annabruce said:
.... but Canada Immigration DOES have thee authority to judge!! Appearances are everything. How you present yourself is everything! No contact with your children for so many years is weird by any normal person's standards. He needs to provide a better explanation than a simple letter. They mentioned contact number; provide the name and last know address of the ex, phone number if it exists!!
CIC cannot refuse an application based on "appearances" . . . or because they believe someone is an "ass" for not having contact with his/her children. And it's ridiculous to suggest that CIC checked Facebook and found the children there! It's my understanding, from what the OP posted, that the children were included on the application but not examined because they have been living with their mother and he has not had contact with them since they were toddlers. Lots of people are vindictive and withhold the children in spite - so don't just go assuming this person is at fault for not seeing his kids. We are not here to JUDGE, we're here to provide information, and the info that's been given so far is nothing but opinion.
mrs B: As far as the refusal, CIC has to give a reason that is based on the IRPA and Regulations, and the specific paragraph of the IRPA has to be referenced in the refusal letter. Children who are defined as "dependents" by the IRPA Regulations MUST be included in the application - and they must be medically examined (and submit police clearances, too, if over the age of 18). CIC makes it very clear in the application instructions that they are not going to get involved in "custody disputes" - all custody issues must be sorted out before someone makes application to immigrate to Canada. Because your husband does not have any paperwork that proves he does not have custody of the children - and because he (apparently) did not get them examined - it caused a problem. I'm not certain that they really had the authority to just refuse the application for this reason - I don't know that there are really grounds for them to do that. Normally they will just keep delaying processing until the applicant complies - either by submitting a notarized letter of separation, or by having the children examined. But the fact is that trying to immigrate when someone has "dependent" children who are non-accompanying is VERY complicated - mostly because, apparently, the guidelines concerning how to deal with the myriad of "issues" that can come up are not terribly clear. Our application was refused also, based on a situation with my non-accompanying "dependent" and the refusal went against everything that was written in the manuals and the IRPA and Regs - yet they still refused and we had to go through the entire appeal process to get it sorted out. Unfortunately, you don't have that option, so my advice: make some real noise with your MP. S/he has contacts at the Minister's office and maybe they can get the file re-opened - especially if the officer who refused the application did not reference a particular paragraph of the IRPA as grounds for the refusal. It's not clear to me whether your husband just neglected to respond in any "official" capacity to requests to have the children examined - simply stating that he does not have contact with them is not really what CIC wants.
This needs to happen soon, though, because of the fact that there is no right of appeal with an inland application and that means that as soon as his temporary status expires, he has to leave Canada unless this thing gets resolved. The suggestion to apply again outland is definitely an option - but not one that allows him to stay in Canada with you. Whenever he applies to extend his temporary status, they're likely to refuse based on the refusal of the PR application. I would maybe even consult with a lawyer - but, really, your MP can do more for you . . . especially if CIC did not follow proper procedure in the refusal.
