Immigration Processing Fees Going Up on April 30th

For the first time since 2002, Canada is increasing some immigration processing fees to adjust for inflation. As of 9:00 a.m. EDT on April 30, 2020, there will be an increase in government processing fees for some types of immigration applications. If your application is registered prior to this, the old processing fee structure will be applied to your case. Any application received after this time with the old processing fees will be returned to the applicant.

Updated fees

• Principal applicants applying to economic classes of immigration, like Express Entry, will see the fees paid increase from $550 to $825, with the exception of the Caregivers program which will stay at the current rate;
• Fees for spouses or common-law partners of all economic classes of immigration will go up from $550 to $825. The fees for dependent children will also go up from $150 to $225;
• Principal applicants applying for business class (self-employed, start-up visa, Quebec investor, Quebec entrepreneur, and Quebec self-employed) will increase from $1,050 to $1,575;
• The right of permanent resident fee will increase from $490 to $500.

The purpose of these changes is to address the significant imbalance between the cost of providing services to potential newcomers to Canada and the fees paid by them. This imbalance results in Canadian taxpayers heavily subsidizing the process. This move is intended to provide a more equitable balance between the taxpayer and the applicant applying for Canadian immigration.

There will be additional fee increases in 2022 and these updated amounts will be governed by the Consumer Price Index.

If you’re interested in learning more about your Canadian immigration options at this time, fill out our free online assessment and a member of our team will be in touch shortly!