Passport for dependent children

[Suin]

Hello,
could you please advise me on the following matter - I have two kids, the oldest is 8 years old. According to my country of citizenship, kids cannot be issued a passport until they are 16 years old. They are not included into my traveling passport either. Will that be a problem for the sponsorship application if they are mentioned as accompanying me dependent children? The only documents of their I have are the birth certificates.
Please do advise - this matter is very important to me.
Thank you. Your reply will be much appreciated.

 

[RobsLuv]

Don't know how to advise you. Immigration Canada requires that accompanying dependents have passports - yet I'm sure that the overseas processing office that would be handling your file would be aware of the prohibition against children under 16 having a passport. That's part of the reason that applications are processed in the country of origin.

I would suggest that you include the children on your application (as you are absolutely required to do) and designate them as accompanying if you want them to come to Canada. Include copies of their birth certificates to verify their ages and wait for the overseas embassy to tell you what you are required to do next. I think only they can advise you. You might try to contact them, but there's no way to know for sure whether they will answer your inquiry when you don't yet have an application on file.

 

[Suin]

thank you for you reply, RobsLuv,
there's a question about the kid's passport number in one of the forms - what could you advise me to write in there? my passport number?
thank you

 

[RobsLuv]

No, don't write your passport number in there . . . I think you'd have to put "n/a" and then maybe acknowledge in a cover letter the issue about your country not issuing passports to minors. Again - this should not be something that the embassy in your country has never encountered before so there must be some protocol they follow. Best to just get it out in the open to begin with and wait for their instructions.