My niece is 15 and is here for her second year as an international student. Her mother has passed away and her father has not supported her ever. He has agreed that being taken care of by us (his brother and wife) is best for her and will let us adopt her. This is her second year here and she is doing exceptionally well. Can we start adoption process from Canada and have her continue to go to school and live with us until process is complete? We want to do what is best for her.
Adoption of niece who has current international student status
- Thread starter jdaczmiller
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Unfortunately adoption won't let you sponsor her for permanent residency. If both of her parents were deceased, this would be possible. But since her father is still alive, this won't work out.
Thanks for your reply. Are you saying then that if we go ahead with adoption, she will still have to be an international student in order to stay with us until adoption is finalized?
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This is CIC's webpage about adoption:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/adoption/apply-how.asp
For CIC to approve an adoption and let you sponsor an adopted child, the visa officer has to be convinced that it is a real adoption. They will suspect an adoption of convenience in your case, because you are related to the child, her father is still alive, she is a teenager, and she and you have a monetary reason to want to adopt her.
If you can adopt her at all with her father being alive, then you will also have to prove that the adoption is genuine: that you and your wife really will treat her as your daughter, and that she will think of you as her parents.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/adoption/apply-how.asp
For CIC to approve an adoption and let you sponsor an adopted child, the visa officer has to be convinced that it is a real adoption. They will suspect an adoption of convenience in your case, because you are related to the child, her father is still alive, she is a teenager, and she and you have a monetary reason to want to adopt her.
If you can adopt her at all with her father being alive, then you will also have to prove that the adoption is genuine: that you and your wife really will treat her as your daughter, and that she will think of you as her parents.
jdaczmiller said:
No - what I'm saying. Adopting her doesn't get here anything in Canada. It doesn't allow her to stay in Canada or live in Canada or go to school here or use health care or have any of the other benefits of being Canadian. Once she's adopted, she will still be an international student - nothing will have changed. If you are successful in adopting her and then want her to have the benefits of being Canadian, you would then have to sponsor her for permanent residency. However as previously said, unfortunately the chance of the PR application being refused are likely quite high.
So what I'm saying is that even after the adoption goes through, she will most likely have to remain an international student indefinitely. She will most likely not be able to become a permanent resident through you - even after the adoption. If she wishes to become a permanent resident of Canada, she will most likely have to do so independently once she is an adult.
The reason why we are saying there's a high likelihood the PR application will be refused if you sponsor her is because there is a high probability CIC will classify this as an adoption of convenience that has been completed in order to get your niece status in Canada. If that's how they assess the adoption, then the PR application will be turned down.
Wow, thank you for all the info. It is eye opening. When you are legitimate and are not deceiving, it is hard to hear how difficult it is because of people that would be. We have to support her no matter where she is as her dad is not involved and does not support her in any way so having her here where we can take care of her is ideal and she is an exceptional student so the benefits of her education is world wide as who knows where this opportunity can take her. And, since 2010 when her mother passed away, we have been treating her as our own.....is there any recommendations of someone we can talk to to see if they can help us through this process? Thanks again
If you have taken over as her primary caregivers since 2010 and can prove it - the PR application has some hope of succeeding.
Has she been living with you as an international student since 2010? Are you the ones paying for her education here and all other expenses related to her care?
Has she been living with you as an international student since 2010? Are you the ones paying for her education here and all other expenses related to her care?
She lived with us after her mothers passing in 2010 for about a year until we came back to Canada. Then we helped financially and with guidance from 2011-2014 while she lived with her older brother. In 2014 she got a student visa and has been with us since. We fully support her and pay for her schooling.
Would starting the adoption process affect her international visa if we apply for an extension? Is there a way for her to stay with us in Canada while waiting for adoption to be finalized?
jdaczmiller said:
No - starting the adoption process should in no way impact her international student visa. She would need to continue to keep her status as an international student valid to stay with you while waiting for the adoption to be finalized. Additionally, she would continue to have to keep her status as an international student valid AFTER she is adopted (remember - adoption alone doesn't grant her the right to live in Canada). It's not until she is approved for permanent residency (assuming you apply and she is approved), that she becomes Canadian and would be able to live in Canada without obtaining a study permit or any other kind of temporary visa.
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