Sponsoring my husband's children - Need Help & Clarification Please

[CdnandTrini]

Hello all, my husband has been a PR for just over 3 years and I did his application myself and all of my step-children's recent visa applications (TRVs). Thankfully they were all approved for 10 year multiple entry visas (they are all from Trinidad and Tobago).

Now we are ready to sponsor them to come live with us permanently and even though I have searched immigration site, this site and all over the Internet and called immigration (agent was not helpful) I am still confused about a few things.

On one of the immigration guides it states: "Eligibility - Who can become a sponsor, You can become a sponsor if you are: a Canadian citizen, a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act or a permanent resident"

Then in the next paragraph it states: You can’t be a sponsor if you
•were sponsored by a spouse or partner and you became a permanent resident less than five years ago

I know that there is a 5 year sponsorship bar for another spouse but if my husband has not been here 5 years does that rule also apply to his children? Does not make sense to me especially because we included them as non-accompanying dependents on his application for the express purpose of sponsoring them in future. Because they are getting close to the current age cut off for dependents, we need to act fast now.

If the rule does apply does that mean I can sponsor them and he can co-sign? Or can he sponsor them and I should co-sign? Help and clarification would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Rob_TO]

If the rule does apply does that mean I can sponsor them and he can co-sign? Or can he sponsor them and I should co-sign? Help and clarification would be much appreciated. Thanks.

The rule does not apply to sponsoring your own kids.

He must be the sponsor. There is no income requirement, so there is no need to you to be co-signer.

 

[CdnandTrini]

The rule does not apply to sponsoring your own kids.

He must be the sponsor. There is no income requirement, so there is no need to you to be co-signer.

Rob, thank you so much for the prompt reply!! Why can't IRCC make that clear or did I miss something? Is there any benefit to the application if I am a co-signer? I am already both the representative and authority for info. release on any of our paperwork FYI.

 

[Rob_TO]

Rob, thank you so much for the prompt reply!! Why can't IRCC make that clear or did I miss something? Is there any benefit to the application if I am a co-signer? I am already both the representative and authority for info. release on any of our paperwork FYI.

Not really any advantage. They are his own kids and were declared in his own PR app, so there should be no issues at all in him sponsoring them as long as you get the app in before they turn 19.

 

[CdnandTrini]

Not really any advantage. They are his own kids and were declared in his own PR app, so there should be no issues at all in him sponsoring them as long as you get the app in before they turn 19.

Yeah....finishing one app as we speak because one is turning 19 in less than 3 weeks!!

Thanks again Rob.

 

[profiler]

Yeah....finishing one app as we speak because one is turning 19 in less than 3 weeks!!

Thanks again Rob.

The Lock-In Date is the date the application is received in the CIC mailroom. So, you may want to send it by courier, so you have proof of when it was received.

 

[CdnandTrini]

The Lock-In Date is the date the application is received in the CIC mailroom. So, you may want to send it by courier, so you have proof of when it was received.

Thanks profiler, yes we are going to courier it, I did confirm with the agent about the lock-in date. I am working on it furiously right now ! In between texting, e-mailing and going on the forum......

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks profiler, yes we are going to courier it, I did confirm with the agent about the lock-in date. I am working on it furiously right now ! In between texting, e-mailing and going on the forum......

Keep in mind also that a risk of submitting so close to cut-off date is that if there are any missing signatures, mistakes or missing forms, CIC may send the entire application back to you meaning they may no longer qualify as dependents when you try to re-submit with corrections. Sometimes if this happens they let you keep the initial lock-in date, but other times they don't. So make sure you double and triple check everything.

However even if this did happen, the Liberals should be increasing the age of dependents to age 21 and under sometime within next year or so, meaning you'd probably get another chance.

 

[CdnandTrini]

Keep in mind also that a risk of submitting so close to cut-off date is that if there are any missing signatures, mistakes or missing forms, CIC may send the entire application back to you meaning they may no longer qualify as dependents when you try to re-submit with corrections. Sometimes if this happens they let you keep the initial lock-in date, but other times they don't. So make sure you double and triple check everything.

However even if this did happen, the Liberals should be increasing the age of dependents to age 21 and under sometime within next year or so, meaning you'd probably get another chance.

Hi Rob and yes I will be triple checking for those exact reasons. Also I e-mailed the director of the social immigration policy and programs, David Cashaback - who is the one guiding that proposal for approval (increasing the max age of dependents back to 21) and he responded to me saying that it is "expected to come into force in late 2017". But if for some reason it did not get approved then we would be in a bad situation. So I am still going to submit this one - just in case. After triple checking!! Thanks.