expectations and work hard to have a good life in Canada.

Canadian permanent residence

When the Canada Border Agency officer presents the confirmation of permanent residence (COPR) to the refugees at the airport, the address of the refugees’ residence is also included in it. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (Immigration Refugees Citizenship – IRCC) sends the Canadian permanent residence card to the refugee’s address through the postal service. If the refugee changes his address in the future, he should share the exact address of his residence with this office as soon as possible.

Is asylum through sponsorship the same in Canada?

Asylum through sponsorship is the same in all Canadian provinces, except Quebec. The province of Quebec has its own special process for sponsoring refugees. This means that organizations in the province of Quebec must follow rules that differ from those in other Canadian provinces. The website is related to the public sector of the state of Quebec, which is related to immigration issues. For information about the process of asylum through sponsorship in the state of Quebec, refer to this  link  .

Help and advice

You can get the guidelines for the resettlement program under private support in this  dedicated link . Read comprehensive information about asylum through sponsorship in this  link . To get more information about Canada’s humanitarian visa program for Afghans, refer to this  link  . Read information about Canadian asylum on the website of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada  . To get information from the IRCC representative, you can also call +16133214243.