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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