The much anticipated parent and grandparent sponsorship program opened yesterday, January 28, 2019, at 12:00pm. Shortly thereafter, around 12:08pm, the limit of 27,000 applicants was reached as later confirmed by IRCC. Of the 27,000 applicants, IRCC is scheduled to issue an invitation to apply for sponsorship to the first 20,000 complete and eligible applicants who submitted the interest to sponsor form.
There are indications that the application system may have prevented a large percentage of applicants from the ability to access the link and attempt to complete an interest to sponsor form before it was closed.
At this time, we are investigating the difficulties of people accessing the online portal in further detail. Please let us know if you or someone you know falls into one of the following four categories:
- You attempted to apply but were never provided access to the link or the form despite refreshing the correct website link at 12:00pm onward.
- You were made aware of or offered a technology-based registration services to ‘guarantee’ a successful submission prior to January 28th.
- You attempted to apply but were delayed in completing the form due to a disability.
- You attempted to apply but were delayed in completing the form due to living in a rural area or having a poor internet connection.
If any of the four scenarios above applies to you, please contact us at sponsorships@gands.com with the subject line: PGP Sponsorship. Please include your name and contact information and as much detail regarding the steps you undertook and difficulties you faced with an emphasis on either of the three issues identified above.
Green and Spiegel is in the process of assessing the potential for a class action law suit to be comprised of those people who were not able to access the interest to sponsor form or did not have enough time to complete it.
