Jean Pierre Leblanc

Hi Everyone,

Firstly, good luck to all of you in your cases. I can see you are all a great community and am impressed with the way everyone helps each other here. I am also equally impressed that actual immigration consultants and lawyers post here with real names and such. Kudos to all.

Ok so here goes, re: the thread title:

How does CIC define, and more importantly, verify "being a resident" for the purposes of supporting a family class application. In particular, non-spousal cases.

Our current situation:
* Primary sponsor (my spouse), naturalized Canadian citizen (PRC originally)
* Co-sponsor (me) Frenchie Canadian
* Applied in Jan 2005 from Montreal so didn't complete financial eval and other info due to QC application, case has just been "started" a few weeks ago
* In June 2006, moved to NB, no info on what to do in these cases (ie. QC to another prov), CIC Call Centre said to wait until case starts and they would ask for more info (ie. financial, etc.) and wouldn't further delay case
* They have sent us back the complete application and all supporting materials and are asking us to re-submit the entire application, financial evaluation, the works, within 90 days. :curse: (Not a problem, we meet the LICO requirements and everything else, but just insulted that they make us wait 3 (#*&$#(& years and then give you 3 months to get everything together AGAIN).

KEY ISSUE:
We have received job offers in Asia (posting from here now) that are too good to pass up, so are considering any possibilities. As you know, the sponsorship will take over 2 years, and then a possible 4-6 years at the consulate in Hong Kong.

Must we wait in Canada for 6-9 years "in case" CIC checks our residency status at any time? When may they check? In the middle, end of sponsorship? Beginning, middle or end of PR Visa processing? What about income requirements? May they ask again anytime in the process? (rather, do they have a history of doing this?)

How can they expect us to turn down any opportunities the world might have, and expect us to wait 6-9 years without ever leaving Canada!?!?!?!?!

We certainly look forward to the day the parents can come and join us, we really want to be able to take care of them as they grow old... but my god, 9 years is bloody ridiculous.

Sorry for the long post... Any help, experience, etc, would be appreciated.

Best regards,

JPL

MarkG

Look at it from their point of view: if you're not dedicated to living in Canada, why should they let you import your parents?

Jean Pierre Leblanc

With all due respect to anyone who might come up with the "well, if you're going to immigrate to Canada, or sponsor someone to come to Canada, you should be living there full time yada yada yada," you will find I do not take to that argument well.

I want to support my parents or my spouse's parents to the fullest of my ability. If that means taking career positions anywhere in the world, so be it. I am just considering doing a year or two anyway. Anyone who has experience working in senior positions in Asia knows, you can easily save 20-30 times the amount you ever could in Canada. What's the harm of making a good buck for a few years while the case does nothing but sit on some bureaucrat's filing cabinet?

MarkG

Well, good for you.

But the fact remains that there's no sensible reason for allowing people to ship their parents to Canada where they'll be a significant cost to the economy; it's a vote-buying measure, not a policy that benefits the Canadian economy. So, quite frankly, trying to import your parents while you live abroad seems like taking the piss to me.

Frankly, I suspect that as healthcare costs for old people in Canada increase, the whole parental importation system will be closed down to save money.

Jean Pierre Leblanc

Once again, you seem to have mis-interpreted my intentions. I plan 100% to be in Canada with my spouse and parents once their case nears completion (say 1-2 years in advance, go back to Canada to prepare for their arrival.

I am merely entertaining the idea of making some nice serious cash for a year or two while their (*&@$% file sits around and does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BUT WITHER AND DIE since they are intentionally on low priority. Will I not be able to support them better in Canada if I can buy a 2nd house for them!??!

Please, if anyone has any ideas on CIC's residency determination rules and possible methods for the purposes of sponsoring a member of the family class other than spouse, I would love to hear it.

Spare me the lectures.

Jo&Alex

Hi,

Because you actually moved out of Quebec, I'm not sure if it's going to be the same, but I have a friend who also is sponsoring her parents from Quebec, and she too received a request for updated info after almost 3 years... But I think that acually meant she had reached the top of the pile, because shortly after that her sponsorship was approved and her parents received some forms from the consulate in their country. I might be wrong, but I think that once you are approved as sponsor the whole application leaves Canada and immigration doesn't focus on you anymore, but rather on the people you are sponsoring.

Anyway, I know it's hard to predict if this info applies at all to your case, but for what it's worth...

J.

Jim Humphries

The purpose of the sponsorship of parents is called "reunification of families" Thus, it is expected that the sponsor will be living in Canada and will remain so. If you move overseas the sponsorship will be invalid. They do check as they did in my family's case.

Jean Pierre Leblanc

Dear Jim,

I am interested to know what you mean by "they checked". Can you provide more details on WHEN and HOW they checked, and the result?

How can they check if I am out of Canada or not? Everyone knows you can drive across the U.S. border without scanning your passport, etc...

Thus, I repeat: what is the definition of "resident" for the purposes of sponsorship of non-spousal cases anyway? That is the entire purpose of this thread. CIC simply replies "you have to be living in Canada", basically the same as other forum participants. That is basically the same as saying "I don't know".

As I said before: I PLAN 100% TO ACCOMPANY MY PARENTS IN CANADA AND EVEN PLAN TO ARRIVE A YEAR OR TWO IN ADVANCE TO PREPARE FOR THEIR ARRIVAL (Buy extra house, etc...).

I just want to see WHEN and HOW CIC checks if you are a "resident" of Canada, and perhaps further income checks along the process.

You have to admit, the fact that I have sufficient income at the beginning of the application IS ABSOLUTELY NOT AN INDICATOR of what my income may be 6-8 years down the road when the application actually gets approved they come to Canada to join us.... :curse:

Jean Pierre Leblanc

Dear J,

Thank you for your reply.

I suspect that you are correct in your assumption that once the sponsorship is approved, they couldn't care less about what happens to you after that, and that all focus moves to the PR Visa processing abroad. THOUGH I AM LOOKING FOR ANYONE WITH THIS EXPERIENCE (ie. did they ask you for residency or income verifications AFTER the sponsorship was approved).

Also, it seems that in your friend's case, they were still in QC correct? QC Sponsorship is known to be faster.

Thanks to everyone for your great support.

Regards,

JPL

Jim Humphries

They will telephone the sponsor at the number listed on the sponsorship form at very least. They did in our case.

Jean Pierre Leblanc

And? (result?, By the way Jim, did you case eventually get refused? Just curious.)



I'm on "vacation" in Vietnam. I'm visiting the actual parents in China for a few months. There are a bakabizillion reasons I could not be at home.

WHAT THE HELL IS CIC'S DEFINITION OF RESIDENT?!?!?!?!?! :curse: :curse:

Jim Humphries

No - we were here in Canada.

Jean Pierre Leblanc

And so the just called to say "hi"? Unlikely. I seriously doubt they were "just seeing how you are doing!". They clearly have enough on their hands.

RodseyUK

If you move from Quebec to any oher province then the Quebec application becomes invalid and a new application must be submitted (page 14, IMM 5196 and page 27, IP2).

To be eligible to sponsor parents the principal sponsor must reside in Canada during the application process. If the principal sponsor lives outside Canada then they are only eligible to sponsor a spouse, commonlaw or conjugal partner, or a dependant child who does not have any dependant children of their own (page 10, IMM 5196 and page 42, IP2).

Pages 41 and 42 of document IP2 setout residency requirements and possible checks for sponsors.

RodseyUK

I think Jim may know what he is talking about, especially when he is an ex-Visa Officer.

You will need to change your attitude if anyone on here is going to give you the time of day.