Sponsoring an Illegitimate child

[industrious_ant]

Hi,
My father had a relationship outside of marriage and had a son.
The child (now about 19 years old) is a British citizen.
He is my half brother.
He has been visiting us in Canada for quite some time and we have a great relationship with him.
We would like to find out if it's possibly to sponsor him, or get him a Canadian Passport.
Not sure if it is, but this would be great help to our family.

If you could point us in the right direction, we would be grateful.

 

[matthewc]

As long as your half brother is not (and has never been) married or legally common-law (lived together in a relationship for a year or more) then your father can sponsor him for permanent residence, using this application kit:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

He mustn't get married (or enter into a common-law relationship) until after he becomes a PR, otherwise he's no longer eligible to be sponsored as a dependent child.

Your father has up until your brother's 22nd birthday to submit the sponsorship application. (After that it become complicated and there are requirements for financial support and full-time education in order to still qualify as a dependent child, so it's definitely in his best interests to be sponsored before then.)

Since he's over 18, he will need to live in Canada for at least 3 years before he will be able to become a Canadian citizen and get a Canadian passport.

Note that when he becomes a PR he will also need to be in Canada 2 years out of 5 in order to keep that status.

 

[PMM]

Hi

As long as your half brother is not (and has never been) married or legally common-law (lived together in a relationship for a year or more) then your father can sponsor him for permanent residence, using this application kit:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

He mustn't get married (or enter into a common-law relationship) until after he becomes a PR, otherwise he's no longer eligible to be sponsored as a dependent child.

Your father has up until your brother's 22nd birthday to submit the sponsorship application. (After that it become complicated and there are requirements for financial support and full-time education in order to still qualify as a dependent child, so it's definitely in his best interests to be sponsored before then.)

Since he's over 18, he will need to live in Canada for at least 3 years before he will be able to become a Canadian citizen and get a Canadian passport.

Note that when he becomes a PR he will also need to be in Canada 2 years out of 5 in order to keep that status.

A couple of notes, if the father was a Canadian citizen at the time of birth then he can apply for proof of citizenship, as long as the father's name is on the birth certificate. If the father is an immigrant and the child was born prior to the father's emigration, and he was not declared on the father's application, then he is not a member of the family class and cannot be sponsored.