Dependent Question +

[Joeybhoy]

Hi All,
Can anyone offer me advice on the question:If I'm fully estranged from my son from my first marriage and have no access to his pasport details or recent photos etc, how do I answer the questions and supply the info required in that section of the spousal application as I want to answer everything honestly? I have a private child support arrangement with my ex,which I will always honour.
Also, my daughter from the same marriage tragically died when she was 7 yrs old and I'm unsure as to how to mention this.
Further,I was under the impression that a 'finacial evaluation' wasn't required in a spousal application.....is this the case.
Sorry if I'm being a bit dumb:Thankyou:Joeybhoy

 

[RobsLuv]

You're not being dumb. Sorry to hear that you lost a child - that has to be the most terrible thing a parent can go through - but unless you feel it would dishonour her memory, I don't think you have to include her on your application. As far as your son is concerned - you don't say how old he is, but if you're paying child support I'm going to assume he is under the age of 18. If he is under 22 and not married or common-law, he does have to be included on Form IMM0008 of your application as a dependent. This is not going to be easy for you because that means that he's supposed to undergo an immigration medical exam, and submit a criminal clearance if he's over 18. Now, CIC does talk about how to handle situations where a child is in the custody of a former partner and the partner is unwilling to allow the child to be examined, or where they are "overaged" and refuse to submit to a medical or criminal clearance - so there are ways around this requirement but, unfortunately, they will complicate things for you and affect your processing timelines. (See Section 5.11-5.12 of the OP2 Processing Manual for more info.)

I would suggest you go into this being upfront about it. Include him on the application as a "non-accompanying dependent" and explain in a cover letter that you are estranged and have no contact with him or his mother so you're unable to provide any details of his whereabouts or compel him to have a medical exam. CIC may try to find him or his mother - which is what will delay your processing - but they will eventually give up and will notify you that, if he is unavailable to be examined he will have to be excluded from the application and you forfeit your rights to ever sponsor him for permanent status in Canada. I know of at least one person who successfully immigrated, even though she had young children who were not in her custody and who never underwent immigration exams. So it is possible.

 

[Joeybhoy]

Thanks for your response Robsluv.....I took on board all that you said.
My son will be 15 in Oct and our estrangement was my decision due to various reasons. The thing I fear most is that my ex, (who has put me through the wringer over the kids during the 11 yrs that we've been divorced), will have some way of orchestrating, through my son, a way of messing things up for me out of spite.
I will explain everything in a cover letter as you advised and leave it up to the common sense of the CIC as to whether that should happen....what else can I do?
RE:My daughter.....thankyou for your empathy.....I wont ever recover from the trauma, as you can imagine.
Thanks again :Joebhoy