<<<need advice>>>

[N0cturnal]

hey everyone... im new to this forum & i might not be in the right place but here goes...

My girlfriend has been living in Canada for over 3 years now, she came here from Brazil using the live-in caregiver program. her permanent residency papers were sent in about 18 months ago, i expect they should be processed soon. and if it makes a difference, we've been living together for about 2 years now.

my question is: she would like to bring her son to Canada (Quebec) permanently & we're wondering if anyone knows what our options are. we were hoping he could come here as a student (hes 22 years old). we were told by a lawyer, that reluctantly answered our questions... our only option was sponsorship. she then told us to sponsor her son could cost anywhere from 3000$-5000$ witch we just cant afford (is that true?). any suggestions on the best way to bring her son to Canada? or any information at all would be appreciated. thank you.

 

[computergeek]

My girlfriend has been living in Canada for over 3 years now, she came here from Brazil using the live-in caregiver program. her permanent residency papers were sent in about 18 months ago, i expect they should be processed soon. and if it makes a difference, we've been living together for about 2 years now.

I'm assuming or hoping you are a Canadian citizen or PR, right?

my question is: she would like to bring her son to Canada (Quebec) permanently & we're wondering if anyone knows what our options are. we were hoping he could come here as a student (hes 22 years old). we were told by a lawyer, that reluctantly answered our questions... our only option was sponsorship. she then told us to sponsor her son could cost anywhere from 3000$-5000$ witch we just cant afford (is that true?). any suggestions on the best way to bring her son to Canada? or any information at all would be appreciated. thank you.

Her son is on her application, but presumably was declared as non-accompanying, right? As long as he is still a student he would qualify as a dependent child:

Dependent children

A son or daughter is dependent when the child:

is under the age of 22 and does not have a spouse or common-law partner;
is over the age of 22 and has been continuously enrolled as a full-time student and depended substantially on the financial support of a parent since before the age of 22;
became a spouse or a common-law partner before the age of 22 and has been continuously enrolled as a full-time student and depended substantially on the financial support of a parent since becoming a spouse or common-law partner, or
is over the age of 22 and depended substantially on the financial support of a parent since before the age of 22 because of a physical or mental condition.

Source: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-who.asp#definitions

Assuming he is eligible under this definition, she should be able to amend her original application to note he will be immigrating with her. What is not clear to me is if the lock-in date (for the fee) is the date of amendment or the date of the application. That would change the fee from $150 (under 22) to $550 (22 or over).

The cost of having the attorney do this might be $3-5k, but that's not the cost to amend the existing application.

 

[N0cturnal]

thank you for replying computergeek. yes im a Canadian citizen and her son is on the application and was declared as non-accompanying. her son is 22 years old now and hasn't been in a classroom since high school. i probably wasn't clear about that part, we were hoping he would be a student once he got to Canada. i assume hes not considered a student at this point... what options does that leave us with?

once again thanks for taking time to reply

 

[computergeek]

Here's the key paragraph from OP 1 "Procedures":

Family class: Lock-in (of age) is based on the day that the responsible Case Processing Centre
(CPC) receives a sponsorship application. The documents downloaded to CAIPS from the CPC
will specify the lock-in date.

So the question is "what was the child's age at the time the sponsorship application was received". If less than 22, no need for student status. If 22 or greater, student status is required. You would need to determine your lock in date and from that establish the age of the dependent at that point. The lock in date is recorded in CAIPS or GCMS notes.

 

[N0cturnal]

just to be sure im understanding everything, the sponsorship application is just a portion of the permanent residency form?
i sent an email to CAIPS requesting the lock-in date for her application.

 

[Leon]

There is one important question here that needs to be answered.

18 months ago, she included her son in her application as not accompanying. If she were to add him now, would they consider the lock-in date to be 18 months ago or now? Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to that.

If the lock-in date were 18 months ago, it would not matter if he is a student. He just can't get married or enter into a common law relationship until after he gets his PR.

If the lock-in date were now, he already does not meet the requirements for an over-age dependent because he is supposed to have been a full time student since before the age of 22 which he isn't. He should also be financially dependent on his parents and he must stay single and he must still be a full time student when he gets his PR.

I think you should do two things. Try to make him enroll in some studies now and add him to her application as accompanying. If it turns out that his lock-in date was 18 months ago, he gets in regardless. If it turns out that it is now, they may let it slide that he was not a full time student since before the age of 22 if he is at the time she adds him and still is when he gets his PR.

If he does not get in on her application, it is not possible to sponsor him later. You could try to apply for his student visa or work permit but with a PR mother, immigration might refuse him because they think he is a risk to overstay. If you lived in MB or SK, you could sponsor an adult child as long as he meets a couple of other requirements but you don't live there so that is a moot point.

 

[computergeek]

18 months ago, she included her son in her application as not accompanying. If she were to add him now, would they consider the lock-in date to be 18 months ago or now? Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to that.

This is exactly the question I was trying to determine. That's why I went back to OP 1 and based upon the text in that manual (which is not binding on CIC, it's just the operations manual) the lock-in date is as of the date the PA's application is submitted. But this does seem to be a grey area.

 

[N0cturnal]

im pretty sure we haven't received any letters or documents from CIC that might indicate the lock-in date. so im trying to request her CAIPS/GCMS notes to determine the lock-in date.