Sponsor your child’s immigration: Family members from other countries can come together and live together in Canada because of family class sponsorship. Under the scheme, children of Canadian citizens and permanent residents may be brought from overseas to Canada and given permanent residency status.
Biological or adopted dependent children may be sponsored to move to Canada with their parents.
In order to sponsor your child’s immigration to Canada, you must:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be a citizen of Canada, a permanent resident of Canada who resides there and plans to return, or a person who is registered under the Indian Act of Canada.
- Being able to meet the dependent child’s fundamental needs
- Be able to demonstrate your connection to your youngster.
- Not have a criminal record, be incarcerated, be facing significant charges, or be insolvent
- Not be subject to an immigration inquiry or be in breach of a prior sponsorship undertaking
- Not be receiving financial support, unless due to a disability
The child must be regarded as a dependent in order to be eligible for sponsorship, which means they must be:
- The child of a permanent resident or Canadian citizen, whether biological or adopted
- Are not wed or living together as common-law partners
- Are younger than 22
If a child is over 22 and meets the following criteria, they may be considered a dependent:
- They are incapable of supporting themselves because of a mental or physical disability.
- Before they turned 22, they were financially dependent on their parents.
During processing, up until the point of becoming a permanent resident, dependent children must stay unmarried and not in a common-law partnership. Additionally, a dependent kid is regarded to fit the description if they are divorced, widowed, had their marriage annulled, or were no longer in a common-law partnership at the time the application was first received.
Parent and Child relationships
A parent’s biological or adopted child can be their dependent child. “Biological” kids include the following kids:
- Who was born to the parent filing the application
- Who was born to a parent who was that parent’s husband, common-law partner, or conjugal partner at the time of the child’s birth but who is not a genetic relative of the parent filing the application?
- Who was born as a result of using assisted reproductive technology
One way to demonstrate a biological connection is through a birth certificate or baptismal record.
In the case of assisted reproductive technologies, documents that can be used to prove a parent-child relationship include birth certificates as well as legal proof that the person claiming to be the parent is the child’s biological mother or her spouse or common-law partner at the time of the birth. Additionally, parents must provide proof that they employed assisted reproductive technologies.
The child may be a “biological child” if there is also a genetic parent-child relationship, even if the child was born through a surrogacy agreement in a foreign country and is legally the child of the sponsor or their spouse or partner there.
Age restriction for dependent children
The dependent child’s age is fixed at the time the principal applicant’s entire permanent residence application is received. All of the items on the document checklist for the relevant category, including evidence of payment of the processing costs, are included in a full permanent residence application.
This means that a person who was younger than 22 years old and was not married or in a common law relationship at the time of the “age lock-in” is still considered a dependent child even if they turn 22 while the application is being processed, as long as they are still single and not living with someone else in a common law arrangement when the permanent residence is confirmed.
Custody Disputes
Those who wish to sponsor a kid who is the subject of custody orders are required to present documentation proving their right to take the children out of the nation they are presently live in.
For the child to go to Canada with the intention of becoming a permanent resident, the parent or guardian must give written permission. A court order may be admissible in lieu of permission if the parent or guardian refuses to give it. It is very important to know about Canadian permanent residents and Canadian Citizens: What’s the Difference?
It is typically the applicant’s responsibility to show that they have sole custody of a dependent and to confirm that the other parent or legal guardian does not have custody of the child or has any objections to the child being removed from the foreign country when the other parent or legal guardian does not give their consent.
If a child’s parents share custody, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) must have a written statement from the non-custodial parent stating that they do not object to the child’s application for permanent residence in Canada.
These specifications guarantee that no provisions of the custody order or international law are broken by the sponsorship. In Canada, the child’s best interests are the only factor taken into account while making custody decisions. Therefore, where there is no written confirmation of the other parent’s lack of objection, an IRCC officer must weigh all the relevant factors and use good judgment when determining whether to process an application to sponsor a dependent child.
Summary:
- Family class sponsorship allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to bring dependent children from overseas to Canada.
- Sponsor must be at least 18, meet child’s needs, demonstrate a connection, have no criminal record, and not be financially dependent.
- Dependent child must be biological or adopted, unmarried, and under 22 (or over 22 with a disability).
- Custody disputes require documentation and consent from non-custodial parent.
- Child’s best interests considered during sponsorship process.
