Adding other dependants where a marriage or adoption took place after the receipt of a PSR application at ROC-O

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

The following instructions explain the procedures for the addition of spouses, their children, adopted children or de facto dependants where the marriage or adoption takes place after the application is received at the Resettlement Operations Centre in Ottawa (ROC-O), based on which office is the primary office.

On this page

• How adding a dependant affects sponsorships
• Procedures if the primary office is an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada office abroad
• Procedures if the primary office is the ROC-O

How adding a dependant affects sponsorships

If the sponsor is a sponsorship agreement holder, the additional dependants are counted towards their sponsorship agreement holder caps.

If the application is at an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) office abroad, the migration officer assesses the bona fides of the relationship (including if a de facto dependant meets the definition) prior to sending the request to the ROC-O.

If the relationship is found to meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the IRCC office abroad sends a request to the ROC-O to add the dependant to the application. For de facto dependants, a new application is required. For more information on de facto dependants, please see The humanitarian and compassionate assessment: De facto family members

Procedures if the primary office is an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada office abroad

When a principal applicant or sponsor advises an IRCC office abroad

If the principal applicant advises the IRCC office abroad, the office changes the “application status” to “on hold” and the “App Status Reason” to “Information Required”.

The IRCC office abroad requests new forms as well as identity and other documents, as required, and assesses the bona fides of the relationship. The IRCC office abroad adds the dependant to the GCMS application, except if the request is for a de facto dependant. The ROC-O is responsible for ensuring that, for sponsorship agreement holder applications, the additional dependants are accounted for in the “SAH Cap Report”. Officers should note that adding the dependant does not signify that the request is complete. The ROC-O must still add the dependant to the undertaking. IRCC offices abroad add the dependant to the application to facilitate issuance of medical forms and to begin admissibility screening. It is essential that the application be placed on hold to ensure that the ROC-O adds the dependant to the undertaking before the application is finalized.

For the addition of a spouse or child (14 years or older) when selection has already been passed, an interview should always be conducted, at the very least to collect the spouse’s or child’s (14 years or older) biometrics. Officers may also wish to interview the applicant, regarding the bona fides of their relationship, at the same time. Only in very rare and exceptional circumstances should biometrics be waived.

If the migration officer is not satisfied that the relationship is genuine, they should enter notes to this effect; enter an expiration date for the dependant, to remove them from the application; refuse the request to add the dependant; notify the principal applicant and sponsor; and continue processing the permanent residence application without this person.

If the migration officer is satisfied that the relationship is genuine, they should enter notes to this effect and advise the ROC-O of the new dependant(s) by email, which should include the following information on the new dependant(s):

• name
• unique client identifier
• application number
• relationship with the principal applicant
• gender (only for de facto dependants)
• date and country of birth (only for de facto dependants)

The ROC-O then advises the sponsor and requests an IMM5618 form (if not already provided). A ROC-O officer may request additional financial or settlement documents if there are concerns regarding the sponsor’s capacity to meet section 154 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).

If the request is for a de facto dependant, the ROC-O requests a new sponsorship application (and supporting documents, including an explanation of the relationship with the principal applicant).

The sponsor has 30 days to submit the requested information to the ROC-O.

If the sponsor agrees to add a dependant, the ROC-O does the following:

• changes the status of the application back to “Open” and “In progress”
• saves all forms and documents in GCMS
• for a de facto dependant, creates a new application, links the applications and ensures that the correct de facto coding is done in GCMS
• renders a decision on the sponsorship application and notifies the IRCC office abroad by email if it was approved or refused
• if approved (under R154 IRPR), processing resumes at the IRCC office abroad
• if revoked by a ROC-O officer (under section R155, as the applicant does not meet the requirements of section R154), the ROC-O officer fails the sponsorship eligibility and refuses the permanent residence application, under subparagraph R139(1)(f)(i), as the sponsorship is no longer valid (no procedural fairness letter should be sent to the principal applicant to find a replacement sponsor; the ROC-O notifies the migration office abroad by email)

If the sponsor does not agree to add a dependant or does not answer the ROC-O’s request for forms/documents within 30 days, the ROC-O does the following:

• changes the status of the application back to “Open” and “In progress”
• does not add the dependant to the application in GCMS and clearly documents in notes the refusal of the sponsorship or refusal of the sponsor to add the dependant
• the ROC-O officer fails the sponsorship eligibility and refuses the permanent residence application, under subparagraph R139(1)(f)(i), as the sponsorship is no longer valid (no procedural fairness letter should be sent to the principal applicant to find a replacement sponsor; the ROC-O notifies the migration office abroad by email)

When a principal applicant or sponsor advises the ROC-O

The ROC-O changes the “application status” to “on hold” and “App Status Reason” to “Information Required”.

The ROC-O forwards the request to the IRCC office abroad and follows the steps outlined above under When a principal applicant or sponsor advises an IRCC office abroad.

Procedures if the primary office is the ROC-O

When a principal applicant or sponsor advises the IRCC office abroad

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

The ROC-O follows the procedures listed below under:

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

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

In very rare cases, where the application 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 regarding the added dependant
• sends an email to the sponsor, advising that there is a new dependant on the application, and requests an IMM 5618 form, an updated IMM 008 form and identity documents concerning the spouse or adopted child; a ROC-O officer may request additional financial or settlement documents if there are concerns regarding the sponsor’s capacity to meet section R154
• for de facto dependants, requests new sponsorship and permanent residence applications from the sponsors

The sponsor has 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 residence application under R139(1)(f)(i) IRPR.

If the sponsor/principal applicant submits incorrect or incomplete forms or documents, the ROC-O contacts the sponsor to rectify the situation by using the pre-return process. No new 30-day procedural fairness letter deadline is to be provided.

If the sponsor/principal applicant does submit the requested documents or forms, the ROC-O adds the family member to the GCMS application and uploads the identity documents. A ROC-O officer then assesses the sponsorship application. If the application is approved, the file is transferred to the IRCC office abroad for processing (which includes assessing the bona fides of the relationship). If the application is revoked (R155 IRPR, as the applicant does not meet the requirements of R154), the ROC-O also refuses the permanent residence application (under R139(1)(f)(i) IRPR).

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 dependant to the undertaking and assesses the sponsorship with the new dependent added. The ROC-O adds a note indicating that the marriage/adoption took place after the application was submitted.

For de facto dependants, the ROC-O requests all new forms necessary for the creation of a new application.