George

I am starting a family class immigration process for my mother and unmarried brother
this August after I have worked for 12 months in Canada and have more than sufficient
income for sponsoring them.

My brother is born in February 1977 and he will be 25 at the time I submit my
application. However he has been studying as a full time student from September 1996
and has been supported by his mother during his studies.

In my country undergraduate degrees take 5 years to complete and in addition to that
in 1997 he took one year off because mother lost job and she could not afford paying
for his education.

To summarize all above said: he was 19 when he started his studies and he has been
out of his studies for only 1 year and been continuously supported by mother.

As far as I know I could directly sponsor my brother if he was under 19 and unmarried
as my dependent but I also found a contradictory definition of dependent at
www.cic.gc.ca

"Children age 19 and over will be considered dependants if they are full-time
students who have been mainly supported by their parents since they turned 19."

If I understand correctly, in the first definition of dependent he has to be under
19 and in the second definition he is allowed to be over 19 at the time of
starting studies.

Will the fact that he was already 19 when he started his studies in 1996 be a problem
in considering him the dependent to my mother on the family class sponsorship
application? Does the 19 year rule mean that he had to be under 19 when he entered
the University?