Spouse/Common Law Partners (Including Same Sex) and Families

Letter of Invitation

If you want to invite family members to come and visit you in Canada you must send the following documents, so they can apply for a visitor's visa:

1. A letter of invitation that you write to your family member. This should state how long she/he will be visiting Canada. Include the names of all family members as well as their relationship to you (example: wife, father, son, daughter, mother, etc.), their date of birth and their address. More details about the letter of invitation are available online at:http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/letter.asp

2. A Certificate of Enrollment from UOIT International.

3. A copy of your valid Canadian Study Permit

Once your family member has received all the needed information from you, they can then submit it to the Canadian embassy, consulate or High Commission nearest them. If you encounter problems after having provided the above information please contact the UOIT International.

Inviting your family to attend your Convocation Ceremony

If you have applied to graduate in the next ceremony, you can request an official invitation from the UOIT International office with the names of your relatives in them.

To request one please email the following information to abu.arif@uoit.ca

· Your Name

· Your Student Number

· Invitee's First Name

· Invitee's Last Name

· Date of Birth

Additional Information for when you are inviting spouse or children (dependants) to join you in Canada:

Proof of funds - Canada Immigration wants to establish that you have sufficient funds to support you and your family (if dependents). The guidelines in defining sufficient financial resources for one year are:

Supporting documents you should consider including to show that you have sufficient funds are:

· A bank statement showing your current bank balance. When getting your balance, please ensure that the bank does not just print out your current balance.

· Canada Immigration needs to see some consistency in depositing funds to your account, therefore, a bank statement showing 3 to 6 months would be best.

· The statement should show that you have sufficient funds to provide for your family for at least one year (even though they may be visiting Canada for a shorter amount of time).

· If you are being paid as a research assistant or teaching/graduate assistant, provide a letter from your department stating the length of the appointment and how much salary you are being paid.

· A T-4 Slip (if applicable). This will show how much you earned in the previous year.

For help or further information please come to UOIT International

Work Permits for Spouses and Common Law Partners (including same sex):

Accompanying spouses or common-law partners of study permit holders can apply for work permits that last as long as the study permits of their student partners, if the student is studying full-time at the time of application.

Most partners come as visitors and apply for a work permit by mail once they are in Canada.

US citizen partners and spouses can apply at the border crossing or consulate before coming to Canada. No job offer is required to apply. The application fee is $150.

The permit will be issued for the length of the study permit of the student partner or spouse and can be extended with the study permit or work permit of the student (online).

When you extend your study permit using the online application system MyCIC, you can apply to extend the documents of all of your dependants at the same time, including work permits for partners and spouses. There will be a fee for each document requested.

If your partner or spouse will be applying for a work permit, but you are not applying for a document, the spouse or partner will use the paper application form, and should include the following with their application:

· a copy of the student's work or study permit

· a copy of the partner/spouse's permit

· a letter of enrolment with the application

· a copy of the official UOIT transcript

· Proof of Funds

· a copy of your marriage certificate or declaration of common-law union

Note: If spouses or partners who have work permits choose to apply for study permits later, their work permits will remain valid but they may not be allowed to extend them.