I need help figuring out if my brother can be my dependent in Express Entry

[ShaP]

Hi guys. My parents have been going through rough times for over 5 years now and I have had to look after my baby brother who is 15 years old now. Sometime this year, when my dad fell very ill, he gave me custody/guardianship over my brother. My mum is so occupied looking after my dad that they were all too glad to give me custodianship. I've got the legal documents from the court with both my parents' blessing.

I am only 25 years old but have been working and I am capable enough to pay his fees and support him which I've been indirectly doing for the last few years. Now I'm in the express entry pool waiting for an ITA and I'm wondering if it is possible for me to include him in my application as a dependent. It is pointless for me to leave him behind when I'm supposed to fully handle his basic needs and education.

Please advise if my adding him to my application will make them refuse to give me Permanent Residence. If it will, what's the next best option to make sure I can still look after him. Your advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks

 

[TheMaze]

Given you're his legal guardian, I would expect it be handled the same way as if he was your child

 

[zardoz]

Hi guys. My parents have been going through rough times for over 5 years now and I have had to look after my baby brother who is 15 years old now. Sometime this year, when my dad fell very ill, he gave me custody/guardianship over my brother. My mum is so occupied looking after my dad that they were all too glad to give me custodianship. I've got the legal documents from the court with both my parents' blessing.

I am only 25 years old but have been working and I am capable enough to pay his fees and support him which I've been indirectly doing for the last few years. Now I'm in the express entry pool waiting for an ITA and I'm wondering if it is possible for me to include him in my application as a dependent. It is pointless for me to leave him behind when I'm supposed to fully handle his basic needs and education.

Please advise if my adding him to my application will make them refuse to give me Permanent Residence. If it will, what's the next best option to make sure I can still look after him. Your advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks

I suspect that only a full legal adoption, acceptable to both your legal system AND Canada's, would work. Time to involve the lawyers. IRCC will just remove him as ineligible if they don't accept his dependent relationship to you. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=410&top=2

More research on this yields the following from http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/sor-2002-227/FullText.html

dependent child, in respect of a parent, means a child who

(a) has one of the following relationships with the parent, namely,

(i) is the biological child of the parent, if the child has not been adopted by a person other than the spouse or common-law partner of the parent, or

(ii) is the adopted child of the parent; and

(b) is in one of the following situations of dependency, namely,

(i) is less than 19 years of age and is not a spouse or common-law partner, or

(ii) is 19 years of age or older and has depended substantially on the financial support of the parent since before the age of 19 and is unable to be financially self-supporting due to a physical or mental condition. (enfant à charge)

 

[ShaP]

@Zardoz, thanks for your response. Does this mean that I would not be refused because I included him in my application? I have also been told by a lawyer that I may have options since he is my de facto dependant.

@TheMaze, thanks for responding. I really wish they'd treat him as such.
@ dan_and, thanks for your advice. I am looking at getting help in that regard. I am just anxious that if I get refused, then I've lost the chance of taking him with me immediately or inviting him sometime in the future under the family class.

 

[scylla]

No - he's not a dependent. Custodianship / guardianship doesn't make someone a dependent. You would need to adopt him - and even then, there's no guarantee CIC would accept him as a dependent (they almost surely wouldn't and would treat this as an adoption of convenience). Additionally, adoptions from some countries aren't recognized by CIC.

You should leave him off your Express Entry application. He doesn't meet the criteria of a dependent. And including him could cause complications for future entries (e.g. study permit).

Once you are a PR and in Canada you can try to bring him to Canada on a study permit. Be aware that he will need to pay foreign student fees to attend school in Canada (this is around $14K per year for public high school).