Question about "dependant" child

[applicant12345]

Hello,

I am an American citizen, being sponsored for Canadian PR by my Canadian husband (living outside Canada). Everything is going smoothly in the process. However, I am confused about one thing.

I disclosed in my application that I was pregnant. Since the child was born after the application was submitted, I wanted to inform the Canadian government that the child was born. Taking the advice of people on these forums, I told them through Webforms that a child had been born and asked if there was a way to add the child to Additional Family Information.

I then received a letter saying two things:
"1) After a preliminary review of your application, the following has been deemed required:
Please provide the current residential address for yourself and your dependant family member (if applicable). You
must report any changes to your address, telephone number(s) and email address immediately throughout the
processing of your application.

2) As a reminder, you are required to have all your family members be examined as part of the process of applying for
permanent residence in Canada, even if they will not come to Canada with the principal applicant. This
examination of your non accompanying dependent is in accordance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection
Regulation section 70(1)(e)."

My child is a Canadian citizen, since my husband was born in Canada. I cannot yet obtain the child's Canadian citizenship certificate because I don't even have their birth certificate yet, but they are clearly a citizen. And my understanding is that a Canadian citizen child does NOT require examination.

Am I correct? If so, should I simply explain in my response that the child is a Canadian? Thank you for your help.

 

[canuck78]

Hello,

I am an American citizen, being sponsored for Canadian PR by my Canadian husband (living outside Canada). Everything is going smoothly in the process. However, I am confused about one thing.

I disclosed in my application that I was pregnant. Since the child was born after the application was submitted, I wanted to inform the Canadian government that the child was born. Taking the advice of people on these forums, I told them through Webforms that a child had been born and asked if there was a way to add the child to Additional Family Information.

I then received a letter saying two things:
"1) After a preliminary review of your application, the following has been deemed required:
Please provide the current residential address for yourself and your dependant family member (if applicable). You
must report any changes to your address, telephone number(s) and email address immediately throughout the
processing of your application.

2) As a reminder, you are required to have all your family members be examined as part of the process of applying for
permanent residence in Canada, even if they will not come to Canada with the principal applicant. This
examination of your non accompanying dependent is in accordance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection
Regulation section 70(1)(e)."

My child is a Canadian citizen, since my husband was born in Canada. I cannot yet obtain the child's Canadian citizenship certificate because I don't even have their birth certificate yet, but they are clearly a citizen. And my understanding is that a Canadian citizen child does NOT require examination.

Am I correct? If so, should I simply explain in my response that the child is a Canadian? Thank you for your help.

They don’t require a medical exam but getting their citizenship takes a long time so the process should be started as soon as you have their US information.

 

[armoured]

My child is a Canadian citizen, since my husband was born in Canada. I cannot yet obtain the child's Canadian citizenship certificate because I don't even have their birth certificate yet, but they are clearly a citizen. And my understanding is that a Canadian citizen child does NOT require examination.

Am I correct? If so, should I simply explain in my response that the child is a Canadian? Thank you for your help.

Get the birth certificate, apply for the proof of Canadian citizenship, keep a copy of that entire application, and send that to IRCC separately to attach to your PR application. Update the family information form and a short letter of explaination that the child will NOT be included in the IMM0008 (main application form) or other docs as a Canadian citizen (citizens cannot apply for permanent resident status).

I would simply state this as fact, ie. the child is a Canadian citizen. IRCC may refer to the status as something else (eg presumed citizen) - doesn't matter to you.

When the child has a US passport, can travel with you to Canada without difficulty. At the border/port of entry (i.e. Canadian officials, not airline) present the child as a Canadian citizen awaiting final documentation. Birth certificate showing parentage and copy of the application for citizenship certificate will be enough. Since the child will have a US passport, you won't really need to apply or get a Canadian passport for the child while you wait.

As noted, don't need to do medical examination.

 

[applicant12345]

Get the birth certificate, apply for the proof of Canadian citizenship, keep a copy of that entire application, and send that to IRCC separately to attach to your PR application. Update the family information form and a short letter of explaination that the child will NOT be included in the IMM0008 (main application form) or other docs as a Canadian citizen (citizens cannot apply for permanent resident status).

I would simply state this as fact, ie. the child is a Canadian citizen. IRCC may refer to the status as something else (eg presumed citizen) - doesn't matter to you.

When the child has a US passport, can travel with you to Canada without difficulty. At the border/port of entry (i.e. Canadian officials, not airline) present the child as a Canadian citizen awaiting final documentation. Birth certificate showing parentage and copy of the application for citizenship certificate will be enough. Since the child will have a US passport, you won't really need to apply or get a Canadian passport for the child while you wait.

As noted, don't need to do medical examination.

Thank you very much for this. Three questions:

1) Am I actually able to "update the family information form"? When I log in to the PR portal, the application simply says "Submitted"; it does not seem to allow any edits to any pages.

2) There is a good chance I will not receive the birth certificate from my local authorities in time to submit it in response to this IRCC inquiry, which is due in early July. I do have a document from the hospital recording the birth, which includes my (Canadian) husband's name as the father. Do you think this will be sufficient for now? (I don't mind if IRCC comes back and says we need the birth certificate and gives me another 30 days - I just need to send them something now to delay.)

3) Regarding "at the border/port of entry (i.e. Canadian officials, not airline) present the child as a Canadian citizen awaiting final documentation" - I just want to double check - the child will show the Canadian customs/immigration person their US passport, but I will also have their birth certificate/citizenship application with me, and say the child is awaiting Canadian documentation?

 

[armoured]

Thank you very much for this. Three questions:

1) Am I actually able to "update the family information form"? When I log in to the PR portal, the application simply says "Submitted"; it does not seem to allow any edits to any pages.

2) There is a good chance I will not receive the birth certificate from my local authorities in time to submit it in response to this IRCC inquiry, which is due in early July. I do have a document from the hospital recording the birth, which includes my (Canadian) husband's name as the father. Do you think this will be sufficient for now? (I don't mind if IRCC comes back and says we need the birth certificate and gives me another 30 days - I just need to send them something now to delay.)

3) Regarding "at the border/port of entry (i.e. Canadian officials, not airline) present the child as a Canadian citizen awaiting final documentation" - I just want to double check - the child will show the Canadian customs/immigration person their US passport, but I will also have their birth certificate/citizenship application with me, and say the child is awaiting Canadian documentation?

1) Not as familiar with the electronic, I'd download the PDF and update that.

2) SHould be fine for now. Include letter of explanation. Note that birth certificate (final) not yet available and that you will submit docs for Canadian citizenship as soon as you have the birth certificate.

3) Basically yes. I would actually tell them and show them the Canadian side of the story first, say 'the child is a Canadian citizen by descent but not yet received the docs and passport', and the US passport after. Although they're usually not too hard on infants if order is slightly off.

 

[applicant12345]

1) Not as familiar with the electronic, I'd download the PDF and update that.

2) SHould be fine for now. Include letter of explanation. Note that birth certificate (final) not yet available and that you will submit docs for Canadian citizenship as soon as you have the birth certificate.

3) Basically yes. I would actually tell them and show them the Canadian side of the story first, say 'the child is a Canadian citizen by descent but not yet received the docs and passport', and the US passport after. Although they're usually not too hard on infants if order is slightly off.

That's great. Thank you very much for your help.

 

[canuck78]

Would add without proof of Canadian citizenship it may not be possible to get a health card in many provinces and there are wait periods before qualifying healthcare in many provinces even for Canadian citizens so you’ll need to research and purchase emergency medical insurance if needed.

 

[justwannaknow]

I was in a similar situation- if your child will be a Canadian citizen you can list it as such as part of your application.

another thing you can do is actually apply for a passport and citizenship at the same time- the passport can come in 2 months the citizenship in 2 years lol

 

[MJSPARV]

3) Regarding "at the border/port of entry (i.e. Canadian officials, not airline) present the child as a Canadian citizen awaiting final documentation" - I just want to double check - the child will show the Canadian customs/immigration person their US passport, but I will also have their birth certificate/citizenship application with me, and say the child is awaiting Canadian documentation?

When we moved to Canada from the states our then 14 month old's Canadian citizenship certificate application was still processing. We had zero problems at the border. They needed her birth cert with her Canadian parent listed, proof of her Canadian parents' citizenship (i.e. his passport, and when crossing the border later after a trip without him, just a copy of his passport), and our daughter's US passport. Absolutely zero issues at the border. I think we mentioned her application was in process but don't think they asked. Healthcare was a real pain though because there was no visa for her of any kind nor official documentation of her Canadian citizenship. Would definitely call the health system in whatever province you're moving to and ask them how they deal with that situation. Ultimately NB did give her health coverage while IRCC processed her citizenship certificate but it was not guaranteed at all. (Which was a real surprise after they initially wouldn't accept the entire family's application for Medicare because my citizen husband couldn't provide a work permit or pr card to prove he was entitled to be in Canada and work. Apparently his Canadian passport wasn't good enough. )