Applying for my sister, a retiree and a U.S. Citizen , as last member of the family to reunite w family

[Christine Chin]

My sister is a U.S. citizen and had recently been widowed. She is also the last member of the family outside of Canada. I have immigrated to Canada and have been a Canadian citizen for over 30 years. Most of my family is here except for my older sister in the U.S. she is now retired but her husband passed away in 2021 and she is now all alone by herself. We are trying to apply to come to Canada for good as a permanent resident so she can be reunited w the family .
I understand that the Last Member of the Family category is no longer there, and want to know how best to go about sponsoring to to come to Canada.
Pls share your experience and ideas.
Thanks
Chris

 

[Naturgrl]

My sister is a U.S. citizen and had recently been widowed. She is also the last member of the family outside of Canada. I have immigrated to Canada and have been a Canadian citizen for over 30 years. Most of my family is here except for my older sister in the U.S. she is now retired but her husband passed away in 2021 and she is now all alone by herself. We are trying to apply to come to Canada for good as a permanent resident so she can be reunited w the family .
I understand that the Last Member of the Family category is no longer there, and want to know how best to go about sponsoring to to come to Canada.
Pls share your experience and ideas.
Thanks
Chris

You cannot sponsor her unless you have no spouse, children, parents, grandparents or any family in Canada. She would need to immigrate based on her own merits (age, education, skills, language, funds) through Express Entry or a PNP program. If she is widowed and retired then that will not be an option due to her age. She can visit you and spend up to 6 months in Canada as a US citizen, but not have PR, be able to work or have access to services.

 

[Christine Chin]

Can i use humanitarian reasons to apply for her? My kids are all grown up and independent. My spouse is still working so we have a steady source of income. our entire family is here is Canada and we have been diligent tax payers for almost years. My sister is widowed and all by herself. she is the ONLY family member outside of Canada that we want to reunite with. we also have a 2nd property that is all paid for that she can use. She is not interested in working, she just want to retire and stay with the family . She is also getting older so travelling every 6 months back and forth and have to leave and come back may be too much for her. She also will need to keep a place in the U.S. to live. that doesn't seem to make financial sense if she is here most of the time.
For humanitarian reasons, I would hope the Canadian govt will grant her status to come reunite with the family.

 

[Naturgrl]

Can i use humanitarian reasons to apply for her? My kids are all grown up and independent. My spouse is still working so we have a steady source of income. our entire family is here is Canada and we have been diligent tax payers for almost years. My sister is widowed and all by herself. she is the ONLY family member outside of Canada that we want to reunite with. we also have a 2nd property that is all paid for that she can use. She is not interested in working, she just want to retire and stay with the family . She is also getting older so travelling every 6 months back and forth and have to leave and come back may be too much for her. She also will need to keep a place in the U.S. to live. that doesn't seem to make financial sense if she is here most of the time.
For humanitarian reasons, I would hope the Canadian govt will grant her status to come reunite with the family.

Not really. H&C is for those settled in Canada and may have children who cannot return to home country. She isn’t living in Canada nor does she have children who must remain in Canada. Plus she is a US citizen so can visit up to 6 months. She can retire in Canada up to 6 months per year. Many Canadian do it and spend the winters in the US. People are in their 80s and go back and forth. Being a citizen, owning property, and paying taxes doesn’t give her any right for PR. Where are her children?

She really doesn’t meet any H&C conditions and given her US citizenship, it will most likely be denied.

• How settled the person is in Canada? She isn’t
• General family ties to Canada - are her children in Canada? Immediate family?
• The best interests of any children involved - not applicable if she doesn’t have minor children
• What could happen to the applicant if request is not granted? She can live in the US
• Factors in applicant’s country of origin including adverse country conditions. Not applicable
• Applicant’s health considerations including inability of a country to provide medical treatment. - Can get treatment in US.
• Family violence considerations. Not applicable
• Consequences of the separation of relatives. Not applicable because she has not lived in Canada nor is she settled. She can visit up to 6 months per year.

 

[Christine Chin]

Not really. H&C is for those settled in Canada and may have children who cannot return to home country. She isn’t living in Canada nor does she have children who must remain in Canada. Plus she is a US citizen so can visit up to 6 months. She can retire in Canada up to 6 months per year. Many Canadian do it and spend the winters in the US. People are in their 80s and go back and forth. Being a citizen, owning property, and paying taxes doesn’t give her any right for PR. Where are her children?

She really doesn’t meet any H&C conditions and given her US citizenship, it will most likely be denied.

• How settled the person is in Canada? She isn’t
• General family ties to Canada - are her children in Canada? Immediate family?
• The best interests of any children involved - not applicable if she doesn’t have minor children
• What could happen to the applicant if request is not granted? She can live in the US
• Factors in applicant’s country of origin including adverse country conditions. Not applicable
• Applicant’s health considerations including inability of a country to provide medical treatment. - Can get treatment in US.
• Family violence considerations. Not applicable
• Consequences of the separation of relatives. Not applicable because she has not lived in Canada nor is she settled. She can visit up to 6 months per year.

thanks for the detail. My sister is really not much of a snow bird. She has been here for the winter and she didnt mind. Hers or our primary reason for the application is to reunite w the only family she has. Especially w the passing of her husband, retired and no children, being on her own can becomes very lonely. She will eventually have to travel on her own too to fly here or by train. all her siblings are here and we have a home that she can live in, so it makes sense. if Canada is allowing refugees to come for humanitarian reasons, as well as spouses to reunite, why is a blood relative living alone not anymore important. Since she has no children of her own, she will also have to manage everything, and household issues all by herself. Hence that is more reasons for her to be with the family than being all by herself down there. If i were to go ahead and apply, would they not even consider this a humanitarian case?

 

[YVR123]

thanks for the detail. My sister is really not much of a snow bird. She has been here for the winter and she didnt mind. Hers or our primary reason for the application is to reunite w the only family she has. Especially w the passing of her husband, retired and no children, being on her own can becomes very lonely. She will eventually have to travel on her own too to fly here or by train. all her siblings are here and we have a home that she can live in, so it makes sense. if Canada is allowing refugees to come for humanitarian reasons, as well as spouses to reunite, why is a blood relative living alone not anymore important. Since she has no children of her own, she will also have to manage everything, and household issues all by herself. Hence that is more reasons for her to be with the family than being all by herself down there. If i were to go ahead and apply, would they not even consider this a humanitarian case?

You can try but I don't see her fitting in any of the general H&C reason.

It's a life style choice to live close to relatives. But it's not a H&C issue. Specially she is from USA.

 

[Naturgrl]

thanks for the detail. My sister is really not much of a snow bird. She has been here for the winter and she didnt mind. Hers or our primary reason for the application is to reunite w the only family she has. Especially w the passing of her husband, retired and no children, being on her own can becomes very lonely. She will eventually have to travel on her own too to fly here or by train. all her siblings are here and we have a home that she can live in, so it makes sense. if Canada is allowing refugees to come for humanitarian reasons, as well as spouses to reunite, why is a blood relative living alone not anymore important. Since she has no children of her own, she will also have to manage everything, and household issues all by herself. Hence that is more reasons for her to be with the family than being all by herself down there. If i were to go ahead and apply, would they not even consider this a humanitarian case?

But she is a US citizen so she doesn’t fit H&C. You are not her immediate family so again I listed reasons for H&C and she doesn’t fit into to them. You can certainly try but she must move and live in Canada to file and processing which will take up to 2 years. She will want to purchase healthcare insurance as she cannot work, and should not leave. If H&C is denied and she must go back to the US, it will make it very difficult for her to even return to Canada. That is why it is best for her to come for 6 month visits.

 

[Christine Chin]

Thank you for your advice! I know is not a simple case but I wont give up easily. If she has close relatives that she can be with, then is a diff story. A lifestyle change is a preference, but the needs to be with family is much more than that. As she gets older, living and being alone all by herself will become psychological and mental challenging. this is really a case of family reunion.

 

[Naturgrl]

Thank you for your advice! I know is not a simple case but I wont give up easily. If she has close relatives that she can be with, then is a diff story. A lifestyle change is a preference, but the needs to be with family is much more than that. As she gets older, living and being alone all by herself will become psychological and mental challenging. this is really a case of family reunion.

Ok. But again you are not her immediate family as defined by IRCC and she is a US citizen. First she needs to be living in Canada to claim H&C. Be prepared for a refusal in a few years and then you all must deal with the consequences that she may never be allowed re-entry to Canada again if her case fails.

 

[Christine Chin]

you made an interesting pt. So she is not planning to claim status and staying here illegally. She wants to apply to come here permanently n so she doesn't have to manage 2 homes. she likes to continue to visit when she can. Are you saying If the application gets rejected, they might not let her come in next time to even visit?

 

[Christine Chin]

I am trying to apply for her to come in through sponsorship by me and my husband. So we are not asking her to come here and not going back. Would this reflect that we dont want to do this illegally, so she can still continue to visit regardless of the application?

 

[canuck78]

Thank you for your advice! I know is not a simple case but I wont give up easily. If she has close relatives that she can be with, then is a diff story. A lifestyle change is a preference, but the needs to be with family is much more than that. As she gets older, living and being alone all by herself will become psychological and mental challenging. this is really a case of family reunion.

Not sure you understand the potential implications of being denied H&C. Is she prepared to be refused entry as a visitor if she is denied H&C? By filing an H&C application she is declaring to IRCC that she wants to remain in Canada permanently so if denied every time she attempts to visit Canada she could be denied entry out of fear she won’t go home. What about a border community? Could she move close to the border? If she is still able to travel and take care of herself then there isn’t a strong case for H&C. How old is she? If she isn’t able to care for herself and has medical needs that can also be a reason for H&C denial. If she had children living in Canada and was unable to take care of herself she would have a better case although not guaranteed. She must have considered what would happen as she aged especially not having children? If she had wanted to join her extended family in Canada she should have applied to immigrate when she was younger via an economic pathway. Canada has an ageing population and a healthcare system in crisis so Canada won’t even be able to accept all the parents of children living in Canada wanting to bring their parents to Canada. Is she is well off financially? If so at least she could provide for herself and would be less of liability. People discover as they age that getting older is expensive and that Canada has partial Medicare.

 

[Naturgrl]

I am trying to apply for her to come in through sponsorship by me and my husband. So we are not asking her to come here and not going back. Would this reflect that we dont want to do this illegally, so she can still continue to visit regardless of the application?

You cannot sponsor her. You don’t understand H&C so research it. She cannot be a visitor coming and going, and apply for H&C. For H&C, You are asking her to move to Canada and file for H&C (she must be in Canada), prove H&C (which she really cannot), and wait two years in Canada for a response. She cannot come and go as she is filing H&C which is to show that she cannot return and live in the US due to hardships, no medicine, abuse, lack of family (all the points mentioned above).

If her plan is to come back and forth while a claim is underwa, then it will be refused. Plus at some point she could be denied entry and not allowed into Canada. If her claim is refused, she may not be allowed to ever enter Canada again. So she needs to think about this - moving to Canada and living for years while processed and if denied, the potential of never be allowed into Canada again.

 

[scylla]

My sister is a U.S. citizen and had recently been widowed. She is also the last member of the family outside of Canada. I have immigrated to Canada and have been a Canadian citizen for over 30 years. Most of my family is here except for my older sister in the U.S. she is now retired but her husband passed away in 2021 and she is now all alone by herself. We are trying to apply to come to Canada for good as a permanent resident so she can be reunited w the family .
I understand that the Last Member of the Family category is no longer there, and want to know how best to go about sponsoring to to come to Canada.
Pls share your experience and ideas.
Thanks
Chris

She will need to be satisfied with visiting Canada. Sponsoring her is not possible.

 

[scylla]

I am trying to apply for her to come in through sponsorship by me and my husband. So we are not asking her to come here and not going back. Would this reflect that we dont want to do this illegally, so she can still continue to visit regardless of the application?

You cannot sponsor her.