I have a query and I would appreciate if you could shed some light here. I have been divorced and have a non-accompanying son with my ex-wife who never responded to any of the medical requests.
I am working with an immigration lawyer and we submitted an affidavit that I forgo my right of sponsoring my son in future and submitted the proof of requests i.e. emails and messages I sent to my ex-wife to cooperate for medicals. However, she did not respond to any of that. We submitted the proof of attempts and affidavit right at the start of the submitting the documents around Dec 2022. In March 2023 the IRCC requested medicals again. We again submitted the same documents of attempts and affidavit forgoing the right to sponsor. In March 2024, We received a second request for medicals and This time we submitted additional affidavits from family members i.e. parents and siblings that they also tried to reach out to my ex but she didn't respond and we don't know about whereabouts of my ex hence unable to get the medicals done. However, in April 2024 the IRCC sent a PFL with the wording below
"Your non-accompanying dependent does not qualify for an exemption to this requirement pursuant to
paragraph 30 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. I have reviewed the documentation you have provided and I am not satisfied that exceptional circumstances are preventing your dependent child to undergo medical examination. Furthermore, Subsection 16(1) of the Immigration
and Refugee Protection Act states that a person who makes an application must answer truthfully all questions put to them for the purpose of the examination and must produce a visa and all relevant evidence and documents that the officer reasonably requires.
The onus is on you to submit the required documents mentioned above. Please also provide relevant
documentation supporting your claim that the mother has full custody of your child. As such you will
have 30 days from the date of this letter to comply. If you do not comply and/or if the required documents
are incomplete with this request within 30 days, your application will be assessed based on the
information currently on file and may result in the refusal of your application."
To the response of the above PFL. We submitted all the history around our divorce and how hostile the other party has been towards me and the divorce was not amicable at all in an explanation letter. This time, I tried to reach out to my ex and her family and we submitted proof of more attempts. We also submitted a legal opinion letter from the lawyer that mother is supposed to be the custodian since there's no formal custody documents and more affidavits from family members who are in Canada who vouch for my attempts. However, Today again we have received another letter from the IRCC requesting the custody document that states spouse has full custody. I don't have the custody document as the mother is considered a natural custodian as per pakistani law however, if I want to apply for custody I would have to go the court but such cases take 3-5 years on average and there's absolutely zero chance of getting custody. The IRCC has given me 7 days to respond with a custody document stating mother has the full custody.
"We have begun processing your application for permanent residence, and in order to make a decision we
require the following information/documents:
Client Information: Please provide custody documents issued by a relevant authority that clearly
states Spouse has full custody. This must be received at this office by: 2024/06/04
Please note that the requested information/documents must be received within 7 days from the date of
this correspondence. Please upload these documents to your MyCIC account.
If we do not receive the information/documents within 7 days, your application will be assessed based on
the information we have on file, meaning your application could be refused as incomplete."
Now we are planning to submit another explanation letter that there's no custody document since mother is considered to be a natural custodian based on Pakistani law with some direct references to the law, along with the same legal opinion letter from a lawyer that mother is considered a natural custodian and even if I apply for the custody I won't be able to get it and the lawyer advise me against applying for custody.
Guys please help out here and Please share your feedback on my situation. All comments welcomed.