Stepkids' mother wants to move to Canada...

[marlasinger]

Hey everyone

This might be a stupid question, feel free to laugh, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing something or having a blonde moment.

My husband and my stepkids landed in Canada as PRs, from New York state, in Jan 2015. The kids had their mother's consent, all paperwork was in order. Now my husband's ex-wife is saying she is going to move to Canada because she misses the kids.

She asked us what her options are. We told her that right now there are none. She doesn't qualify for any immigration streams that I'm aware of (and I feel like I'm pretty familiar with the immigration system at this point) except for Parental Sponsorship, and that's only once my oldest stepkid is of age and meets the other financial requirements - so probably in ten+ years or so. She was upset by this and even went so far as to contact UNICEF about "family reunification." (I had a pretty good laugh at her audacity.)

Anyway, this past Monday she told my husband she has a "friend of a friend" who lives in Canada and this friend knows a "special, easy way" to immigrate to Canada IF you have kids already in the country. So I guess that's her plan now? She said next time she visits the kids for a weekend she'll be calling this friend-of-a-friend and starting the moving process. I'm pretty sure she's going to get herself into some trouble with CBSA, and that's not what I want for her. I don't like the woman, but I would be prefer to keep my kid-free weekends and not have her barred from entering the country.

I've looked online everywhere for any kind of information that may lead someone to believe there is a "easy way" to move to Canada with the condition that your kids already live here, and I can't find anything. All there is, obviously, is Parental Sponsorship.

Am I missing something? Or is she?

 

[Rob_TO]

Anyway, this past Monday she told my husband she has a "friend of a friend" who lives in Canada and this friend knows a "special, easy way" to immigrate to Canada IF you have kids already in the country. So I guess that's her plan now? She said next time she visits the kids for a weekend she'll be calling this friend-of-a-friend and starting the moving process. I'm pretty sure she's going to get herself into some trouble with CBSA, and that's not what I want for her. I don't like the woman, but I would be prefer to keep my kid-free weekends and not have her barred from entering the country.

Nope, 100% doesn't exist. There is no immigration path simply by having kids who are PR or citizens.

If she shows up to the border with a truck full of stuff saying she intends to move here permanently, she could be rejected at the border. Won't necessarily bar her from entering in the future, but could make it difficult each time she tries to enter Canada.

 

[scylla]

She may be planning to apply for H&C when she arrives based on her kids being in Canada. H&C applications typically take 1-2 years to process and have low success rates. I don't think she has any case for H&C. But she's free to try.

Regardless, agreed that if she shows up at the border looking like she's going to move, that's flirting with an exclusion order. While exclusion orders are rare, we do see a few Americans on here each year who end up with them. An exclusion order would prevent her from entering Canada for a full year.

 

[Rob_TO]

She may be planning to apply for H&C when she arrives based on her kids being in Canada. H&C applications typically take 1-2 years to process and have low success rates. I don't think she has any case for H&C. But she's free to try.

True it's technically possible. Although seeing as she voluntarily gave permission for the kids to move to Canada, there is no life or death situation for either her or the kids, and the only H&C basis is "I miss them", I can't see any possible chance of success for a H&C app.

So i'll revise my previous post... that it's 99.9% not possible.

Regardless, agreed that if she shows up at the border looking like she's going to move, that's flirting with an exclusion order. While exclusion orders are rare, we do see a few Americans on here each year who end up with them. An exclusion order would prevent her from entering Canada for a full year.

The key here is if CBSA wants to deny you entry, then you voluntarily withdraw your attempt to enter Canada that day and simply go back to the US. I'm sure in many cases exclusion orders are given out more in cases where the American refuses to comply and continues arguing with CBSA.

 

[carolbb23]

Hey everyone

This might be a stupid question, feel free to laugh, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing something or having a blonde moment.

My husband and my stepkids landed in Canada as PRs, from New York state, in Jan 2015. The kids had their mother's consent, all paperwork was in order. Now my husband's ex-wife is saying she is going to move to Canada because she misses the kids.

She asked us what her options are. We told her that right now there are none. She doesn't qualify for any immigration streams that I'm aware of (and I feel like I'm pretty familiar with the immigration system at this point) except for Parental Sponsorship, and that's only once my oldest stepkid is of age and meets the other financial requirements - so probably in ten+ years or so. She was upset by this and even went so far as to contact UNICEF about "family reunification." (I had a pretty good laugh at her audacity.)

Anyway, this past Monday she told my husband she has a "friend of a friend" who lives in Canada and this friend knows a "special, easy way" to immigrate to Canada IF you have kids already in the country. So I guess that's her plan now? She said next time she visits the kids for a weekend she'll be calling this friend-of-a-friend and starting the moving process. I'm pretty sure she's going to get herself into some trouble with CBSA, and that's not what I want for her. I don't like the woman, but I would be prefer to keep my kid-free weekends and not have her barred from entering the country.

I've looked online everywhere for any kind of information that may lead someone to believe there is a "easy way" to move to Canada with the condition that your kids already live here, and I can't find anything. All there is, obviously, is Parental Sponsorship.

Am I missing something? Or is she?

Is this a joke

 

[marlasinger]

Is this a joke

Trust me, I wish it was. There's a reason she wasn't given custody.

 

[marlasinger]

Thank you Scylla and Rob. I was 99% sure I knew what I was talking about. But I've been out of the immigration game for a couple years, so that 1% of doubt crept in. This is exactly what I needed to know.

 

[carolbb23]

Trust me, I wish it was. There's a reason she wasn't given custody.

My sympathy all you can so I may wrong notified cic or ircc