Help for my child to still be considered as a "dependent child"

[gabo000]

Hello. I received an email from Canadian embassy here in the Philippines...My child is 19 y/0 and the new age definition was less than 19 years old. here is what written on the email.

"However, before a final decision is made regarding your child's eligibility to be included on your application as a dependent child, you are being provided with an opportunity to respond to these concerns by way of written submissions. Any evidence or submission which you or your sponsor may wish to provide must be received by this office within 45 days from the date of this letter . If no correspondence is received within the period specified, a decision will be made based on the information available on file; please note that this may result in removal of your child from your application for permanent residence. "


what do you think should i submit? What kind of written submission? is it that I need to make my own letter? thankyou.pls respond

 

[Survivor27]

I would suggest any proof that your child is still dependent on you like school records (current and maybe last year), fees you paid for the current school year, maybe a letter from the school administrator if your child is in fact still studying.

 

[zardoz]

Hello. I received an email from Canadian embassy here in the Philippines...My child is 19 y/0 and the new age definition was less than 19 years old. here is what written on the email.

"However, before a final decision is made regarding your child's eligibility to be included on your application as a dependent child, you are being provided with an opportunity to respond to these concerns by way of written submissions. Any evidence or submission which you or your sponsor may wish to provide must be received by this office within 45 days from the date of this letter . If no correspondence is received within the period specified, a decision will be made based on the information available on file; please note that this may result in removal of your child from your application for permanent residence. "


what do you think should i submit? What kind of written submission? is it that I need to make my own letter? thankyou.pls respond

See http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5525ETOC.asp#dependent

Dependent child:
A child who depends on their parent (i.e. the principal applicant and/or the sponsor) for financial or other support. A son or daughter is a dependant of their parent when the child is:

under 19 years old and does not have a spouse or partner or
19 years old and over and has depended substantially on the parent’s financial support since before the age of 19 because of a physical or mental condition.
See section 2 of the IRPR for the legal definition.

You will need to prove that your child "has depended substantially on the parent’s financial support since before the age of 19 because of a physical or mental condition.". Nothing else is likely to work.

 

[BethanyM]

Hello. I received an email from Canadian embassy here in the Philippines...My child is 19 y/0 and the new age definition was less than 19 years old. here is what written on the email.

"However, before a final decision is made regarding your child's eligibility to be included on your application as a dependent child, you are being provided with an opportunity to respond to these concerns by way of written submissions. Any evidence or submission which you or your sponsor may wish to provide must be received by this office within 45 days from the date of this letter . If no correspondence is received within the period specified, a decision will be made based on the information available on file; please note that this may result in removal of your child from your application for permanent residence. "


what do you think should i submit? What kind of written submission? is it that I need to make my own letter? thankyou.pls respond

Minister McCallum who just left the portfolio last week, said he intended to move the age for dependent children to under 22.

Here is a link to an official Notice issued on this topic.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/notices/2016-10-28a.asp

Several points:
Under the existing rules a 19 year old child can only be included as a dependent IF they depend on their parent financially BECAUSE they have a mental or physical impairment.

"In all cases, a child will continue to be considered a dependent, regardless of age, if they have depended on their parents for financial support because of a mental or physical condition."

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/notices/2014-06-23.asp

The letter you received provides you with an opportunity to provide information that your child fits within that definition.

Be very careful not to make a claim if it is not well established medically. You can hurt your own application if you provide information about your child which IRCC believes is not truthful.

Another option would be to Withdraw your application for PR, and wait to apply when and IF IRCC does actually change the age of dependents to under 22. At that time you would be able to include your child as a dependent. Unfortunately it means you would start your application again from the beginning.

Others here may have more information on whether the age change is likely to happen this year.

Good Luck.

 

[BethanyM]

I would suggest any proof that your child is still dependent on you like school records (current and maybe last year), fees you paid for the current school year, maybe a letter from the school administrator if your child is in fact still studying.

Attending school, being a student, is not an exception to the age cutoff. School records and tuition receipts won't help.
The definition specifically states there is no exception for students.

 

[gabo000]

does it means that there is a chance for my child to still be considered as a dependent child ? as long as i can prove that he is still needs the support of the parents.

 

[BethanyM]

does it means that there is a chance for my child to still be considered as a dependent child ? as long as i can prove that he is still needs the support of the parents.

No. Needing the financial support of his parents is NOT an accepted reason.
The dependent child MUST be under age 19.

The ONE possible exception is IF the child has mental or physical impairment.

As I mentioned above, this impairment would have to be already medically documented.
You will damage your application if you try to claim your child has a condition which is not already well documented
in his medical history.

So, unless your child has a mental or physical impairment which is considered serious enough to meet the definition, then there is no other way to include him in your application.

The situation I tried to explain above, is that this rule might change. There is a proposal to change the rule to under age 22.
But if your application is processed now, even if the rule is changed later, you won't be able to add your child as a dependent. Your application will be already finished.

That's why I mentioned the idea of cancelling the current application and waiting for the rule to change.
The problem is there's no guarantee If that will really happen.

It's a tough decision to make.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hello. I received an email from Canadian embassy here in the Philippines...My child is 19 y/0 and the new age definition was less than 19 years old. here is what written on the email.

"However, before a final decision is made regarding your child's eligibility to be included on your application as a dependent child, you are being provided with an opportunity to respond to these concerns by way of written submissions. Any evidence or submission which you or your sponsor may wish to provide must be received by this office within 45 days from the date of this letter . If no correspondence is received within the period specified, a decision will be made based on the information available on file; please note that this may result in removal of your child from your application for permanent residence. "


what do you think should i submit? What kind of written submission? is it that I need to make my own letter? thankyou.pls respond

I assume on the date you submitted your PR application, the child was already 19. Also that the child does not have a documented physical/mental disability.

Under these assumptions your options are:
1. Continue with your current app, and child will be removed as a dependent so will not get PR. It doesn't matter what you write back to them, there will be no exceptions.
2. Cancel your current app, wait until rule is changed to move dependent age to 21 and under, and try again.
3. Get your own PR status, and then if rule is later changed you can try to sponsor your child under family class then. Not sure what CIC will do in these cases since children not classified as dependents don't do medical exams, so not sure how it will be possible to sponsor them later on. Will need to wait and see how they handle this, so this option is a bit risky.

 

[gabo000]

No. Needing the financial support of his parents is NOT an accepted reason.
The dependent child MUST be under age 19.

The ONE possible exception is IF the child has mental or physical impairment.

As I mentioned above, this impairment would have to be already medically documented.
You will damage your application if you try to claim your child has a condition which is not already well documented
in his medical history.

So, unless your child has a mental or physical impairment which is considered serious enough to meet the definition, then there is no other way to include him in your application.

The situation I tried to explain above, is that this rule might change. There is a proposal to change the rule to under age 22.
But if your application is processed now, even if the rule is changed later, you won't be able to add your child as a dependent. Your application will be already finished.

That's why I mentioned the idea of cancelling the current application and waiting for the rule to change.
The problem is there's no guarantee If that will really happen.

It's a tough decision to make.

but my son had a medication and he had his maintenance. he had a heart problem until now. since he was 9 months old. but it is not that severe condition. do u think this can help?

 

[Rob_TO]

but my son had a medication and he had his maintenance. he had a heart problem until now. since he was 9 months old. but it is not that severe condition. do u think this can help?

Is his condition classified officially as a disability? Does it prevent him from working or ever living on his own?

If not, it will not help at all.