Sponsoring my child...

ALew

New Member
Hi, we are planning to do the family/spousal sponsorship in a few months or so. My youngest daughter will be 17 in August. The problem is that we do not have contact with my ex. He was abusive and had supervised visits prior to the last two years of no contact. Even if we could get a hold of him, he has not had a legal ID for over 2 decades, so we would not be able to get a notarized signature or valid ID to send anyways. In the directions, it says that if you cannot supply the signature and ID to send a letter stating why. Is it at all possible for them to accept her with a letter explaining this situation given that she will be almost 18 by the time they finish the year long process?
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
The letter is your only option, it seems. Provide as much detail and documentation as possible. (You are the person being sponsored, right?)
 

ALew

New Member
Yes, I am the primary applicant. Someone told me it was better to apply separately, but that seems more complicated. Will we be able to sponsor her right away if we do the applications separately? I just wanted to know what my chances were of them allowing her to go with the letter given the time frames. I wouldn't even be able to cross until right before her birthday anyway because I am a teacher and my contract will go until May or June. I don't know how much documentation I can provide. What documentation would be helpful? Some of the "agreements" we did were not done through court per se, they were just done through the lawyers or the lawyers giving us instructions. We hired an amicus, which is a lawyer for the best interests of the children that both parties pay for, and he gave me specific instructions. I do not know if he will be willing to give me a letter to this fact. Others documents would probably bring up more problems than they fix given how my ex like to twist things and cause problems in the past.
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
I don't know why it would be better to apply separately. Was the idea for you to be sponsored first and then, once you are sponsored, you would sponsor your daughter? I'd be curious to see the conversation if you have the link. I've certainly never heard of this being "better" but I am just the forum admin.

If you want to know what you should and shouldn't provide, I'd suggest hiring an immigration lawyer or consultant (RCIC) because only they or someone who has gone through a similar application (where the ex-spouse is unreachable) will know specifically what to include and not include.

As for the age thing: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...nt-children.html#assessing_dependent_children
 

ALew

New Member
I don't know why it would be better to apply separately. Was the idea for you to be sponsored first and then, once you are sponsored, you would sponsor your daughter? I'd be curious to see the conversation if you have the link. I've certainly never heard of this being "better" but I am just the forum admin.

If you want to know what you should and shouldn't provide, I'd suggest hiring an immigration lawyer or consultant (RCIC) because only they or someone who has gone through a similar application (where the ex-spouse is unreachable) will know specifically what to include and not include.

As for the age thing: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...nt-children.html#assessing_dependent_children
Here is the link to my previous conversation. I wanted to see what others had to say.


Here is my thought process: I am a teacher, so my contract ends in the summer and my new one is usually signed before the new school year begins. I usually have until the beginning of July to get out of that contract. Yes, I have free will to leave, but it could be bad because it could cause me to loose my certification to teach or at least give me year suspension on my credentials, which is not good, (not sure how that all works, but it is a warning that they give when we sign) Here is an explanation:

My daughter's birthday is in August, well after the deadline. We were hoping to cross after her birthday, so that there would be no legal ramifications. Or maybe that summer, depending on how things go. My original thought was to tell them that we would not cross until she was 18 and were hoping that we would get approved right before hand given the 12 month processing. However, I am worried about them denying the whole application and loosing all the application money based on her being under age. This is why I am asking if anyone knows if it is likely to be approved with her on it. So, after talking with others, as shown above, the thought was to apply separately, so I could have that solidified and start working on applications for jobs after a soft landing while we waited on her to become 18. Then apply for her right before her 18th birthday so that she could at least go over as a visitor while things are being processed. I just want to be with my husband and my daughter wants to get away from everything that reminds her of my ex. We want to start our new lives as soon as possible. We already know we are going to have to wait another year and a half, so we don't want to add to that time having to re-start the process.

Please tell me what you know that would make these good or bad ideas.
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
Ah, I think I see now.

From a custody perspective it would indeed be easier for you to wait until she is 18. Whatever worries about her part of the sponsorship application should mostly go away then, right? From reading the conversation, though, it does seem as though you are entitled to take her with you regardless. Unfortunately in Canada these types of decisions are at the discretion of the person making the decision on your application. Nobody really knows for sure whether or not your application will be approved until there is a decision.

As to the teaching thing: I have a hard time imagining that if your teacher's union in Texas sanctioned you for resigning improperly that this would keep you from working in Canada (provided of course your degrees are recognized here). I don't know what the mechanism would be for a Canadian provincial teachers union to recognize this. There might be one, of course, but it strikes me as unlikely. (If there's, say, an organization of North American teachers unions, they might have such a rule. I'm speculating.)

There's one other consideration here: inland vs outland. It sounds like you are considering inland: the two of you come to Canada as visitors and then he sponsors you once here. Do I have that right? The other option is that he sponsors you while you stay in the States and work. (Outland.)

I can't give you legal advice about this, as I am not lawyer or an RCIC. All I can say is what I would do in your situation. For me, I think I might try outland, applying some time after she's 18, working another year and then resigning next summer and "landing" (coming to Canada) when you've both been approve. That strikes me as the safest option, though is obviously not necessarily the more preferable in terms of time with your husband.
 

ALew

New Member
No, I was not going to come as a visitor and then apply as inland. I was hoping to get approval before summer of 2021 and then have her come on her birthday or right before hand. However, the suggestions on the other board were that I get my approval now and then do a soft landing only to come back to finish my contract and to wait until she is almost 18. Then we would apply a few months before she turns 18 depending on how applications are going at that time (close to the summer of 2021) as outland. Then we would there since my contract would be done and have her come over as a visitor until the application is finished asking for extensions on the visitor's visa as needed at that point.
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
Personally, I don't exactly understand why doing two separate applications is better than one, unless you are particularly anxious to have PR status sooner rather than later. I think, regardless of whether you do two applications or one, it is likely going to be a lot easier (inland or outland) if she is 18.
 

ALew

New Member
Personally, I don't exactly understand why doing two separate applications is better than one, unless you are particularly anxious to have PR status sooner rather than later. I think, regardless of whether you do two applications or one, it is likely going to be a lot easier (inland or outland) if she is 18.
The issue is that if I apply with both of us now then I believe that they will deny me or make us wait until after she is 18 to cross, which I don't necessarily mind because I already know we will be waiting until at least that summer. The problem is that if we wait to do both of us, then I will be stuck in another contract and then will have to wait yet another year and maybe have a suspension on my credentials. Plus, then there is the issue of getting a job in Canada and being able to start the school year at the beginning of the year, especially since it is a little harder to get school jobs later in the year. Mostly, I just don't want the added time. I want to be with my husband. As it is, we will be waiting a total of over 3 years once she turns 18. Over the last year we only got to see each other once in person, so that was very difficult.
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
Okay.

I'm not sure what I can add. I guess you just have to make the decision whether or to apply all at once now or later or to do two separate applications.
 
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