British with children from previous in relationship with Canadian. Help!

[ShortPlanks]

Hello,

I'm just looking for some advice. I am a British Citizen in a long distance relationship with a Canadian. I have two children from previous (who have no relationship with their father). We have met and spent vacations together in Canada but most of our interactions are online I suppose.

We would preferably like for both myself and my children to join my partner in Canada and live there permanently. We're just completely overwhelmed and puzzled as to the best way to go about it. Having children obviously complicates things a little more. Neither of us are particularly high earners which also may make things a little more tricky.

I am completely open minded and will take on board any suggestions. We have discussed the idea of marriage and him adopting my children, if these things are likely to get us living together sooner. We've both become rather depressed about our current situation as you can imagine and just want to know how to move forward.

I suppose what I'm outright asking is - what would you do/have you done in my situation?

I thoroughly appreciate any advice offered, I really do.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi

You must be either married or common-law for your partner to sponsor you.

You will need either full court-ordered custody or permission from the father for the children to immigrate.

There is no minimum income requirement to sponsor a spouse. Your sponsor cannot be on welfare or bankrupt and you must show that you can support yourselves in Canada.

Start here http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp.

 

[ShortPlanks]

Hi

You must be either married or common-law for your partner to sponsor you.

You will need either full court-ordered custody or permission from the father for the children to immigrate.

There is no minimum income requirement to sponsor a spouse. Your sponsor cannot be on welfare or bankrupt and you must show that you can support yourselves in Canada.

Thank you so much for the info

I have full court ordered custody of both children.

As it will be difficult for us to live together before I can settle there permanently (due to not wanting to leave my children for long periods), I'm guessing it may be better/easier to get married and then come back and apply?

Also is there a minimum income requirement for the children?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

As it will be difficult for us to live together before I can settle there permanently (due to not wanting to leave my children for long periods), I'm guessing it may be better/easier to get married and then come back and apply?

Also is there a minimum income requirement for the children?

Yes, you will then need to get married and apply.

There is no minimum income requirement.

 

[ShortPlanks]

Yes, you will then need to get married and apply.

There is no minimum income requirement.

Thank you, you've been so helpful

 

[taffy7]

You can get married here or in the U.K. tart collecting proof of your relationship .. Telephones bills with his number or your number texts emails and facetime contact take screen shots with the kids in the picture . Keep all ticket from your visits in Canada or while he was in the UK. A life insurance policy naming each other as beneficiary is a good idea. He can also add you to his credit card.

What you are trying to do is to make sure CIC knows this relationship is genuine and when newly married or no kids together and haven't been in a relationship for years you need to supply extra proof. I also got two of ours friends to write letter about us and about they know we are in a relationship . Some may say this is not necessary, but for myself i had only been with my husband a year before i married him ...

 

[Beaverdiva]

Hello,

I'm just looking for some advice. I am a British Citizen in a long distance relationship with a Canadian. I have two children from previous (who have no relationship with their father).

We're in a very similar situation concerning the children; my kids, not my husbands. I also have sole custody of them.

Apart from other factors you've mentioned you should know that you will need to satisfy CIC that you have the right to remove the children from the UK. CIC are very strict about this because of potential 'kidnapping' scenarios. You will need to prove that you have been unable to either contact their father for consent or have a Court order granting you permission for the children to come and live in Canada or if possible ask the father to complete Form(s) IMM 5604 Declaration from Non-Accompanying parent, which needs to notarised by a Notary Public (your ex signs the form in front of Solicitor).

If you search on here you will find lots of information about Non-Accompanying parent etc.

It's possible to have a successful application with the kids but you need to ensure you follow CIC's requirements

Best of luck

 

[ShortPlanks]

You can get married here or in the U.K. tart collecting proof of your relationship .. Telephones bills with his number or your number texts emails and facetime contact take screen shots with the kids in the picture . Keep all ticket from your visits in Canada or while he was in the UK. A life insurance policy naming each other as beneficiary is a good idea. He can also add you to his credit card.

What you are trying to do is to make sure CIC knows this relationship is genuine and when newly married or no kids together and haven't been in a relationship for years you need to supply extra proof. I also got two of ours friends to write letter about us and about they know we are in a relationship . Some may say this is not necessary, but for myself i had only been with my husband a year before i married him ...

Thank you so much, this is all very useful to me

 

[ShortPlanks]

We're in a very similar situation concerning the children; my kids, not my husbands. I also have sole custody of them.

Apart from other factors you've mentioned you should know that you will need to satisfy CIC that you have the right to remove the children from the UK. CIC are very strict about this because of potential 'kidnapping' scenarios. You will need to prove that you have been unable to either contact their father for consent or have a Court order granting you permission for the children to come and live in Canada or if possible ask the father to complete Form(s) IMM 5604 Declaration from Non-Accompanying parent, which needs to notarised by a Notary Public (your ex signs the form in front of Solicitor).

If you search on here you will find lots of information about Non-Accompanying parent etc.

It's possible to have a successful application with the kids but you need to ensure you follow CIC's requirements

Best of luck

Hey thanks for the response. I was awarded sole custody in court years ago (I probably still have all the documents). My ex tried to take me to court for access, but I fought him due to his extremely abusive tendencies. It was quite clear he was only taking me to court as a way to continue to harass me (he was in and out of prison for assaulting and stalking me) I won, but largely because in the end he just stopped turning up to hearings. I do not want to contact this man again. I don't even know where he is now anyway. Would the court documentation saying the father has no rights to access be enough proof? Or would I need to go back to court again?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Would the court documentation saying the father has no rights to access be enough proof? Or would I need to go back to court again?

As the courts have already given you full custody, you don't need anything else.

 

[Beaverdiva]

Hey thanks for the response. I was awarded sole custody in court years ago (I probably still have all the documents). My ex tried to take me to court for access, but I fought him due to his extremely abusive tendencies. It was quite clear he was only taking me to court as a way to continue to harass me (he was in and out of prison for assaulting and stalking me) I won, but largely because in the end he just stopped turning up to hearings. I do not want to contact this man again. I don't even know where he is now anyway. Would the court documentation saying the father has no rights to access be enough proof? Or would I need to go back to court again?

You should be fine with the Court Order that you have. Just to cover all bases I'd include a letter explaining the background leading up to the Court Order (abusive ex). It's probably not necessary but my take on these things is to 'spoon-feed' CIC which as much information as possible to avoid any queries off them which might slow your application down.

We thought that having kids from a previous relationship would lengthen the processing time but that's not necessarily the case. It took just 4 months for us to be processed!

London (your visa office) are speeding up! Best wishes.


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