Baby born outside of Canada to PR parents planning to immigrate in June 2016

[gryphonent]

Dear CanadaVisa Forum Members,

My wife and I were granted permanent resident status in Canada under the Skilled Worker Immigration Scheme mid 2013 using Campbell Cohen’s services. A process that took some 4.5 years. The application was handled through the High Commission of Canada in London at the time. It has been a dream of ours to relocate to Canada and we’re very excited that we’ve been given the opportunity. However, due to the birth of our baby boy in April 2014 we decided to delay our immigration plans until he’s old enough for the move. Since landing end of July 2013 we’ve not been back to Canada and must now act in order to comply with our residency obligations to accumulate two years of physical presence in Canada within a five-year period (our PR cards expire end of September 2018). We’re in the process of resigning from our jobs and have cancelled our lease agreement for the apartment effective May 2016. Our plan is to resettle in the Toronto area in June 2016.

The reason of my writing today in this forum concerns our baby boy (22 months old at present). He was born on 25-Apr-14 in Shanghai, China, and now lives with us in Duesseldorf, Germany. He holds a German children passport, which is a visa-exempt passport, and therefore he would be allowed to travel with us to Canada in June 2016. However, while my wife and I would enter the country as PR-card holders he would be a German visitor. It is my understanding that POE officers will routinely grant entry for a period of six months to a person requesting entry as a visitor. However, the decision to let my son enter Canada rests solely with the Port of Entry officers. They must be satisfied that the stay is temporary and that my son meets all other requirements to enter Canada as a visitor, including that he would leave Canada should a sponsorship and immigration application be refused. Unfortunately, because one of the requirements for sponsorship under the Family Class FC3 category is to live in Canada we can only kickstart the application once we’ve arrived in Toronto.

Given our situation as outlined above, we’ve a couple of questions for which we couldn’t find answers on cic.gc.ca or this forum:
1. Is it possible and advisable to submit a sponsorship and immigration application for our boy before visiting Canada? If so, who would deal with the application?
2. If we can only submit a sponsorship and immigration application for our son once we’ve arrived in Toronto mid June 2016, will we have to leave Canada again? We could book a return flight back to Germany within a six month window mid December 2016 in order to celebrate Christmas with the grandparents before returning in January 2017 to Toronto. But would my son be allowed to enter Canada so soon again?
3. Once a sponsorship and immigration application is made for my son, does this impact on his status as a visitor? In other words would he still be allowed to stay only six months in Canada or could he stay longer upon his re-entry once we’re showing the application papers to the POE officer? After all, according to the website cic.gc.ca, the estimated waiting time at the moment for sponsoring a dependent child and the child applying for immigration is 16 months!
4. While the sponsorship and immigration is being processed, can we obtain an extension for our son’s stay from within Canada?

I hope somebody on this forum has a similar experience to share and look forward to discussing the topics in more detail. Hopefully we find a way that allows us to enter with our son without having to come and go every six months. This should be a straight-forward process, but I somehow feel that it might not be so simple.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

1. Is it possible and advisable to submit a sponsorship and immigration application for our boy before visiting Canada? If so, who would deal with the application?
2. If we can only submit a sponsorship and immigration application for our son once we’ve arrived in Toronto mid June 2016, will we have to leave Canada again? We could book a return flight back to Germany within a six month window mid December 2016 in order to celebrate Christmas with the grandparents before returning in January 2017 to Toronto. But would my son be allowed to enter Canada so soon again?
3. Once a sponsorship and immigration application is made for my son, does this impact on his status as a visitor? In other words would he still be allowed to stay only six months in Canada or could he stay longer upon his re-entry once we’re showing the application papers to the POE officer? After all, according to the website cic.gc.ca, the estimated waiting time at the moment for sponsoring a dependent child and the child applying for immigration is 16 months!
4. While the sponsorship and immigration is being processed, can we obtain an extension for our son’s stay from within Canada?

Hi

1. As PRs, you can't submit a sponsorship application from outside of Canada.

2,3,4. You don't have to leave. You can apply to extend his stay as a visitor while the PR app processes.

 

[gryphonent]

Hi canuck_in_uk,

Thanks a lot for your answer. This sounds reassuring. However, will the POE officer require a return ticket for my son when entering as a visitor in June 2016? And if we leave the country in December 2016 to visit the grandparents for Christmas, will the POE officer allow us back into the country in January 2017 if we show him proof that we applied for a sponsorship for our son and have extended his visa? It is my understanding that the decision to let my son enter Canada rests solely with the POE officer who must be satisfied that the stay is temporary and that my son meet all other requirements to enter Canada as visitor, including that he would leave Canada should a sponsorship application be refused.

 

[mega_option101]

My Polish wife entered with me and our daughter (myself and my daughter are both Canadian Citizens) and we were not asked for a return ticket from the CBSA Officer for her visitor stay. We did declare that we had the intention of applying for her PR though.

I take it depends on the CBSA Officer that you will meet.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi canuck_in_uk,

Thanks a lot for your answer. This sounds reassuring. However, will the POE officer require a return ticket for my son when entering as a visitor in June 2016? And if we leave the country in December 2016 to visit the grandparents for Christmas, will the POE officer allow us back into the country in January 2017 if we show him proof that we applied for a sponsorship for our son and have extended his visa? It is my understanding that the decision to let my son enter Canada rests solely with the POE officer who must be satisfied that the stay is temporary and that my son meet all other requirements to enter Canada as visitor, including that he would leave Canada should a sponsorship application be refused.

No, you should be fine entering without a return ticket. CBSA will know that the sponsorship app has very little chance of being refused, so they shouldn't have any issues.

An extension app is void once he leaves Canada. I suggest that when you enter in June, if it's going to be more than 6 months before you are leaving on your trip, explain the situation and ask for a Visitor Record until the end of the year. That way, you don't need to apply for an extension. When you re-enter in January, it's a whole new entry.

Make sure to keep the Christmas visit short, no more than a few weeks, as you must be residing in Canada throughout the entire sponsorship process.

 

[gryphonent]

Dear canuck_in_uk, thanks so much for your kind held. Truly appreciated.

 

[gryphonent]

Some more questions that I hope you guys will be able to help us with. We’re uncertain which application package to use for our baby boy:

A) Application for permanent residence from within Canada - Spouse or common-law partner in Canada class (IMM5289); or
B) Application to sponsor a member of the family class: Sponsorship of a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or dependent child (IMM1344)?

We’re confused, because our son will enter as a visitor yet live with us permanently from June onwards in Canada (we’ll be applying for an extension as it’s unlikely that the application process will be completed by the time his 6 months as a visitor are up). The application packages don’t seem to treat the case of a baby born to PR-card holders outside Canada specifically.

Also, when to do the medical exam for our child? Before or after we get the notification from the visa office?

 

[Rob_TO]

Some more questions that I hope you guys will be able to help us with. We’re uncertain which application package to use for our baby boy:

A) Application for permanent residence from within Canada - Spouse or common-law partner in Canada class (IMM5289); or
B) Application to sponsor a member of the family class: Sponsorship of a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or dependent child (IMM1344)?

We’re confused, because our son will enter as a visitor yet live with us permanently from June onwards in Canada (we’ll be applying for an extension as it’s unlikely that the application process will be completed by the time his 6 months as a visitor are up). The application packages don’t seem to treat the case of a baby born to PR-card holders outside Canada specifically.

Also, when to do the medical exam for our child? Before or after we get the notification from the visa office?

All dependent PR apps must use only this package: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp
You use this application package no matter if the child is inside or outside Canada at the time you apply.

You should do his medical just before you send the application.

 

[gryphonent]

Dear Rob_TO, thanks a lot for your help!