Permanent Resident Visa for Mother in Law from Ukraine

[BCKev]

My wife and I are investigating the possibilities of bringing her mother to live with us in Canada, and are wondering if it will even be possible. Two issues that I am worried about are her health and financial situation, and how that will affect a visa application.

Here is some info about us:
I am a Canadian citizen
My wife is a citizen of Ukraine and has been in Canada for one year with a PR card.
Mother in law receives a small pension that isn't enough to live on in Ukraine, so it doesn't matter if she is in Ukraine or Canada, we will still be supporting her. She is now 67 and has recently retired from her job. No serious health issues at the moment, but we worry that her health could get worse.
I have a decent paying job that would meet any sponsorship requirements. My wife doesn't work now, but may start a part time job soon.
My wife and step-daughter are the mother in law's only child and grandchild (maybe a good angle for H&C consideration??)

We know that this process, if it is even possible, will take years. At the moment we are working on getting a visitor's visa so MIL could visit for a couple of months in the spring.

Any suggestions about the likelihood of success or ways to approach getting a PR visa?

Thanks in advance for you help.

[Karlshammar]

Your wife would have to be the one sponsoring her mother, which is no problem since she is a PR. You'd have to co-sign her 10 year sponsorship since your wife does not meet the requirements herself. Excessive demand on the health care system can be a barrier for sponsoring a mother, fortunately that is not the case right now.

As far as I know, the gov't does not like H&C applications from those who already qualify under another category; H&C is not supposed to be a fast-track. There is no doubt that your wife could sponsor her mother, though.

[BCKev]

Thanks for the reply Karl. It is encouraging. Am I correct in assuming that since there is sponsorship involved, we do not need to worry about the mother in law's ability to support herself?

So that would leave the possibility of medical problems, which would be impossible to predict at this time. Sounds to me we should get the application for  PR visa submitted as soon as possible.

[Karlshammar]

Yes, I would definitely get the application in ASAP.

The sponsorship is there to make sure your mother-in-law will be supported even if she doesn't support herself. Your situation as it is now, with your wife as sponsor and you as co-signer, would mean you and your wife are both financially responsible to provide for your MIL for 10 years from her date of landing.

If you fail to do that she could go on welfare/social assistance like anyone else, except the gov't would send the bill to you and your wife. That's the gov't's guarantee that she'll be supported.

[BCKev]

Yup, I'm familiar with the sponsorship agreement, and it isn't much of a concern for us. We are supporting her now and will be supporting her for years to come.
 
Time to get on with it and see what happens.

Thanks again.

[Karlshammar]

No problem!

Seems like you are in an ideal position to sponsor her right now, so barring her suddenly developing serious health issues this should be smooth (though somewhat long) sailing.

[Suin]

My wife and step-daughter are the mother in law's only child and grandchild (maybe a good angle for H&C consideration??)

please do explain what H&C means?
thank you

[BCKev]

My wife and step-daughter are the mother in law's only child and grandchild (maybe a good angle for H&C consideration??)

please do explain what H&C means?
thank you

It refers to making a visa application on Humanitarian or Compassionate grounds. I don't know much about it.
There's more about it here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/ip/ip05-eng.pdf

[colgate]

My wife and I are investigating the possibilities of bringing her mother to live with us in Canada, and are wondering if it will even be possible. Two issues that I am worried about are her health and financial situation, and how that will affect a visa application.

Here is some info about us:
I am a Canadian citizen
My wife is a citizen of Ukraine and has been in Canada for one year with a PR card.
Mother in law receives a small pension that isn't enough to live on in Ukraine, so it doesn't matter if she is in Ukraine or Canada, we will still be supporting her. She is now 67 and has recently retired from her job. No serious health issues at the moment, but we worry that her health could get worse.
I have a decent paying job that would meet any sponsorship requirements. My wife doesn't work now, but may start a part time job soon.
My wife and step-daughter are the mother in law's only child and grandchild (maybe a good angle for H&C consideration??)

We know that this process, if it is even possible, will take years. At the moment we are working on getting a visitor's visa so MIL could visit for a couple of months in the spring.

Any suggestions about the likelihood of success or ways to approach getting a PR visa?

Thanks in advance for you help.

[canadianwoman]

Am I correct in assuming that since there is sponsorship involved, we do not need to worry about the mother in law's ability to support herself?

A sponsored person is normally supposed to make every effort to support herself/himself, but in the guide to filling out the forms they do say that they do not expect elderly sponsored parents or grandparents to go out looking for work. That just means the sponsor and cosigner have to.
[quote=""
So that would leave the possibility of medical problems, which would be impossible to predict at this time. Sounds to me we should get the application for  PR visa submitted as soon as possible.[/quote]If her health is OK now and continues to be good until the application is processed, she will be acceptable. So yes, get her application in as soon as possible.

I've seen cases where the parent's application was refused on health grounds because he/she needed an operation. The parent then appealed and won, because of H&C considerations and because the sponsors promised to pay for the operation themselves.