Adding biological children born after the receipt of a PSR application at ROC-O

(REF-OVS-7-3-2-1)

This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.

For a request to add a dependant for biological children born after the principal applicant’s application is received at the Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O), the biological children are automatically added to the sponsorship undertaking.

The “Obligations Consents and Declarations” section of the Sponsorship Undertaking, states:

“This Sponsorship Undertaking specifies the obligations of the sponsoring group with respect to the Principal Applicant and all accompanying or non-accompanying family members, including any family members born after this Sponsorship Undertaking is received by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).”

The following instructions explain the procedures for adding a biological child born after receipt of the privately sponsored refugee application at the ROC-O, based on which office is the primary office.

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How adding a dependant affects sponsorships

No cap space is required for sponsorship agreement holders for the addition of biological children born after the application is received at IRCC.

As per the regular process, the sponsor can withdraw their sponsorship. If the sponsor withdraws, both the sponsorship and permanent residence applications are refused. No procedural fairness letter should be sent to the principal applicant to find a replacement sponsor. If the principal applicant finds a new sponsor, the sponsor must submit new sponsorship and permanent resident applications.

Procedures if the primary office is an IRCC office abroad

When a principal applicant or sponsor advises the IRCC office abroad

If the principal applicant or sponsor advises the IRCC office abroad of the birth of a child, the office sends an email to all sponsors, advising that a child has been born and has been added to the application.

The IRCC office abroad adds the child to the application in GCMS and requests identity and other documents as required.

If the IRCC office abroad does not receive the requested identity and other documents, standard procedures should be followed for non-compliance to refuse the application under sections A16 and A11 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

If the IRCC office abroad does receive the requested identity and other documents required for processing the child and does not receive a request to withdraw from the sponsor, they may proceed with the file (there is no need to receive a response from the sponsor). There is no need to advise the ROC-O.

If the IRCC office abroad is advised that the sponsor wishes to withdraw, the application should be refused under subparagraph R139(1)(f)(i) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) as the sponsorship is no longer valid. No procedural fairness letter is to be sent to the principal applicant to find a replacement sponsor.

When a principal applicant or sponsor advises the ROC-O

When the principal applicant or sponsor advises the ROC-O of the birth of a child, the ROC-O changes “application status” to “on hold” and “App Status Reason” to “Information Required”.

The ROC-O forwards the email to the IRCC office abroad and enters a note in GCMS indicating that a request to add a biological child born after the sponsorship was received at the ROC-O and that the request was forwarded to the IRCC office abroad.

The IRCC office abroad proceeds with the same steps as under “When a principal applicant or sponsor advises the IRCC office abroad” above and changes the status of the file as necessary.

Procedures if the primary office is the ROC-O

When a principal applicant or sponsor advises an IRCC office abroad

The IRCC office abroad sends an email to the ROC-O with the information provided by the applicant or sponsor (file number, name of child, date and country of birth and gender).

The ROC-O follows the procedures outlined below under:

When a principal applicant or sponsor advises the ROC-O and sponsorship has already been approved

In very rare cases, where the file has not yet been transferred to the IRCC office abroad, but the sponsorship has been approved, the ROC-O does the following:

  • adds a note in GCMS regarding the added dependant
  • sends an email to the sponsor advising that a new child has been born and added to the application
  • requests an updated IMM 008 form and identity documents concerning the new child from the sponsor or principal applicant

The sponsor/principal applicant have 30 days to submit the requested information to the ROC-O.

If the sponsor advises the ROC-O that they wish to withdraw, a ROC-O officer may withdraw the sponsorship under R155 IRPR, as the applicant does not meet the requirements of R154, and refuse the permanent resident application under R139(1)(f)(i) IRPR. No procedural fairness letter is to be sent to the principal applicant to find a replacement sponsor.

If the sponsor/principal applicant does submit the requested documents or forms, the ROC-O adds the child to the GCMS application, uploads the identity documents and transfers the file to the IRCC office abroad.

If the sponsor/principal applicant does not submit the requested documents or forms, a ROC-O officer may revoke the approved undertaking under R155 IRPR, as the applicant does not meet the requirements of R154, and refuse the permanent residence application under R139(1)(f)(i) IRPR and R140(1)(a) IRPR.

When a principal applicant or sponsor advises the ROC-O and sponsorship has not been approved

As the sponsorship has not yet been approved, this is not a request to add a dependant.

The ROC-O requests new documents to support the addition of the child to the undertaking and assesses the sponsorship application with the new dependant added.

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