turning 22 next year what to do?? pls help!

[angelm]

Hi I'm currently under the dependent children category of the principal applicant, my father. We are sponsored by my sister in Canada. We're already on the stage 2 of the processing of permanent resident. Our Visa office is in Manila which have an approximately 34 months to process our application.

I'm worried with my eligibility as a dependent children. We passed our application last June 10, 2011 at Manila Visa Office. It was showed on Ecas that our application was received on the same date. I was about to turn 21 yrs. old then. We received a letter from them on July 7, 2011 saying that they received our application and asking for some document. We immediately passed the additional documents to them days after.

My problem is I stopped studying. I graduated april 2010. I did not study anymore because I'm still under 22 and I thought that our application will be approved before I turn 22. My mom was planning to enroll me again in a bachelor's degree to comply with full time studies. My problem is I'm not continously studying since before the age 22. I stopped for more than a year but I'm still not working. I just attended trainings to improve my skills because I'm a registered nurse in the Philippines. I'm still financially dependent to my parents. Do you think I can still be eligible as a dependent children? does locked in age of 20 applies to me? pls help me.. Do you recommend that I enroll and study again?

[Leon]

Your age should be locked in because the application went in before your 22 birthday.  You can not get married or enter into a common law relationship though.

[angelm]

Thanks leon! I really appreciate your reply. I've been reading on different forums and I've read this one somewhere:

Lock-in age of dependent children
The lock-in of age for dependent children is the day CPC-M receives a completed IMM 1344AE
and correct processing fees. Dependent children must be less than 22 years of age when the
sponsorship application is received.

So does it automatically mean that my age was locked in on the day that "Application Received" was shown in ecas? Does it also means that CPC-M already received our completed application forms? But we're not yet paying any processing fees.

Okay I should stay single and unemployed? I really want to start working but it would take 2-3 yrs to approve our visa and start working in Canada.

[scylla]

You can definitely work. You just can't get married or enter into a common law relationship.

[angelm]

really? I thought that if i started working I would be disqualified because I would be considered as independent already and not as a dependent child anymore. Could you help me clarify this?

[vhan]

hello..we have the same situation. I'm 23 years old and a registered nurse. after my board exam i took up 36 units of special education.right now I'm planning to take my MAN but i want to work while studying.that's my problem right now because i may be disqualified in our application to be qualified as a dependent child. but here in this forum someone told me it's ok to work as long as you are single and full time studying..im not sure if they are right.

[Leon]

vhan, were you under 22 when the application was sent in?  If yes, then you can work, if no, then you must stay a full time student to show that you are dependent on your parents.  Working alongside your studies may affect your status as a dependent child because if you were 22 or older when the application was sent in, you must be dependent on your parents.  If you are working to make money, immigration may feel that you are not dependent on your parents any more.

angelm, to clarify, if you were a child under 22 when your parents applied, you will not be punished because of the processing time being long so they will still see you as a dependent child even if you have turned 22 are are working as long as you do not get married.

[vhan]

how they can determine if your working or not?tnx

[Leon]

how they can determine if your working or not?tnx

They periodically ask for proof that children that were older than 22 at the time of application are still dependent as in still not married, still students.  If you are working alongside your studies and therefore not financially dependent on your parents any more but you choose to not tell immigration about this as it would mean that you would not get your PR, that is misrepresentation.  If immigration ever finds out about that, they can revoke your PR.  Even if they find out about it after you have become a citizen, it can cost you your citizenship because you would not have gotten it unless you were PR and you would not have been PR if they had known.  Some possibilities they might find about it later includes for example that somebody who knows about this decides to tell on you.