Spousal Sponsorship. Please PMM, LEON and others help!

[Togolais]

NB: I know this post is very long but please do try and read it to the end.

I am a Canadian permanent resident from Cameroon (Africa) living in Toronto. I moved here permanently on January 31st 2010, thus i am a year old here now. I want to sponsor my wife who is in Cameroon. We knew each other in mid 2006. We dated for a couple of months before I travelled to europe for further studies in Oct 2006 and returned in August 2009.

While in Europe i applied and obtained my permanent residence visa to immigrate to canada. I remained in Cameroon with her till the 31st of January 2010 when i moved to Canada permanently.

Since i came here i have not been able to have a permanent job. I did a temporary 1 month job between May and June and then later did another one for about 4 months (Aug-Dec 2010). I am presently unemployed but will hopefully begin a 6 months contract job at the beginning of February 2011.

I have a 9 year old son whom i declared in my initial application for permanent residence while in europe and he did the medical exams too. I had him from a 2 months casual sexual relationship with a certain girl.
I mostly communicate with my wife only through emails and by phone. But i can not show any prove that we communicate by phone because i use VOIP(Voice Over Internet protocol) when i want to talk to her. With this internet calling method there is no way i can print the call log to show that i call her number.
Now I want to submit an application to sponsor her next month (Feb) and have the following questions for which your advice and suggestions will be highly appreciated:
(a)Does CIC consider my son as my wife's stepson?

(b)If so, will she have to include him on her application for permanent residence as a member
of her family or dependent child?

(c)If he is considered her family member or dependent child, will he have to undergo the medical examinations again given that he had already done so when i was applying to immigrate and isnt even going to accompany her?

(d)Will i be eligible to sponsor her despite the fact that i have worked only for about 5 months in Canada and consequently do not meet the 12 months employment period as stipulated on the SPONSORSHIP EVALUATION FORM?

(e)Now that i have only emails as prove of communication between us, will that negatively impact our application package? can they be enough?

(f)Must family and friends write letters ascertaining or confirming our relationship?

(g)On the form "application to sponsor and undertaking" i am requested to provide the "Record of landing/Confirmation of permanent residence number. Where can i find this number on the form? I have seen 3 of them on the form but dont know which is which.1 is on the top right-hand corner and 2 on the top left-hand corner of the form.


I look forward to hearing from you guys. Thanks in advance for your kind attention and prompt reaction.

 

[chelley]

When did you marry her?

 

[Leon]

a) They might consider him her step-son but there is no legal relationship between them and so..

b) she does not have to include him on her application and ..

c) because he is not going on her application he does not have to repeat the medicals.

d) Yes, you can sponsor her because spousal sponsorships are actually exempt from income requirements.

e) There is nothing you can do about data you do not have. Collect what you have and write a letter stating what you don't have and why you don't have it.

f) They don't have to but it might help if they did.

g) Without seeing the form, it is hard to tell. My own form has 2 at the top right hand side and one at the bottom right hand side. The one of them is big fat and in red print so that is the one I would use.

One note of warning.. you do not say when you landed as a PR and when you married your wife. It is very important if you married your wife or qualified as a common law couple before you landed as a PR that you should have added her to your application. If you were married before you landed as a PR and you did not add her to your file, you are in a heap of trouble because you are then guilty of misrepresentation, can not sponsor your wife and may even lose your own PR. If that is the case, get a lawyer before you do anything.

 

[Togolais]

Hi Leon and Chelley,
Thanks indeed for your reply to my post and sorry for replying late. I have not been feeling well all this while. Thank God am graduualy recovering.
Well concerning your preoccupation about my wedding date, i got married about 5 months after i landed in Canada. I landed on June 2 2009 and got married in November 2009. I finally came back to Canada in January 31st 2010.

 

[Togolais]

Hi Leon and Others,
I still have an issue regarding whether or not my wife should include my 9 year-old son in her application for permanent residence if he is considered her family member and/or stepson following the phrase written in capitals below as expressed in the following instructions on the form IMM 0008 shown below:


APPLICATION FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN CANADA
Page 2 of 2 – DETAILS OF FAMILY MEMBERS
(On this page, 3 columns are provided to the principal applicant to give details of 3 family members). Here are the instructions below:

You must provide the following details about each of your family members, whether they will be accompanying you to Canada or not. You must include your spouse or common-law partner, if applicable, and all of your dependent children AND THOSE OF YOUR SPOUSE OR COMMON-LAW PARTNER, who are not already permanent residents or citizens of Canada.

Leon I truly appreciate your response to my 1st and 2nd questions but my next question is: How will you explain the phrase AND THOSE OF YOUR SPOUSE OR COMMON-LAW PARTNER, especially in the context of dependent children if you suggest that my wife shouldn’t provide details of my son on this form as a family member given that he is the dependent child of her spouse (which is me) as expressed in the capitalized and underlined phrase in the instructions above? I am really confused. Please guys take a closer look at the instructions again.

What about SECTION B in the ADDITIONAL FAMILY INFORMATION form IMM 5406, which requires the principal applicant to provide the following information:

CHILDREN (include ALL sons and daughters, including ALL adopted and STEP-CHILDREN, regardless of age or place of residence)

With respect to the above instructions on the IMM 5406 form, do you think she is supposed to provide my son’s info in section B of the form as her step-son?

NB: Please do help to clarify my doubts. Thanks in advance

 

[Leon]

You must provide the following details about each of your family members, whether they will be accompanying you to Canada or not. You must include your spouse or common-law partner, if applicable, and all of your dependent children AND THOSE OF YOUR SPOUSE OR COMMON-LAW PARTNER, who are not already permanent residents or citizens of Canada.

This is a generic form, not just for spousal applications so in some cases where couples are applying together, the spouse or common law is listed as a dependant. My understanding of this is that your son would only be included as your spouses step child if she was applying for PR and including you as her spouse on her application. When in doubt, call CIC and ask.

As for the Additional family information form, she would list him there but that does not mean that he is a part of the application.

 

[PMM]

Hi Leon

This is a generic form, not just for spousal applications so in some cases where couples are applying together, the spouse or common law is listed as a dependant. My understanding of this is that your son would only be included as your spouses step child if she was applying for PR and including you as her spouse on her application. When in doubt, call CIC and ask.

As for the Additional family information form, she would list him there but that does not mean that he is a part of the application.

You may have to reconsider your statement that "d) Yes, you can sponsor her because spousal sponsorships are actually exempt from income requirements." It appear that lately there has be some appeals to the IAB where there has been a spousal refusal, in that the sponsor will not be be able to support the spouse because of low income, and the spouse won't be able to support his/her self. You may wish to read the following IAB decision. I don't know if it is a new trend or not.

http://tinyurl.com/4rmqjew

 

[Leon]

That is interesting. Possibly it depends on the visa officer if they look into that as a consideration. The LICO (low income cutoff) is $27,674 a year for 2 people. That is the minimum when sponsoring a relative where you must meet income requirements.

 

[canadianwoman]

To be safe, I would include the OP's son as his wife's stepson on the forms. It can't hurt her case.

The Immigration Appeal decision cited is one of only a few where a spousal applicant has been rejected because of the low income of the sponsor. Usually, CIC approves applicants even when the sponsor has a low income or no job. To the OP: you can send in the application with the income you have, and it will most likely be accepted. But, to be on the safe side, with a low income try to include evidence that you will have a higher income soon (a new job, you've been taking training, etc.), show evidence of your savings and any property, show that your spouse has savings and property that she can sell when coming to Canada (if she does), and if possible get a letter from a family member or friend stating that they will help support the two of you when you first start living together in Canada - maybe by allowing you to stay rent-free in their home until your wife gets a job.

 

[PMM]

Hi

To be safe, I would include the OP's son as his wife's stepson on the forms. It can't hurt her case.

The Immigration Appeal decision cited is one of only a few where a spousal applicant has been rejected because of the low income of the sponsor. Usually, CIC approves applicants even when the sponsor has a low income or no job. To the OP: you can send in the application with the income you have, and it will most likely be accepted. But, to be on the safe side, with a low income try to include evidence that you will have a higher income soon (a new job, you've been taking training, etc.), show evidence of your savings and any property, show that your spouse has savings and property that she can sell when coming to Canada (if she does), and if possible get a letter from a family member or friend stating that they will help support the two of you when you first start living together in Canada - maybe by allowing you to stay rent-free in their home until your wife gets a job.

No, they are not related. If he wished to sponsor his son, it would be a separate sponsorship and application.

 

[angelbrat]

Hi Leon

You may have to reconsider your statement that "d) Yes, you can sponsor her because spousal sponsorships are actually exempt from income requirements." It appear that lately there has be some appeals to the IAB where there has been a spousal refusal, in that the sponsor will not be be able to support the spouse because of low income, and the spouse won't be able to support his/her self. You may wish to read the following IAB decision. I don't know if it is a new trend or not.

http://tinyurl.com/4rmqjew

Thank you PMM, that is a very interesting link. I too, wonder, if this will become trend.

 

[Togolais]

Thank you guys for your suggestions. So let me get this straight. Do you suggest that my wife should include my 9 year-old son on her application, going by the phrase "AND THOSE OF YOUR SPOUSE OR COMMON-LAW PARTNER" contained in the intructions on page two of the IMM 0008 form as i earlier mentioned above?

If so, then i guess he will equally have to go for the medicals even though he is not accompanying her and also provide photos since there is a space for a photo at the bottom of that page. What do you think? Thanks in advance for your positive contibutions.

 

[PMM]

Hi

Thank you guys for your suggestions. So let me get this straight. Do you suggest that my wife should include my 9 year-old son on her application, going by the phrase "AND THOSE OF YOUR SPOUSE OR COMMON-LAW PARTNER" contained in the intructions on page two of the IMM 0008 form as i earlier mentioned above?

If so, then i guess he will equally have to go for the medicals even though he is not accompanying her and also provide photos since there is a space for a photo at the bottom of that page. What do you think? Thanks in advance for your positive contibutions.

No, as I said your wife is not related to your son. He is not included in her application.

 

[mehrnoush]

Hi everybody
Does anybody know (Specially LEON) what I am supposed to do if the time period between sending supplementary document and passport request exceeds 6 months?(Damascus/ spousal sponsorship file)
has anybody had this experience
Best Regards

 

[dhang729]

Hi with regards to the question above. I want to sponsor my spouse and my dependent child from a previous relationship. could i be able to do this with my spouse as the principal applicant and my son as a dependent child of my spouse. Please note that i have declared my child and had his medicals done before when i applied for PR. Thank you