By Attorney Henry Moyal
FAILURE TO DISCLOSE CHILDREN IS A BAR TO SPONSORING THEM IN FUTURE
Q. I am Canadian Citizen living in Barrie. I have been in Canada for ten years. My sister sponsored me to Canada in the late 1980’s together with my mother.I was very young at the time and was ashamed to tell anyone that I had a child. I was not married so I did not think twice about lying. As well, the mother of my child would never have permitted me to take the child out of the Philippines. The mother has now contacted me and has told me that she is sick and wants the child to live with me in Canada. Can I sponsor my child?
A. My quick answer is NO. While it is very unfair, the current rules of immigration under regulation 117 states that technically that child is not a member of your family. The reason is because you did not declare him when you immigrated to Canada and the child was not medically examined nor declared.
When you entered Canada you declared you were single with no dependants and that was a lie. Immigration Canada is now (it seems) under the new laws trying to penalize you for lying. That being said, your sponsorship application will likely get refused. If you are willing to fight it out, there may be a possibility to appeal the case to the immigration board and the Federal Court. This new law is rather new and it is affecting many people. Some lied on purpose and some lied not knowing that they had to declare a long lost child , for example who was under the custody of another spouse. It is highly unjust and perhaps unconstitutional. There are some cases before the courts so the end result is not so clear. We will have to wait and see how the court handle this issue.
Q. I am in Canada as a visitor. I have an employer to sponsor me to work as a live in caregiver. We hired a consulting agency who submitted the case to the Canadian Consulate in the USA. However, when I went to the US consulate to get a visa for the interview I was refused. My consultant wrote a letter to Buffalo requesting that the file be transferred to the local immigration office in Toronto. The problem is that my visitor status is expiring and I am worried that it will not be renewed by the time my case is complete.
A. Your visitor status is the least of your problems now. You need to go back to your consultant and get information on how he/she is of the opinion that your file can be transferred from USA to Toronto. It can’t!
Your work permit application must be submitted at an office outside of Canada. If you can’t get into the USA you need to request to have the file transferred (very hard) or start again or postpone. But certainly it cannot be done in Toronto. If so, why would you send the case to the USA in the first place!
You need to get a handle on what is going on and most importantly hire someone who knows what they are doing.
As an aside, it should be noted that the Canadian government is administering the tests to regulate consultants in the next few months. Let’s hope the new regulatory provisions weed out the incompetent.
Q. I am in Canada as a visitor and I want to enroll at York University. Can I send my student visa application to the Case Processing in Mississauga or does it have to processed abroad.?
A. Initial student visas cannot be issued at the Case Processing Centre inside Canada. Initial study permits must be issued at a Canadian Consulate or Embassy abroad. After that, you can apply for an extension at the CPC in Alberta not CPC Mississauga.
Attorney Henry Moyal is a certified and licensed Immigration Lawyer in Toronto, Ontario. The above article is general advice only and not intended to act as a legal document. Send questions in confidence to Balita or to Attorney Moyal by fax, mail or email canada@moyal.com
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