Outland spousal sponsorship...please help!

[Kate CP]

Hi again all,

Things are progressing (slowly) with our application, but I've got a few more questions for you, the Oracle!

I am a Canadian citizen, hoping to sponsor my British husband. We're both living and working in London. We have one daughter, born in UK, and another baby on the way end of April/early May. Both children will have Canadian Citizenship through me, but we're not going to apply for Citizenship Certificates for either of them until Baby 2 is born in the spring.

We haven't included our daughter on any of the forms apart from in:

1. The Sponsorship Evaluation (IMM5481E), under ‘Number of/details of family members and persons included in undertakings in effect or not yet in effect’, Question 6B – ‘Every other family member financially dependent on you, whether they are living with you or not’.

2. The Sponsor Questionnaire (IMM5540E), Question 12, ‘Are you living with someone’.

3. And Additional Family information (IMM5406E), under Section B, Children.

Have we incorrectly listed our daughter in any of those forms? As far as I can tell, we have left her off anything that relates specifically to being a Sponsored Applicant, but I want to be sure we’ve not forgotten to include her where she should be or added her in where she doesn’t need to be. Advice gratefully received.

Obviously, Baby 2 hasn’t been included anywhere at all (although in our proof of intent to return to Canada, he is mentioned frequently, just not included on any official forms) as he isn’t here yet. We don’t want to hold off until he’s born before submitting our application, and since he will be a Citizen too, we figured this would be okay. Is it?

In a similar vein:

In the Appendix A Document Checklist - Immigrant, point 7: Identity and Civil Status Docs, it asks for '...birth certificates...or other official document confirming relationship for you and each of your family members.' I'm assuming this means for any family members who are also being sponsored (ie dependents of the Sponsored Applicant who aren't Canadian citizens), and therefore we don't need to send our daughter's birth certificate. Is that correct, can anyone tell me?

Also under point 7, it says we should provide a 'Photocopy of Citizenship Certificate...for any family members who are Canadian citizens or PR of Canada.' Again, since I am the Sponsor, I assume I DON'T need to re-submit proof of my Canadian citizenship here (although I don't have a Certificate, only my birth cert/passport as proof). Is that right?

Since we don't yet have the Citizenship Certificates for our children, I'm going to write a statement explaining why (because we’re waiting for Baby 2's birth), and we will apply for them as soon as he is born. It is possible to fast track them, if necessary, but they can take months and months to come…we really don’t want to have to wait until both kids have certificates and THEN submit our sponsorship application. That would add so much time, but is that the only way we’ll get approved? Once we have complete documentation for our children?

Can anyone help? I’m so sorry for the lengthy post. But thank you SO much in advance.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Have we incorrectly listed our daughter in any of those forms?

We don’t want to hold off until he’s born before submitting our application, and since he will be a Citizen too, we figured this would be okay. Is it?

I'm assuming this means for any family members who are also being sponsored (ie dependents of the Sponsored Applicant who aren't Canadian citizens), and therefore we don't need to send our daughter's birth certificate. Is that correct, can anyone tell me?

Again, since I am the Sponsor, I assume I DON'T need to re-submit proof of my Canadian citizenship here (although I don't have a Certificate, only my birth cert/passport as proof). Is that right?

It is possible to fast track them, if necessary, but they can take months and months to come…we really don’t want to have to wait until both kids have certificates and THEN submit our sponsorship application. That would add so much time, but is that the only way we’ll get approved? Once we have complete documentation for our children?

Hi

You have correctly listed her.

There is no need to wait for your child to be born.

As you have no proof of Canadian citizenship for the child, you should submit her birth certificate in lieu of that. This will show her to be your birth child and therefore a citizen. If you don't actually show that she is Canadian (a letter from you stating that she is doesn't count as proof), CIC won't know.

No, you dont need to resubmit your documents.

CIC rarely grants urgent processing for Citizenship Certificates. You should expect that your kids' certificates will take the regular amount of time. I suggest you apply for your daughter ASAP. You don't need to wait for the certificates to apply.

 

[Kate CP]

Thanks so much, Canuck_in_uk. that's brill.

we will press on with the sponsorship application and hope that my daughter's birth certificate will be enough to keep CIC happy whilst we wait for her citizenship certificate.

i know it's unlikely that timelines are going to be super quick, but if my husband got PR approval and was able to land before we had both kids' certificates, would we be unable to actually move to canada until we had their certificates? or could we move there (we don't intend to go until husband has PR), and wait for the certificates to arrive whilst starting our life there?

sorry if that's a stupid question...I just want to make sure I'm fully informed.

Thank you again for your helpful info.

Kate

 

[canuck_in_uk]

The birth cert will be enough for CIC.

You can move to Canada without the certificates. The children will have no issues travelling on their British passports. However, without proof of Canadian citizenship, you may face issues getting provincial healthcare for them. For the new baby, you can avoid that problem by applying concurrently for the certificate and a limited validity passport. If your daughter is under 2 years old, you can do the same; if she's older, then she doesn't qualify for the limited validity passport.

 

[Kate CP]

The birth cert will be enough for CIC.

You can move to Canada without the certificates. The children will have no issues travelling on their British passports. However, without proof of Canadian citizenship, you may face issues getting provincial healthcare for them. For the new baby, you can avoid that problem by applying concurrently for the certificate and a limited validity passport. If your daughter is under 2 years old, you can do the same; if she's older, then she doesn't qualify for the limited validity passport.

As always, thank you!! Invaluable advise and info. Really appreciate it.

Will look into limited validity passports.

Kate