All family members, whether accompanying the principal applicant or not, are required to be examined unless an officer decides otherwise. Normally, an inadmissible family member, whether accompanying or not, would render the principal applicant inadmissible. There are, however, two exceptions to this rule described in R23. The first is the separated spouse of the applicant and the second is where a child of the applicant who is in the legal custody of someone other than the applicant or an accompanying family member of the applicant, or where someone other than the applicant or accompanying family member of the applicant is empowered to act on behalf of that child by virtue of a court order or written agreement or by operation of law.
If an applicant’s separated spouse or their children who are in the custody of someone else are inadmissible, their inadmissibility would not render the applicant inadmissible. Because separated spouses can reconcile and custody arrangements for children may change, examination is required in order to safeguard the future right to sponsor them in the family class. If these family members are not examined, they cannot be sponsored in the family class in the future under R117(9)(d) unless R117(10) applies.
Satisfactory documentary proof of a separation and of custody being with someone other than the applicant is required. A separation agreement or custody papers are examples of acceptable proof.
Officers will not issue a permanent resident visa to separated spouses, common-law partners or children in the custody of someone else, even if they are examined. This is because separated spouses and partners are not members of the family class as per R117(9)(c) and because children in the custody of someone else are non-accompanying family members.
