In November 2010 Sunrise surveyed clients who were in the process of adopting internationally or who had brought a child to Canada in the past two years. Thank you to everyone who responded as the information will definitely help in future adoptions.
Our concern arising out of the survey is the confusion that continues to exist everywhere about which route to take. Parents should become completely and thoroughly educated about the process. Please read the following four articles. The first two are on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website. The next two articles have been written by Sunrise to help parents understand the ramifications of the new laws:
The biggest confusion for adopting parents is trying to
choose the appropriate immigration/citizenship process. We have therefore set out a straight-forward
step-by-step process to help parents make this decision.
HOW DO I CHOOSE WHICH ROUTE?
Q1. What are the two routes?
A. Parents can take their choice of Direct Citizenship under the 2008 law, or the Immigration PR Visa Process (obtaining a Permanent Residence Visa leading to citizenship under the old system). Both routes lead to Canadian citizenship.
Q.2 How do I decide which route to follow?
A. You need to ask yourself two questions in the following order:
(i) Am I adopting from a country in which I can take both routes or only one route?
(ii) Is it important to me whether my child has Class A or Class B Canadian Citizenship? (Some parents don't care, while others care passionately.) Everything else flows from this decision. To understand the distinction between Class A and Class B Canadian Citizenship you must read our examination of this question in the 2009 Citizenship Law and Adopted Children.
Q3. Is there a situation in which I must use the Immigration PR Visa Process?
A. Yes. Whenever the child comes home to Canada before the final adoption order is granted it can only be on a PR Visa. (These countries include Korea, Japan, USA, Philippines and all Muslim countries).
Q4. Is there a situation in which I must apply for direct citizenship only?
A. Technically the answer is no. Practically, however, it is yes. If the country you are adopting from does not have a Canadian Designated Medical Practitioner (DMP) then you should use the Direct Citizenship route (no Immigration Medical is required as part of this process).
Q5.What is the fastest way to obtain Canadian Citizenship?
A. The answer to this question will depend on whether you are asking it in 2011, 2012 or 2013. Time frames are sure to change. Speed is not necessarily the prime consideration. (See your answer to Questions 1 to 3 above). However if speed to Canadian Citizenship is of primary importance, and you are concerned that Part 1 Approval for the Direct Citizenship may not arrive before your child proposal (currently it takes about 9 months) then you should:
(i) Apply for both routes at the same time as early in the process as you can;
(ii) Use whichever process you have approval for when your child proposal arrives and then monitor the timeframes/delays for both routes for the final stage of obtaining citizenship.
FINAL NOTE
Our hope is that this information will help to alleviate some of the confusion and assist adopting parents to make the decision which is best for them and their family.
Information about time lines will change (for better or worse). Please send us an email and let us know if you have had a different experience than described above.
Natasha
Chalke
Executive
Director
Sunrise
Family Services Society
www.sunriseadoption.com
March 15, 2011