Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has launched a new pathway for Sudanese, and non-Sudanese nationals who lived in Sudan when the conflict began on April 15, 2023. The new family-based humanitarian pathway opened on February 27, 2024. It will accept up to 3,250 applications for those who wish to reunite with their family members living in Canada.

Who can apply?

To be eligible, applicants must:

• have been living in Sudan on April 15, 2023;
• be a child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, or sibling of a Canadian citizen or permanent; resident, currently living in Canada;
• not have another country to return to other than Sudan or Canada;
• plan to live in a province or territory other than Quebec;
• not be inadmissible for reasons other than financial;
• provide a statutory declaration from an anchor.*

* An eligible anchor is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident 18 years of age or older, who has the financial means to support the applicant for their first year in Canada. Eligibility requirements for anchors can be found on the IRCC website.

How to apply:

To apply for the family-based humanitarian pathway, applicant must create a permanent residence online application account to fill out the required forms and pay the application fee. To show its support to persons affected by the conflict in Sudan, IRCC has waived the right of permanent residence fees and/or biometric fees for this pathway. However, successful applicants of the family-based humanitarian pathway must pay the cost of their travel to Canada.

For more information, please visit the IRCC website.