CoPR / Pregnancy Question

[vareynick]

Hi there, firstly thank you in advance for any assistance we get here, it is appreciated.

I am British, my wife is Canadian. We currently live in the UK, and applied for my PR (spousal) from here. My wife is 5 months pregnant, and will give birth here in the UK prior to us moving to Canada in November. Our plan was for me to fly over to Canada to initiate the PR Card process, before I head back to UK to tie things up with work, our home etc. Everything I have read says that this is not an issue, but I will require a temp letter in lieu of my PR card (it would be sent to my in-laws, so there is the potential for this to be bought to me in the UK once it comes through, which I assume is also fine?)

I have just received a letter stating that the processing of my PR is almost complete, and they require any change of details and my passport. We are unsure if we need to inform them of my wife's pregnancy and imminent birth of our child (our first). Presumably the baby is Canadian by birth owing to my wife being Canadian already, and therefore does not form part of my application? Is that a correct reading?

A further question - is our approach to entering and PR Card application prior to me returning to the UK OK? This trip would be before the child is born, so does that make the need to inform immigration prior to the baby's birth unnecessary?

 

[steaky]

Hi there, firstly thank you in advance for any assistance we get here, it is appreciated.

I am British, my wife is Canadian. We currently live in the UK, and applied for my PR (spousal) from here. My wife is 5 months pregnant, and will give birth here in the UK prior to us moving to Canada in November. Our plan was for me to fly over to Canada to initiate the PR Card process, before I head back to UK to tie things up with work, our home etc. Everything I have read says that this is not an issue, but I will require a temp letter in lieu of my PR card (it would be sent to my in-laws, so there is the potential for this to be bought to me in the UK once it comes through, which I assume is also fine?)

I have just received a letter stating that the processing of my PR is almost complete, and they require any change of details and my passport. We are unsure if we need to inform them of my wife's pregnancy and imminent birth of our child (our first). Presumably the baby is Canadian by birth owing to my wife being Canadian already, and therefore does not form part of my application? Is that a correct reading?

A further question - is our approach to entering and PR Card application prior to me returning to the UK OK? This trip would be before the child is born, so does that make the need to inform immigration prior to the baby's birth unnecessary?

You need know how your wife became Canadian citizen first before you can know if the new born would be a Canadian citizen. Please sort it out before going into the second question.

 

[vareynick]

You need know how your wife became Canadian citizen first before you can know if the new born would be a Canadian citizen.

Thanks for your reply. She is Canadian by birth, lived there until late twenties.

 

[steaky]

Thanks for your reply. She is Canadian by birth, lived there until late twenties.

OK, then your new born is Canadian citizen. For your second question, you also apply a PRTD or returning to Canada via USA by private car without PR card or PRTD.

 

[vareynick]

Thank you again. To confirm, if I am not in possession of the PR card, I can either apply for a PRTD or undertake a land crossing from the US (if I hadn't obtained the PRTD)

 

[canuck78]

The only issue you may run into is that you typically have to show concrete proof that you will be moving to Canada in order to get approved. Hard to say if coming from the UM may make it easier but too many couples were getting approved, doing a short landing but never relocating to Canada. You typically have to update any information that was in your original application which includes whether you (or your spouse is pregnant). It likely won’t be a big deal if you don’t update your file but it can take up to a year for someone to get their citizenship recognized so that could be problematic for your move. Temporary documents to travel may be possible but your Canadian child must enter Canada as a Canadian not a UK citizen. Qualifying for healthcare in some provinces may be difficult if not impossible until your child has their proof of citizenship.

 

[vareynick]

The only issue you may run into is that you typically have to show concrete proof that you will be moving to Canada in order to get approved. Hard to say if coming from the UM may make it easier but too many couples were getting approved, doing a short landing but never relocating to Canada. You typically have to update any information that was in your original application which includes whether you (or your spouse is pregnant). It likely won’t be a big deal if you don’t update your file but it can take up to a year for someone to get their citizenship recognized so that could be problematic for your move. Temporary documents to travel may be possible but your Canadian child must enter Canada as a Canadian not a UK citizen. Qualifying for healthcare in some provinces may be difficult if not impossible until your child has their proof of citizenship.

Hi, thank you for your reply. We have already undertaken the step to provide concrete evidence of our return. This letter has arrived following that process (presumably we passed that, hence this next step).

I am still confused, and apologies if I am missing something. Our unborn child will be Canadian by birth, owing to their mother, correct? Are they (or should they be) counted as a dependent of mine? We were not pregnant when the application went in, just to confirm. A Canadian friend living in London was able to get a Canadian passport for their child very quickly (child was born in UK, passport obtained from the UK).

I think my sticking point is I am not clear as to whether our unborn child meets the criteria of additional information required as set out in the form: "Change in family composition, for example due to adoption or birth of a child, including a child born to your accompanying dependent child". If anyone has any insight here, that would be most appreciated.

 

[armoured]

Hi, thank you for your reply. We have already undertaken the step to provide concrete evidence of our return. This letter has arrived following that process (presumably we passed that, hence this next step).

I am still confused, and apologies if I am missing something. Our unborn child will be Canadian by birth, owing to their mother, correct? Are they (or should they be) counted as a dependent of mine? We were not pregnant when the application went in, just to confirm. A Canadian friend living in London was able to get a Canadian passport for their child very quickly (child was born in UK, passport obtained from the UK).

I think my sticking point is I am not clear as to whether our unborn child meets the criteria of additional information required as set out in the form: "Change in family composition, for example due to adoption or birth of a child, including a child born to your accompanying dependent child". If anyone has any insight here, that would be most appreciated.

-This is not a change in family composition that matters for these specific purposes, because the child is a citizen. (The IMM0008 specifies that one should include only dependents who are not citizens or PRs already).
-BUT: good idea to inform IRCC anyway, because IRCC gets a bit exercised about children potentially being excluded from apps. You do this by showing the child is a (presumed) citizen.
-You should check with the High Commission/consular services about how to apply for citizenship certificate for the child and passport. (The information about it taking up to a year is basically false - although it can take up to [whatever period they are now showing], that basically refers to how quickly they tend to process them for people that do not need them [most people with Canadian birth certificates who can apply directly for passport] and more complicated cases [people whose citizenship is by complicated descent cases, for example.])
-The usual process - but please check with the high commission - is basically to apply for the certificate of Canadian citizenship (as a presumed citizen, you don't apply for citizenship grant but directly for the certificate). With a copy of that app, you then apply for the passport (on which they'll issue a temporary passport, valid for a year or two, which is the maximum tenor for an infant anyway). In some places the consular section may get you to do both at the same time, or submit them both directly to the embassy/high commission, etc.

And in terms of speed, yes, they can usually do fairly quickly if documents are in order and there's no question about the kid's parentage/parent's citizenship. (Mind, more normal would be a couple of months, but given that most don't wish to travel with a newborn immediately and they have to get other docs, that's not a major issue).