Sponsering wife with Step Son

[junno]

Hi,

 I live in Pakistan and a canadian citizen. I recently got married and have a step son 10 years old. I want to know if i can apply for him under adoption or wife dependent. I am paying for his expenses such as school food etc. He does not have a birth certificate till now. so his biological fathers name is not there. I  can give him my last name, get birth certificate as i am his father and get him canadian citizenship asap. Will this  cause problem for my wifes process? the CIC can object as How come i am married in 2009 and have a child born in 2002. please advise the best course of action.

[CharlieD10]

I don't think you can legally get his name on your birth certificate without actually adopting him through the proper process.  You might also complicate things for yourself if your name is on his BC issued in 2011, you married his mother in 2009 and he was born in 2002.  They might request a DNA test, which wouldn't match up, of course, and that makes it misrepresentation to get him citizenship on the grounds of being your son. 

You have two options:

1) Adopt your stepson through the proper channels in Pakistan.  That gets him your name legally, and a new birth certificate.  In the time it takes to sponsor your wife, this process can happen concurrently. 

2) Sponsor him as your wife's accompanying dependent child, in which case you have to get his birth certificate, and she has to provide proof that she has full and sole legal custody and can remove him from the country, or show that she has consent from his biological father to do so.  Then when they land, adopt him legally in Canada.

Either way, there is no getting around a few legal processes.  In the long run, though, abiding by them makes whatever you do above board and beyond reproach.  It might seem easier to take a short cut, but those can come back to bite you really hard.

[RobsLuv]

Please keep in mind that you are not required to adopt him - not in order to sponsor him, and not once he is in Canada.  He HAS to be included on the sponsorship application for your wife - there is no option not to do that - but she will have to prove that she has release from his biological father (or through the courts) in order for him to be able to immigrate.  

[canadianwoman]

I  can give him my last name, get birth certificate as i am his father and get him canadian citizenship asap.

Don't do this. It will probably not work, since the visa officer may well become suspicious given the history of your relationship with your wife. If they ask for further proof or a DNA test, the application will be denied.

Will this  cause problem for my wifes process? the CIC can object as How come i am married in 2009 and have a child born in 2002.

Yes, it certainly will cause problems. If you get the fake birth certificate, the visa officer will wonder about the history of your relationship with your wife. If the VO discovers the truth, your wife's PR application will be denied and she will be banned for two years from applying again for misrepresentation.
There is no reason to do things that way anyway. You can sponsor both your wife and her dependent child.