Unique Relationships in the Family Class Non-Accompanying Family Members and How They Affect You

Officers are able to use their discretionary ability when determining the outcome of your case, but they must also be satisfied that applicants and their family members, whether accompanying or not, are not inadmissible and otherwise meet all requirements of the family class.

Officers must also be satisfied that sponsorship requirements are still met at the time of visa issuance. This means that if you fall out of meeting the requirements while your application is in process, just because you met the requirements, in the beginning does not mean your eligibility is locked in. If a sponsor is no longer eligible, an officer making a decision will refuse your application.

Applicants must declare all family members when applying for a visa of any kind and must again declare all family members, whether accompanying or not, prior to receiving their permanent resident status. Permanent residents who did not declare all their family members on their application are reportable and are no longer able to sponsor these family members in the future. Further, the applicant may be considered to have been misrepresenting and therefore face other serious consequences.

In addition, all family members, whether accompanying the applicant to Canada or not, must be examined unless an officer previously finds them exempt from this. Family members who were not declared and examined are excluded from the family class and may not be sponsored at a later date, as mentioned above. This is a very serious circumstance, one that an applicant should avoid by being open, honest and truthful in all aspects of their application.

Non-accompanying family members must undergo medical examinations. They must also establish that they are not inadmissible for criminal or security reasons. Further, a sponsor must demonstrate that they can support all family members, including non-accompanying family members. This is per the Low Income Cut Off versus their household income and potentially other finances.

Normally, an inadmissible family member, whether accompanying or not, would render the applicant inadmissible. This is obviously a very serious situation and a clear indication of how other family members may affect your application.

Fortunately, CIC takes this into consideration as there are two exceptions to the rule. The first is the separated spouse of the applicant, and the second is where the child of the applicant who is in the legal custody of someone other than the applicant. Basically stated, the applicant can have no legal control over this member of the family to be exempted from sharing their inadmissibility.

Therefore, if the applicant’s separated spouse or their children who are in the custody of someone else are inadmissible, their inadmissibility would not affect the applicant’s admissibility.

It is a scary set of circumstances where a family member can play such a large part in your application. There is one other way around this. If the applicant’s family member was successful in obtaining a Temporary Resident Permit to overcome their inadmissibility, so too would the applicant’s inadmissibility be overcome. This is a complex situation.