Suggestion needed: non-accompanying child with potential medical inadmissibility due to excessive demand

[canadada]

I got my ITA and plan to apply alone even though I'm married with a kid.

My wife and 1-year-old son don't want to move to Canada right now due to my son's medical condition. He has a tracheostomy and is in the process of weaning off it. He is very likely to get rid of that next year. Right now, no ventilator needed but working with PT and OT to catch up on some developmental delays. We are living in US. My son is a US citizen but my wife and I are on visas.

I think it's very likely that the Dr will flag my son in the medical exam. I'm worried that my son will considered as medical inadmissibility due to excessive demand and lead to the refusal of my application.

Option 1:
Explain the situation that my son won't come to Canada with me, but stay in US with the Mother until his situation gets improved.

Option 2:
Provide an (notarized) affidavit to exclude my son from my future sponsorship to Canada.

My question is:
How likely would Option 1 work?
Would Option 2 work? I've seen some discussions on excluding spouse from future sponsorship (like this). But not any discussion on a non-accompanying dependent child.

Thanks in advance!

 

[canuck78]

I got my ITA and plan to apply alone even though I'm married with a kid.

My wife and 1-year-old son don't want to move to Canada right now due to my son's medical condition. He has a tracheostomy and is in the process of weaning off it. He is very likely to get rid of that next year. Right now, no ventilator needed but working with PT and OT to catch up on some developmental delays. We are living in US. My son is a US citizen but my wife and I are on visas.

I think it's very likely that the Dr will flag my son in the medical exam. I'm worried that my son will considered as medical inadmissibility due to excessive demand and lead to the refusal of my application.

Option 1:
Explain the situation that my son won't come to Canada with me, but stay in US with the Mother until his situation gets improved.

Option 2:
Provide an (notarized) affidavit to exclude my son from my future sponsorship to Canada.

My question is:
How likely would Option 1 work?
Would Option 2 work? I've seen some discussions on excluding spouse from future sponsorship (like this). But not any discussion on a non-accompanying dependent child.

Thanks in advance!

Neither are options. Your son's condition will be considered. Having a traech has a high chance of medical inadmissibility. I assume your son has more complex needs on top of just the traech and all his medical needs may be unclear based on his age. Even non-accompanying spouses have to pass a medical for the other spouse to get PR. Your option is to wait to apply for PR or apply and anticipate a procedural fairness letter and hire a lawyer in the hopes you can prove that his medical needs will be under 100K in 5 years. Would add that if you do come to Canada you'll need to anticipate that one parent will need to become a full-time caregiver and that it will be very important to get a job with extended health benefits. Canada has more like 70% medicare. There are quite a few things that are not covered as an outpatient and what is covered depends on the province.

 

[scylla]

I got my ITA and plan to apply alone even though I'm married with a kid.

My wife and 1-year-old son don't want to move to Canada right now due to my son's medical condition. He has a tracheostomy and is in the process of weaning off it. He is very likely to get rid of that next year. Right now, no ventilator needed but working with PT and OT to catch up on some developmental delays. We are living in US. My son is a US citizen but my wife and I are on visas.

I think it's very likely that the Dr will flag my son in the medical exam. I'm worried that my son will considered as medical inadmissibility due to excessive demand and lead to the refusal of my application.

Option 1:
Explain the situation that my son won't come to Canada with me, but stay in US with the Mother until his situation gets improved.

Option 2:
Provide an (notarized) affidavit to exclude my son from my future sponsorship to Canada.

My question is:
How likely would Option 1 work?
Would Option 2 work? I've seen some discussions on excluding spouse from future sponsorship (like this). But not any discussion on a non-accompanying dependent child.

Thanks in advance!

I'm very sorry to hear about your son's situation.

As said above, neither of these are options. Your son must pass the medical in order for your application to be approved. That is the only option available to you if you want to move ahead with your application. IRCC will not allow you to exclude him from the application.

Your actual options are: (1) decline ITA and wait for your son's condition to improve before re-entering the EE pool; (2) proceed with ITA and hope your son can eventually pass the medical.

 

[canadada]

Neither are options. Your son's condition will be considered. Having a traech has a high chance of medical inadmissibility. I assume your son has more complex needs on top of just the traech and all his medical needs may be unclear based on his age. Even non-accompanying spouses have to pass a medical for the other spouse to get PR. Your option is to wait to apply for PR or apply and anticipate a procedural fairness letter and hire a lawyer in the hopes you can prove that his medical needs will be under 100K in 5 years. Would add that if you do come to Canada you'll need to anticipate that one parent will need to become a full-time caregiver and that it will be very important to get a job with extended health benefits. Canada has more like 70% medicare. There are quite a few things that are not covered as an outpatient and what is covered depends on the province.

Thanks for the response. I do plan to hire a lawyer to help me in the process and respond to the PFL. I don't understand why excluding my son from family class in my future sponsorship not an option because he will never need excessive demand from Canada. My wife never worked and we just submitted our 485 so we are getting our US PR in a year I guess.

Do you know after submitting my application, usually how long will I receive the PFL? My son will probably be able to remove the Trach so the projected cost will be less. I also plan to provide a mitigation plan with proof of enough fundings to support my son's medical needs in the next few years.

 

[canadada]

Your actual options are: (1) decline ITA and wait for your son's condition to improve before re-entering the EE pool; (2) proceed with ITA and hope your son can eventually pass the medical.

Thanks for the reply. I won't have enough CSR due to aging if I decline the ITA now. So will probably go with (2). I will hire a lawyer to prepare.

 

[scylla]

Thanks for the response. I do plan to hire a lawyer to help me in the process and respond to the PFL. I don't understand why excluding my son from family class in my future sponsorship not an option because he will never need excessive demand from Canada. My wife never worked and we just submitted our 485 so we are getting our US PR in a year I guess.

Do you know after submitting my application, usually how long will I receive the PFL? My son will probably be able to remove the Trach so the projected cost will be less. I also plan to provide a mitigation plan with proof of enough fundings to support my son's medical needs in the next few years.

IRCC requires all dependents to be included in the application and pass the medical at the time the primary applicant applies. That's how the rules work. Excluding your son from the application means he would never be able to come to Canada either under your sponsorship or your wife's sponsorship. I'm sure you can see why IRCC obviously won't allow that. The child is part of your family. IRCC doesn't support ditching children and leaving them behind in another country for the sake of allowing the parents to migrate to Canada.

If you get PFL, it will come after medicals. Timelines are very difficult to guess right now due to COVID-19 processing time slowdowns. You will then have a fixed period of time to respond to the PFL. After that, it will be anywhere between a few weeks to many months before you have a final decision.

 

[canadada]

IRCC requires all dependents to be included in the application and pass the medical at the time the primary applicant applies. That's how the rules work. Excluding your son from the application means he would never be able to come to Canada either under your sponsorship or your wife's sponsorship. I'm sure you can see why IRCC obviously won't allow that. The child is part of your family. IRCC doesn't support ditching children and leaving them behind in another country for the sake of allowing the parents to migrate to Canada.

I see. So the only viable option is to both exclude my wife and my son in the application and also exclude my wife from my future sponsorship by preparing an affidavit of separation. But I don't think it's a good idea for my current situation.

Thanks for the patient explanation. I will work with the lawyer to prepare for the PFL and justify that my son won't incur excessive demand.

 

[scylla]

I see. So the only viable option is to both exclude my wife and my son in the application and also exclude my wife from my future sponsorship by preparing an affidavit of separation. But I don't think it's a good idea for my current situation.

Thanks for the patient explanation. I will work with the lawyer to prepare for the PFL and justify that my son won't incur excessive demand.

That won't be enough. Your son would still have to pass the medical even if you and your wife have separated. He's still your child and your dependent.

You would need to be separated / divorced from your wife and your wife would need to have legal sole custody of your child awarded through the courts (and refuse to allow the medical) in order for you to be able to exclude your son.

 

[Naturgrl]

Thanks for the patient explanation. I will work with the lawyer to prepare for the PFL and justify that my son won't incur excessive demand.

Just so you are aware, a panel of physicians will determine if your son has excessive demands on the health care system. Short and long term care are assessed. This can be a long process as experts are brought in to review your son’s file. Preparing something now will be of no benefit until your son has the medical and you receive a procedural awareness letter. It will outline the costs and then prepare your response.

 

[canadada]

Just so you are aware, a panel of physicians will determine if your son has excessive demands on the health care system. Short and long term care are assessed. This can be a long process as experts are brought in to review your son’s file. Preparing something now will be of no benefit until your son has the medical and you receive a procedural awareness letter. It will outline the costs and then prepare your response.

Thanks for the information! So the PFL will outline the costs? That's great to know. We are living in US so we have no clue about how much would similar condition cost in Canada. Assume that I receive the PFL, in my response, can I focus on two aspects: (1) Whether the assessed care and the costs are reasonable (2) Whether I have enough fund to cover the total cost. Is this the most common strategy for medical inadmissibility?

Can I assume that even if the estimated cost from the PFL exceeds the excessive demand threshold, if I have enough funds to cover the whole projected expense for my son's care and submit the proof as the response, my son is very possible to be considered as admissible, correct? Any other blind spot I need to watch out for?

 

[scylla]

Thanks for the information! So the PFL will outline the costs? That's great to know. We are living in US so we have no clue about how much would similar condition cost in Canada. Assume that I receive the PFL, in my response, can I focus on two aspects: (1) Whether the assessed care and the costs are reasonable (2) Whether I have enough fund to cover the total cost. Is this the most common strategy for medical inadmissibility?

Can I assume that even if the estimated cost from the PFL exceeds the excessive demand threshold, if I have enough funds to cover the whole projected expense for my son's care and submit the proof as the response, my son is very possible to be considered as admissible, correct? Any other blind spot I need to watch out for?

You would only focus on #1. Argument #2 is meaningless since once your child is a Canadian PR, they can use the health care system freely and there is no way for the government to force you to pay the costs instead.

The answer is no for the question in your second paragraph. Your assumption is incorrect. This isn't how it works for the reasons I have stated above.

You need to prove the costs to the Canadian health care system will fall below the threshold.

 

[Naturgrl]

Thanks for the information! So the PFL will outline the costs? That's great to know. We are living in US so we have no clue about how much would similar condition cost in Canada. Assume that I receive the PFL, in my response, can I focus on two aspects: (1) Whether the assessed care and the costs are reasonable (2) Whether I have enough fund to cover the total cost. Is this the most common strategy for medical inadmissibility?

Can I assume that even if the estimated cost from the PFL exceeds the excessive demand threshold, if I have enough funds to cover the whole projected expense for my son's care and submit the proof as the response, my son is very possible to be considered as admissible, correct? Any other blind spot I need to watch out for?

No, you can’t provide proof that you will pay for his expenses. That is not how the Canadian system works as healthcare for most things are free. It doesn’t matter that you can afford care. You must prove that your son’s expenses will not exceed the threshold per year. So focus on #1 but you would have to prove that costs are unreasonable.

 

[canadada]

You would only focus on #1. Argument #2 is meaningless since once your child is a Canadian PR, they can use the health care system freely and there is no way for the government to force you to pay the costs instead.

The answer is no for the question in your second paragraph. Your assumption is incorrect. This isn't how it works for the reasons I have stated above.

You need to prove the costs to the Canadian health care system will fall below the threshold.

Not mean to argue with you. But on their website on how to prepare a mitigation plan:https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...inadmissibility/reasons/mitigation-plans.html , it clearly says that:

"

A mitigation plan explains what you’ll do to make sure you won’t cause an excessive demand on health or social services. Not everyone can give a mitigation plan. If it applies to you, you’ll be invited to send us one. Your plan must be credible, detailed and individual to you.

Your mitigation plan explains how you’ll support future expenses related to your health condition, such as:

• outpatient prescription medication
  • for example, if you have employer-based health insurance that covers the cost of your medication
• social services
  • for example, if you find a private long-term care facility that is willing to take you and you have the financial means to pay the cost

You can’t opt out of publicly-funded health services, except for outpatient prescription medication in some provinces or territories. So you can’t submit a mitigation plan to cover the cost of health services.

Your plan must show:

• how the services you need will be provided
• how you’ll pay for those services
• what your financial situation will be for the entire time you need services (include financial documents)

You must also submit a signed Declaration of Ability and Willingness form. When you sign this form, it means that you agree to take responsibility for arranging the services that you’ll need in Canada along with their costs."

So it depends. If it's health related. Then no. But for social service, you can waive your right (submitting the signed Declaration of Ability and Willingness form) to use the benefit and pay everything by yourself to make yourself admissible.

 

[scylla]

Not mean to argue with you. But on their website on how to prepare a mitigation plan:https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...inadmissibility/reasons/mitigation-plans.html , it clearly says that:

"

A mitigation plan explains what you’ll do to make sure you won’t cause an excessive demand on health or social services. Not everyone can give a mitigation plan. If it applies to you, you’ll be invited to send us one. Your plan must be credible, detailed and individual to you.

Your mitigation plan explains how you’ll support future expenses related to your health condition, such as:

• outpatient prescription medication
  • for example, if you have employer-based health insurance that covers the cost of your medication
• social services
  • for example, if you find a private long-term care facility that is willing to take you and you have the financial means to pay the cost

You can’t opt out of publicly-funded health services, except for outpatient prescription medication in some provinces or territories. So you can’t submit a mitigation plan to cover the cost of health services.

Your plan must show:

• how the services you need will be provided
• how you’ll pay for those services
• what your financial situation will be for the entire time you need services (include financial documents)

You must also submit a signed Declaration of Ability and Willingness form. When you sign this form, it means that you agree to take responsibility for arranging the services that you’ll need in Canada along with their costs."

So it depends. If it's health related. Then no. But for social service, you can waive your right (submitting the signed Declaration of Ability and Willingness form) to use the benefit and pay everything by yourself to make yourself admissible.

This is generally for any additional support / care (not normally covered by the provincial health care system) that someone might need. They want to understand how you will pay for that. For care that is normally covered by the provincial health care system, you need to prove the costs will fall below the threshold. Saying you will cover them won't do it.

 

[canadada]

For care that is normally covered by the provincial health care system, you need to prove the costs will fall below the threshold. Saying you will cover them won't do it.

Understand it. That makes sense. Also find a list of examples on the website, for other people's reference.

Health services
This includes any health service where most of the cost is paid by the government.
For example, services or care given by:

• doctors
• medical specialists
• nurses
• chiropractors
• physiotherapists
• laboratories
• pharmacists
• hospitals

Social services
Social services help people to function physically, emotionally, socially, psychologically or vocationally (at work). Most of the cost for social services are paid by government or through publicly funded agencies.

Examples include:

• home care
• specialized residences
• residential services
• special education
• social and vocational rehabilitation
• personal support
• devices that support social services