Need to help sister

[Shaybay2096]

Hello all! I'm a permanent resident in Canada and my sister(step) is 17 and lives in the USA in our hometown in WV. She's currently living with our abusive parents. To get right to the question, what can I do to help her? I want her to move in with me but I know that's an issue seen as my parents would never sign a release form. Is there a way around this? They are very mentally and emotionally abusive and recently became physically abusive. I have photos of the evidence of abuse if I ever needed to show proof. I'm starting on her passport and legal documents for when I can bring her to Canada with me, but until then what do I do????

 

[Riley Haas]

So I'm sorry to say I cannot help you with what you can do currently. I don't know anything about abuse laws in West Virginia. Is there a shelter or lawyer there you can contact?

As for coming to Canada. If she gets a passport she can come as a visitor. But, at 17, it's going to be hard for her to immigrate, as she is unskilled in the eyes of the government. Here are her options:

• You find a company that can hire her and can get a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA - permission from the government to hire her) and she can apply for a work permit. (This will be very hard unless she has some special skills.) Alternatively if she already has a job with a big company you can see if they have a Canadian office and see if she can get transferred. (Hypothetically.)
• She can apply for to a Canadian university or college and a study permit when she graduates high school.
• You and 4 other Canadians can try to sponsor as a refugee through something called Group of 5. I don't think there's much chance in this working, as you would have to demonstrate her life is in danger to the satisfaction of the Canadian immigration authorities, who will want to know why she can't just move out.

Hope this helps.