Canada Spousal Sponsorship from Vietnam — Evidence Guide

Applicable visa categories

• Spousal Sponsorship (Family Class) (IMM 1344) — IRCC service standard (family class, overseas): 80% of complete applications within 12 months; actual times vary by case — check IRCC processing times
• Common-Law Partner Sponsorship (Family Class) (IMM 1344) — IRCC service standard (family class, overseas): 80% of complete applications within 12 months; actual times vary by case — check IRCC processing times
• Conjugal Partner Sponsorship (Family Class) (IMM 1344) — IRCC service standard (family class, overseas): 80% of complete applications within 12 months; actual times vary by case — check IRCC processing times
• Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class (IMM 1344) — varies by case; check the IRCC processing-times tool (partner living inside Canada)

What is different for Vietnamese applicants

• Applications go to IRCC online, not to a mission: IRCC requires online applications for this program (other formats only as an accommodation), and the Embassy of Canada in Hanoi states it does not accept or process visa applications. After applying, applicants aged 14 to 79 get a biometric instruction letter and have 30 days to give fingerprints and a photo at a visa application centre — IRCC lists VACs in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
• Vietnam’s accession to the Hague Apostille Convention entered into force on 11 September 2026 (HCCH status table). The Convention has been in force for Canada since 11 January 2024, and Canada is not among the states that objected to Vietnam’s accession. Vietnam has designated the MOFA Consular Department (Hanoi) and Ho Chi Minh City’s Department for External Relations as apostille authorities.
• IRCC’s country-specific requirements tool lists no extra forms and no special document instructions for Vietnam, so the standard document checklist applies (IMM 5533 for spouses, IMM 5589 for common-law partners, IMM 5629 for conjugal partners): copies of the original documents, plus certified English or French translations of anything in Vietnamese — including every page of chat-based proof of contact.
• A Vietnamese police certificate goes in with the application when the applicant has spent 6 or more months in a row in Vietnam since age 18. IRCC names the document as Judicial Certificate #2 (Phiếu lý lịch tư pháp số 2) and explains where to apply on its Vietnam police-certificate page.

Document authentication (Vietnam)

Vietnam acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention, which entered into force for it on 11 September 2026. Vietnamese public documents can now be apostilled by the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hanoi or by the Ho Chi Minh City Department for External Relations; Austria, Czechia and Germany objected to the accession, so the Convention does not apply between Vietnam and those countries.

Issuing authority: Consular Department — Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA Vietnam).

Civil documents commonly required

• Giấy khai sinh (birth certificate) issued by the People's Committee
• Giấy chứng nhận kết hôn (marriage certificate) issued by the People's Committee
• Thẻ căn cước (identity card); older Căn cước công dân cards remain valid until their printed expiry date
• Phiếu lý lịch tư pháp (judicial record certificate)

Official form guides

• IMM 5532: Relationship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation
• IMM 5533: Document Checklist: Spouse (Including Dependent Children)
• IMM 1344: Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking

Common refusal grounds at Embassy of Canada to Vietnam (Hanoi)

• IRPR section 4(1) (bad faith): the marriage or partnership is not genuine, or was entered into primarily to acquire a status or privilege under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
• IRPR section 117(9)(c)(i): the sponsor or the applicant was still the spouse of another person at the time of the marriage — IMM 5533 asks for a final divorce, annulment, or death certificate for every previous marriage.
• Undeclared family members: IMM 5533 warns that failing to declare all family members (accompanying or not) may result in refusal and an inability to sponsor them later; IRPR section 117(9)(d) separately excludes a spouse who was a non-accompanying, unexamined family member when the sponsor immigrated.
• Sponsor ineligibility — for example receiving social assistance for a reason other than disability, having been sponsored as a spouse or partner and becoming a permanent resident less than 5 years ago, or having signed an undertaking for a previous spouse or partner who became a permanent resident less than 3 years ago.
• Not a refusal, but it delays the case: IRCC states it returns applications with missing or incomplete information without processing them (Guide IMM 5289). IMM 5533 asks for a detailed written explanation for each required document you cannot provide.

What officers scrutinize on this corridor

• Proof of contact for couples not living together (IMM 5533): letters, printed text messages, emails, or social-media conversations — a maximum of 10 pages with the application, with a certified English or French translation of every Vietnamese-language page.
• Proof of the sponsor’s visits to Vietnam: airline ticket coupons or used boarding passes and passport pages with entry-exit stamps. If the sponsor never visited, IMM 5533 asks for an explanation in IMM 5532 (Part C, Question 4).
• If you cannot answer yes to all four IMM 5533 questions (living together, a child together, a first marriage for both, married at least two years): up to 20 photos from different times and places (wedding, customary celebrations, engagement, outings), with a separate document describing each photo.
• In that case, also documents from at least two of four sets: recognition as each other’s spouse (e.g. employment or insurance benefits), financial support or shared expenses, recognition by friends and family (letters, social media), and proof of past cohabitation.
• The marriage certificate (Giấy chứng nhận kết hôn) or other proof the marriage was legally registered where it took place — IRCC does not accept a record of solemnization or a marriage licence instead. Wedding-celebration photos support the relationship but do not replace the registered certificate.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• IRCC — Sponsor your spouse, partner or children
• IRCC — Who you can sponsor
• IRCC — Check if you’re eligible to sponsor
• IRCC — Guide IMM 5289 (complete guide)
• IRCC — IMM 5533 Document Checklist (Spouse)
• IRCC — Spouse application package: country-specific requirements
• IRCC — Police certificates: Vietnam
• IRCC — Where to give your biometrics
• IRCC — Find a visa application centre
• IRCC — Service standards
• IRCC — Check processing times
• Embassy of Canada to Vietnam — Services and information
• Justice Laws — IRPR section 4 (bad faith)
• Justice Laws — IRPR section 117 (family class, excluded relationships)
• HCCH — Apostille Convention status table
• HCCH — Viet Nam accession: objections
• HCCH — Viet Nam competent authorities (Apostille)

Related corridors

• US K-1 & Spouse Visa from Vietnam — US K-1, CR-1, and IR-1 evidence guide for Vietnamese applicants — Ho Chi Minh City consulate, commune-level marriage registration, translation requirements.
• Australia Partner Visa from Vietnam — Australian partner-visa evidence guide for Vietnamese applicants — subclass 309/100 & 820/801, four evidence pillars, English translation rules.
• Canada Spousal Sponsorship from the Philippines — Canadian spousal sponsorship guide for Filipino applicants — IMM 5532/5533, Manila and Cebu VACs, CFO certificate, PSA documents.
• Canada Spousal Sponsorship from India — Canadian spousal sponsorship guide for Indian applicants — IMM 5532/5533, the 10-page proof-of-contact limit, and IRCC’s India document instructions.