No clue what I'm doing

[linveli]

I would like to eventually get permanent residence in Canada but I have no idea where to start. I've read many articles and forum pages and it all just seems so foreign to me. I'm also unsure what is up-to-date.

I am 25 years old and pregnant with my second child. My fiancé is from Canada but has planned to come to the United States on a student visa while we figure this out. But I almost feel as though this will put him behind on his studies. I'm in a dead end job that I plan to quit at the end of my pregnancy anyways because they are not family orientated and I was going to use the next few months to spend with the newborn while looking for a job that better suited my needs.


but I began thinking maybe moving to Canada would just be the better option. its ultimately what we want for our family. The only struggle is my 4 year old son is not his and I'm going to have to put up a huge fight to even get him a passport to visit Canada with us. His father isn't involved and has no interested but out of spite will not let me get his passport.

My fiancés parents would sponsor me to move there. And have even offered to pay legal fees to terminate the rights of my sons father so I don't have this issue. They would be willing to pay for me to move there and even pay for me to go to school to finish up a degree or two.


I just have no clue where to start.
I have no idea what to expect?
Or how long it would take.
Should I expect that I will still be giving birth in the United States. Or is giving birth in Canada an option? (I'm only a few weeks along).


I guess I'm just overwhelmed right now.
And any point in the correct direction would be wonderful.

 

[scylla]

Giving birth in Canada is certainly an option - but only if you're prepared to pay for everything out of your own pocket. You won't be covered by the Canadian health care system. I would plan to spend $6-$7K. If there are any complications - the costs could be well north of $10K.

Easiest way for you to move to Canada would be for your fiance to sponsor you for permanent residency once you are either married or common law (common law means that you have lived together continuously for at least one full year). Your fiance's parents cannot sponsor you - it has to be your fiance (and you have to be married or common law first).

Your son will need a passport to go through the process and move with you. Additionally, his father will have to provide written consent for your son to be removed from the US and moved to Canada.

 

[linveli]

I had a c-section with my first birth and I'm planning to go a different route with this one but because of my history there is a large chance at complications for birth.


Marriage is easy. We were planning on doing that anyways. I'm unsure how though we could get common-law if neither of us are a resident of the other country.

I thought with being sponsored they had to prove they had a way to pay for me and my family for x amount of time as I would not be able to work right away. Which he would not have the means to do this but his family would.


His father will not give me consent for anything. I have no contact with him. No number to reach him, no email, no address. I can mail his girlfriend on social media who will just tell me to leave them alone.

 

[egoo45]

Hey,

I think the first course of action would be to sort out the situation with the father of your first child. I'm not very familiar with the proper procedure and what would be required of you in order to get full custody of the child and be able to leave the country on a permanent basis.

Canada supports Spousal or common-law partner sponsorship. All the information can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5289ETOC.asp
The sponsorship would cover you, your dependent child that is not his. Current processing time for this kind of sponsorship applications are 12 months. They can be done if residing inside or outside of Canada.

Other options might involve economic immigration, but that would depend on your qualifications and credentials.

Giving birth in Canada is definitely an option, but I don't think you have to worry about your second child being a Canadian citizen. Since the father is a Canadian Citizen then the child gets citizenship automatically. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=365&top=5

 

[scylla]

His father will not give me consent for anything. I have no contact with him. No number to reach him, no email, no address. I can mail his girlfriend on social media who will just tell me to leave them alone.

You need to sort this out before you do anything else. You need to obtain sole legal custody for your child so that you can obtain a passport for your son and then hopefully be able to move him to Canada without his father's consent.

Note that the fact you're pregnant will most likely delay your ability to apply for PR. To complete the PR process you have to get a medical that includes an x-ray. Generally speaking, doctors advise against getting the x-ray while you are pregnant since it can harm your unborn child. This means you have to wait until after you give birth before you can complete the medical (CIC won't approve you for PR without a complete medical).

 

[linveli]

The sponsorship would cover you, your dependent child that is not his. Current processing time for this kind of sponsorship applications are 12 months. They can be done if residing inside or outside of Canada.

Does the marriage have to be in Canada or can it also be in the United States?
Can I stay in Canada for 12 months with no repercussion while waiting on approval?
I would just have to pay for health care out of pocket?
Would my oldest have to be a citizen before he could attend school?

 

[scylla]

Marriage can be anywhere.
You will need to keep extending your visit in Canada to keep your status valid here.
Yes - assume you'll have to pay for all health care out of pocket.
No - your oldest should be able to attend school without paying tuition once you have a PR application in progress. But note that you have to resolve the passort / custody issue before you can even think of removing him from the US.

 

[linveli]

I'm guessing it would be faster to get his permission than to terminate his rights.



Man. Someone has so much control over my child's life and I haven't even spoken to him in 5 years.
I'm guessing no one would know how long this would take since its a completely different matter.


I like to plan ahead.
Guess I wont know until I start though.


Thanks.
I'll probably be back with more questions. haha.

 

[linveli]

So I contacted a lawyer and here are my findings.



I cannot terminate rights without having someone lined up to adopt unless my son is in danger (which he is not).
My fiance cannot adopt until we are married. (and may not even be able to because he isn't a US citizen but the lawyer was unsure about this one)
We cannot get married or they will start denying him visitation to the United States assuming he will over stay.
I cannot move to Canada because my son can't even get a passport to visit over there.
I also cannot go because I can't have the x-rays done while pregnant.



I'm not sure where this leaves us.
So far we are thinking he will just come to the United States for a semester /year of school on a student visa.
But time only solves the pregnancy problem.

My son's dad will still be a jerk.
And my fiance will still not be able to adopt.
and we will still not be able to get married.

 

[scylla]

We cannot get married or they will start denying him visitation to the United States assuming he will over stay.

This is completely incorrect. I know many of people (myself included) who are married to Americans and have no issues entering the US. I entered for visits for a full year on a regular basis before my husband moved to Canada. Never had a problem. Know many other people who've done this as well. You can absolutely get married.

 

[Rob_TO]

And my fiance will still not be able to adopt.
and we will still not be able to get married.

There is no requirement at all for your partner to adopt your child. The only important and key point in your situation, is getting full legal custody of your child, or having the father provide permission for him to move to Canada. Once this happens, and after you're married, your spouse can then sponsor you and your child together for PR. Again, no need to adopt.

Also after getting married you can start the PR application process even if pregnant. You can include a note regarding your pregnancy and why you're unable to complete x-ray portion of medical. So the PR will process as far as it can go, and then go on hold waiting for you to give birth and then do x-rays. After full medical is received the PR app would finish processing.

 

[OhCanada77]

You can get married. I married my Canadian husband and then came back to the UK. Whoever told you cannot get married isn't at all informed!

As others have said, your biggest issue right now is your first child (or rather his father!) Part of the family sponsorship program involves his father signing to say you can take him essentially. You say you've had no contact which COULD mean the possibility of filing to have him removed from the birth certificate (that's how it works in the UK anyway) but seeing as you can contact him via FB and he's being obstructive in regard to the passport, this sounds unlikely. You're definitely in a tricky position and i feel really sorry for you. I know exactly what it feels like to want to go but not be able to. Keep us updated as to how you're getting on x

 

[zardoz]

You can get married. I married my Canadian husband and then came back to the UK. Whoever told you cannot get married isn't at all informed!

As others have said, your biggest issue right now is your first child (or rather his father!) Part of the family sponsorship program involves his father signing to say you can take him essentially. You say you've had no contact which COULD mean the possibility of filing to have him removed from the birth certificate (that's how it works in the UK anyway) but seeing as you can contact him via FB and he's being obstructive in regard to the passport, this sounds unlikely. You're definitely in a tricky position and i feel really sorry for you. I know exactly what it feels like to want to go but not be able to. Keep us updated as to how you're getting on x

I don't believe that removing a *biological* father from a birth certificate is possible in the UK.

 

[OhCanada77]

I don't believe that removing a *biological* father from a birth certificate is possible in the UK.

Yes i wasn't sure hence the emphasis on the COULD. On researching, you're right. It can only be done in the case of the paternity being incorrect. My mistake.