Private Sponsorship Through SAHs: How Afghan Refugees Can Verify a Real Sponsor

Private refugee sponsorship in Canada is managed through IRCC-approved Sponsorship Agreement Holders. Fraud targeting Afghans who believe they have a Canadian sponsor is widespread. This resource explains how real private sponsorship works and how to verify whether a sponsorship offer is legitimate.

This resource explains how Canada's private refugee sponsorship system works — specifically the role of Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs), how sponsorship is initiated, what obligations sponsors have, and how to verify that a sponsorship offer is genuine. It specifically addresses the fraudulent 'sponsorship' schemes that target Afghan communities in Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan itself.

Private refugee sponsorship has helped thousands of Afghans reach Canada. But it has also become one of the most heavily exploited areas for fraud. Individuals claiming to be Canadian sponsors — or claiming to know someone who is — have taken large sums of money from desperate Afghan families in exchange for fake sponsorship promises. Understanding how real sponsorship works makes it easier to identify fraud and avoid losing money and time to fraudulent schemes.

• Private refugee sponsorship in Canada is only legally possible through IRCC-approved Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs) — a list of approved SAHs is available on the IRCC website
• A legitimate sponsorship process begins in Canada — a Canadian organization or group contacts IRCC, submits a sponsorship undertaking, and IRCC then processes the overseas applicant — the refugee abroad does not initiate this process or pay for it
• If someone outside Canada is asking you for money to 'process' or 'register' your sponsorship — this is fraud
• Real private sponsors do not charge money — private sponsorship is funded by the sponsoring group in Canada and the sponsored person does not pay for their own resettlement
• SAHs must be on IRCC's approved list — you can verify the current list of SAHs on the IRCC website; if the organization claiming to sponsor you is not on the list, it is not a real SAH