adopted dependent child processing time

[haeri]

Hello,

I am 22 and i’ve been sponsored by my spouse for PR card. But during the process, my mom passed away. I have only one sister who is 18 now. My father passed away a long time ago. So my spouse and i decided to adopt her and add her as my dependent child onto my application. We’ve adopted her in Jan, 2019 before she turned 18. The visa office requested adoption papers and we uploaded them in Feb, 2019. But we haven’t received any response or further instructions since then.

-Because of our country’s adoption law, my sister had to get my spouse’s family name. Does it make it count as an intercountry adoption? (but my spouse was with us in our home country during the whole adoption process)
-Does anyone know how long should i expect to wait? Is there anyone who experienced the same?

 

[zardoz]

Hello,

I am 22 and i’ve been sponsored by my spouse for PR card. But during the process, my mom passed away. I have only one sister who is 18 now. My father passed away a long time ago. So my spouse and i decided to adopt her and add her as my dependent child onto my application. We’ve adopted her in Jan, 2019 before she turned 18. The visa office requested adoption papers and we uploaded them in Feb, 2019. But we haven’t received any response or further instructions since then.

-Because of our country’s adoption law, my sister had to get my spouse’s family name. Does it make it count as an intercountry adoption? (but my spouse was with us in our home country during the whole adoption process)
-Does anyone know how long should i expect to wait? Is there anyone who experienced the same?

You can expect to have this process take a longer time than normal.
Adopting someone who is very close to adulthood is suspicious and may lead IRCC to believe that it's an "adoption of convenience".

 

[haeri]

You can expect to have this process take a longer time than normal.
Adopting someone who is very close to adulthood is suspicious and may lead IRCC to believe that it's an "adoption of convenience".

Thank you for your response. Do you know:
-If it is considered adoption of convenience, what would happen?
-And what is the approximate normal processing time for this kind of adopted/dependent child thing? I looked it up on CIC website but they haven’t provided any processing time on my country.

 

[zardoz]

Thank you for your response. Do you know:
-If it is considered adoption of convenience, what would happen?
-And what is the approximate normal processing time for this kind of adopted/dependent child thing? I looked it up on CIC website but they haven’t provided any processing time on my country.

Normally, dependent children are about 5 to 8 months but adopted children require more diligence. If found to be an "AoC", you will receive a Procedural Fairness Letter before the final decision to refuse.

 

[haeri]

Normally, dependent children are about 5 to 8 months but adopted children require more diligence. If found to be an "AoC", you will receive a Procedural Fairness Letter before the final decision to refuse.

So getting refusal means me and my sister will both lose the chance to get PR and even can get banned for 5 years, right?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

So getting refusal means me and my sister will both lose the chance to get PR and even can get banned for 5 years, right?

IRCC would likely just remove your sister from the app and process you, so you would probably be approved. There would not be a ban.

 

[haeri]

IRCC would likely just remove your sister from the app and process you, so you would probably be approved. There would not be a ban.

Oh really? I was afraid we both might get rejected. If my sister can’t be approved as my dependent, she has to apply on her own?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Oh really? I was afraid we both might get rejected. If my sister can’t be approved as my dependent, she has to apply on her own?

That is my best guess, not saying it would happen for sure. Yes, she would then need to qualify in her own.

 

[haeri]

That is my best guess, not saying it would happen for sure. Yes, she would then need to qualify in her own.

Thank you for the response

 

[Naturgrl]

Have you legally adopted the child if the mother is alive. Not evidence of living with you but legal adoption.

 

[canuck78]

Her mother is alive, we are going to legally adopt this child through the legal process in the coming week. After getting legal custody and documents of this child, we will request IRCC for adding a new family member through the web form.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...conomic-classes/family-class-process.html#new

This is much more complicated because the girl is not an orphan. Is she a relative? I would be working with a Canadian immigration lawyer.

 

[armoured]

Yes, She is not orphan, She is daughter of my sister in law. But I have sufficient evidence, like school record documents, which I and my spouse signing from last 15 years as parents or guardians.

I know it seems straightforward to you but there is great senstivity about the adopted-children rules being used to 'bring in' extended family members by adopting them. If parents are still alive, it WILL get extra scrutiny and if not done correctly, could cause serious issues for you later. Even more so since you are only adopting the child now (even if you've effectively been guardians for a long time).

That's the context for why others suggested getting a lawyer involved as soon as possible.

 

[Naturgrl]

Yes, She is not orphan, She is daughter of my sister in law. But I have sufficient evidence, like school record documents, which I and my spouse signing from last 15 years as parents or guardians.

So she is a family member and she is in her mid teens and you have not adopted her until now. Evidence of living with you is not adoption which you could have done years ago. Signing school records as a guardian is not strong evidence. This will be scrutinized because living with someone as their guardian is very different then adopting them. You need a good Canadian lawyer to help you with the process.

 

[Buletruck]

Yes, She is not orphan, She is daughter of my sister in law. But I have sufficient evidence, like school record documents, which I and my spouse signing from last 15 years as parents or guardians.

Out of curiosity, what’s your home country. That can have a significant effect on adoption.

 

[Canada2020eh]

A couple of points to mention. You are 22 and she is 16, so she has not lived with you as you being a guardian for a long time since you were a minor yourself until the last few years, depending on your country. IMO there is no way that you can add her to your app right now, you still haven't even legally adopted her yet. If you did manage to do it in a short period of time as you mention I think it would be considered an adoption of convenience and it would be refused.

If you are adamant that she has to come with you then the only option I see is this. Withdraw your current PR application, complete the legal adoption process in your country THEN WAIT for 1 or 2 years after that to apply for PR with her as your dependent. Doing it any sooner will look like an the adoption of convenience.

If you try to do it right now and it gets rejected then you are out of luck. I don't know what country you are from but when I adopted my son from the PH the process took over 2 years. The key point is that it has to be a LEGAL adoption that IRCC will accept, can't be just being a guardian. Good luck.