Sponser Spouse, hubby on Welfare, kids on Treatment, want to get life Normalish

[overseasmiller]

Hello out there,

I'm not sure if anyone would be able to have an idea about this, as the situation is a little crazy, but here goes:

My husband, a Canadian citizen, would like to sponsor me; I'm from the States. My husband is on social assistance, he's also blind (since he was a child, quite permanent). The reason he is on social assistance is not because he is blind, but because our two children, one 4 years and the other 2 years have cancer, and neither of us was able get work during the intense treatment time (nearly 3 years).

Things are just starting to go in the right direction for our children, with our daughter being stable for nearly 2 years and our son looks like he could be starting a good road, however he is still in active, monthly treatments. So, assuming all goes well, we would like to get off of social assistance in the next, max, 6 months, or earlier if possible. Of course, if my son needs further treatments, if the current treatment becomes ineffective, such as needing local radiation, this will likely force us to continue to remain on social assistance longer than expected.

Now that I have time to actually think straight, I would love to finally get this application going, to get my messy life straightened out, and seeing as it can take quite a bit of time to process the application, etc., I figure the sooner the better. There's one sticky issue: my husband receives welfare.

FInally, here's the question: Does anyone out there have an idea if it would be possible to apply for sponsorship, even though my husband is on social assistance/welfare? It was due to medical reasons, but not for him--his children. I don't know if it would help the situation telling them he is permanently blind. Or do you suppose we should just try to stick it out and wait until there's no need for financial aid, then apply?? We'll wait if we have to, but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks for reading!

Jennifer

*Note: I have not received any financial assistance from the province. Just my husband.

*Note for the curious: The cancer is a heritable cancer, bilateral Retinoblastoma. I was pregnant with the second child when the first child was diagnosed with cancer. We were lead to believe the risk of cancer was MUCH smaller. It's a rare cancer, so a lot of doctors are unaware of it or undereducated about it and the stats. Sadly we found out too late, the chance inheriting the cancerous gene was 50%. Or perhaps we're lucky, we probably wouldn't have had our kids in the first place. And they're just amazing. My life would be nothing without them.

 

[waitingintz]

Hi Jennifer

Wow... crummy situation! I'm not an expert and I'm not 100% sure about whether an application can be considered while your husband is on welfare. But I would think that even if your application would be considered, you are going to have to prove that he will be able to support you and himself once you get your PR. So even if they would consider your application, you would have to submit evidence that your husband can work and will work (a job offer or something like that?) or have an alternative income from somewhere sufficient to support you both. May be worth having a short consultation with a lawyer to see what your options are (though of course they will be likely to tell you that you need their assistance for such a complicated application...)

The application process isn't cheap and appealing a rejection would be even costlier (or not an option if you apply inland) so my thinking would be it would be best to wait until your husband is in a position where he can get off welfare before you apply. While you aren't able to work due to your kids' illness it wouldn't really make a difference whether you are in Canada as a visitor or not anyway and the process through Buffalo is pretty quick once you are ready. I would suggest you wait and spend the next 6 months putting together a strong application so that as soon as you are off social assistance you can apply and hopefully get your PR within a few short months.

As for the blindness - if it doesn't prevent your husband from being gainfully employed (which it sounds like he used to be) - I wouldn't think it's remotely relevant to the application.

Good luck to you and your family!

 

[HoneyBird]

can she apply on humanitarian grounds as both her kids are sick?

 

[suenim]

I think you husband is still able to sponsor you since he is on social assistance for disability.

On the a application guide it says:

You may not be eligible to be a sponsor if you:

.... * received government financial assistance for reasons other than a disability....

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

Hello out there,

I'm not sure if anyone would be able to have an idea about this, as the situation is a little crazy, but here goes:

My husband, a Canadian citizen, would like to sponsor me; I'm from the States. My husband is on social assistance, he's also blind (since he was a child, quite permanent). The reason he is on social assistance is not because he is blind, but because our two children, one 4 years and the other 2 years have cancer, and neither of us was able get work during the intense treatment time (nearly 3 years).

Things are just starting to go in the right direction for our children, with our daughter being stable for nearly 2 years and our son looks like he could be starting a good road, however he is still in active, monthly treatments. So, assuming all goes well, we would like to get off of social assistance in the next, max, 6 months, or earlier if possible. Of course, if my son needs further treatments, if the current treatment becomes ineffective, such as needing local radiation, this will likely force us to continue to remain on social assistance longer than expected.

Now that I have time to actually think straight, I would love to finally get this application going, to get my messy life straightened out, and seeing as it can take quite a bit of time to process the application, etc., I figure the sooner the better. There's one sticky issue: my husband receives welfare.

FInally, here's the question: Does anyone out there have an idea if it would be possible to apply for sponsorship, even though my husband is on social assistance/welfare? It was due to medical reasons, but not for him--his children. I don't know if it would help the situation telling them he is permanently blind. Or do you suppose we should just try to stick it out and wait until there's no need for financial aid, then apply?? We'll wait if we have to, but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks for reading!

Jennifer

*Note: I have not received any financial assistance from the province. Just my husband.

*Note for the curious: The cancer is a heritable cancer, bilateral Retinoblastoma. I was pregnant with the second child when the first child was diagnosed with cancer. We were lead to believe the risk of cancer was MUCH smaller. It's a rare cancer, so a lot of doctors are unaware of it or undereducated about it and the stats. Sadly we found out too late, the chance inheriting the cancerous gene was 50%. Or perhaps we're lucky, we probably wouldn't have had our kids in the first place. And they're just amazing. My life would be nothing without them.

 

[chelley]

I believe welfare and disability are two different funding avenues if you will... If he is receiving welfare he cannot qualify to be a sponsor... If he is receiving disability, he can...
The application and approval process for these two support systems is different.. Based on what you've told us, It sounds like might qualify for disability or other assistance and should probably try to go that route before submitting a sponsorship application...

Best of luck and hang in there!

 

[Karlshammar]

Whether it is considered welfare or disability depends on the qualifications for the assistance. Is the main criteria his disability or his low income? In other words, could any qualify under the same criteria even if they weren't disabled? If this is the case, he is not eligible to sponsor you. If he is receiving the assistance by virtue of his disability, he is eligible.

There is no requirement to you show that you can support yourself under a spousal PR application.

 

[chelley]

i have a family member who was on "welfare" for years and trying to get on disability... it took quite some time to actually get the disability approval, so I can say that (and maybe this varies by province) that they are inherently different...

I found this for ontario that explains the differences in process at a very basic level

http://www.cleo.on.ca/english/pub/onpub/PDF/socialAsst/disabben.pdf

 

[patiently_waiting]

Hi there, his being on welfare will not have any bearing on your application as it does not have any bearing on the Canadian welfare system. As a sponsor, you need to show ties to Canada ie: a place for you and your family to live etc. If you move back with all of your household items and your family follows you afterwards on a visitor visa until their permanent resident visas come through (inland or outland) you would be coming here as a Canadian Citizen and I would think they wouldn't question you travelling with your belongings however your family would have to travel seperately and then you would have to look into work permits/visitor visas at that time. If your husband is able to work, and you apply inland and at that time you can apply for an open work permit with your sponsorship application. One thing to consider also is that you will not qualify for health care right away so you need to ensure that you are prepared with insurance for your children and husband as well. If any of you go on welfare (not disability) within your sponsorship term of 3 years you will be responsible for paying it back to the government as well. I hope some of this info helps, it is a tough go. We applied outland and it is hard as my common law husband is still in the UK however it is the fastest route to permanent residency. There are lots of people that apply outland and still reside with their loved ones within Canada however they are not eligible for goverment health or financial support until PR is granted however the timelines are still much shorter than inland. Hope this helps !