sponsorship of dependent children

[darlwukk]

I have a question about sponsoring my niece from South Africa.  My husband & I are Cdn citizens with a niece in South Africa.  We were granted guardianship of her; how can we bring her to live with us in Canada.
Under the family class system, do these apply? Does the niece/nephew have to be orphaned?

-  brothers or sisters, nephews or nieces, granddaughters or grandsons who are orphaned, under 18 years of age and not married or in a common-law relationship
- another relative of any age or relationship if none of the above relatives could be sponsored, and you have no other relatives who are Canadian citizens, persons registered as Indians under the Indian Act or permanent residents and

[Leon]

Your niece would have to be orphaned to sponsor her.  If you wanted to sponsor under "any other relative" clause, you can have no other closer relatives who can be sponsored regardless of if they want to or not.  Say if you have a parent alive, you would not be able to sponsor your niece under that clause since you have a parent you could sponsor, even if your parent is not even interested.  It might be a possibility if you adopt her.  You should call CIC and discuss this or ask an immigration lawyer.