Family Sponsorship - Son

[JoshBee]

Hello,

I am being sponsored by my Canadian citizen partner. I was married when I lived in America but am now divorced. I actually married a Canadian citizen that was working in America. We never lived in Canada when we were married. We have a 9 year old son and share custody. My 9-year-old old has never been to Canada and currently lives with his father in Portland, but he is both American/Canadian because his father is Canadian and I am American born citizens. I would like for my son to come with me to Canada. A couple things...

1. Does he qualify as my dependent on the Common Law application or he would not have to go on the application because he is a Canadian citizen because of his father?
2. If I share custody, do I have to seek permission from the father for him to come to Canada to live, or would I have to go through the court systems?

Thanks!

 

[KBH]

1. He would not be included on your application at all since he is already a Canadian citizen. You will need to list him on the Additional Family Information form, but should not include him anywhere else.
2. Any time you are crossing the border from US/Canada with a child and only one parent is present, the border officer will be expecting to see a letter from the other parent granting permission for the child to be taken across the border. This is to help prevent kidnapping etc. So whether this was arranged directly between the two of you or in the court system, you would need to have a document you could present at the border.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello,

I am being sponsored by my Canadian citizen partner. I was married when I lived in America but am now divorced. I actually married a Canadian citizen that was working in America. We never lived in Canada when we were married. We have a 9 year old son and share custody. My 9-year-old old has never been to Canada and currently lives with his father in Portland, but he is both American/Canadian because his father is Canadian and I am American born citizens. I would like for my son to come with me to Canada. A couple things...

1. Does he qualify as my dependent on the Common Law application or he would not have to go on the application because he is a Canadian citizen because of his father?
2. If I share custody, do I have to seek permission from the father for him to come to Canada to live, or would I have to go through the court systems?

Thanks!

If you have a formal shared custody agreement, it likely states that either of you need permission from the other to take the child out of country, or possible even just out of the state. The other option would be to go to court for full legal custody but given that the child currently lives with the father, I would say that there is little chance of that being successful.