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According to a recent analysis spanking children is linked with long-term adverse consequences. Stephen Quinn of CBC Radio spoke to Joan Durrant who is the co-author of the study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. She's a professor in the Department of Family Social Sciences at the University of Manitoba.

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Currently the Federal government allows less time, under the employment insurance (EI) benefits program, to families adopting children than to families bearing children biologically. Lisa Zoppi, an Ontario Adoptive Parent, is hoping to end this discrimination. For more information visit her Petition Page.

In 2006, Sunrise conducted a survey on this subject.  Read the analysis here: Adoption and the Workplace

All children born in the USA and adopted by Canadians over the past number of years (of which there are several hundred) are US citizens.  This, of course, brings a number of rights and responsibilities.  For example, they would be subject to a military draft.

The USA is the only country in the world that requires its citizens to report on their world-wide income, file a tax return, and pay US taxes, no matter where they live and irrespective of what other citizenship they hold. 

Now the USA has introduced a new and complicated law, which will affect every US adopted child in Canada.  The name of the legislation is "The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" (FATCA).

Although the original intent of FATCA is to track down Americans who put money in tax havens off-shore, it applies to every US citizen anywhere.  It applies to Canada even though it is not a tax haven.

All US citizens living in Canada must now do the following:

1. US citizens, residents and green-card holders who own financial accounts outside the US that exceed $10,000 in total at any time of the year must disclose them in the US Department of Treasury Form TD F90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, commonly called FBARs (this is in addition to filing an annual US Income Tax Return).

2 .A "foreign financial account" means Canadian bank accounts, checking and savings accounts, investments, securities and brokerage accounts, RRSPs, RESPs, TFSAs, insurance and annuity policies with a cash surrender value, commodity futures or options account, shares in a mutual fund, etc.

3. All Canadian financial institutions will be required to advise the IRS of any account holders who are US citizens.

Needless to say, these requirements have been controversial in Canada.  Margaret Wente of the Globe and Mail has written an article outlining these controversies, and the Globe and Mail Web Page also links to several other articles outlining the concerns of the Canadian government, Canadian banks, and financial institutions, as well as those of US citizens living in Canada.  While these rules apply to all US citizens living in Canada, the purpose of this article is to focus on adopted children.

Some children are not old enough to have bank accounts yet, while other children will have bank accounts in their names (and perhaps other financial instruments which may have been gifts from grandparents etc).  Until the child reaches the age of majority the parent is required to file the forms on the child's behalf on all qualifying accounts back to and including 2005.

Adopting parents face difficult decisions in the years ahead.  The reasons for this are complex, but families basically have three options:

A. Parents and their adopted children can comply with the US legislation.  This seems like the prudent approach, as explained further below.

B. Have the child renounce his or her US citizenship.  Of course this is not a decision that should be taken lightly.  The catch is that you cannot renounce your US citizenship unless all your tax returns are filed, all the financial asset disclosure statements (FBARs) have been filed, and all US taxes and penalties are paid to the IRS.

C. Parents and the adopted child could simply not comply.  As the Globe and Mail articles point out, many US citizens living in Canada are confused as to what to do, and some have stated that they do not intend to comply because of the exposure to high rates of taxes and penalties.  This reason does not make sense for an adopted child.  The chances of them having complex or large assets at this stage in their life are small.  It does not make sense for adopted children to choose this route. 

Whether your child lives in Canada as an American citizen, or unless and until they eventually renounce their American citizenship, they must file tax returns every year (if they have income), and if they have any qualifying financial accounts must file FBARs every year.

As a result, I recommend that all parents of children adopted from the USA become familiar with these rules and, if applicable, file the necessary documents with the IRS every year.

For more information Google search for FATCA, and that will bring you to links to the IRS web page (which has a FAQ page), as well as many other articles and opinions on this new law.

Please disseminate this information widely to anyone you know who has adopted a child from the USA or intends to do so in the future.

Natasha Chalke
Executive Director
Sunrise Family Services Society
Vancouver, BC
www.sunriseadoption.com

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:

1. International Adoption (CIC Website)
2. Choosing the Citizenship Process or the Immigration Process (CIC);
3. Citizenship for Adopted Children: Canada's New Law for 2008  (Sunrise);
4. The 2009 Citizenship Law and Adopted Children (Sunrise). 

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

China's Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) is increasing focus on the placement of special needs children. Sunrise is able to assist families adopting through the Special Needs Program without using an intermediary agency.

International adoption has changed significantly over the past 7 years.  For an analysis of the current adoption situation and to better understand where we are today, please read The Future of Adoption (Part 2).

While there are millions more orphans in the world every year, fewer are being adopted internationally (See What About the World's Orphans?).

We have developed adoption programs with several Hague Adoption Convention countries.  For information about each of these programs see:

Bulgaria
China
China Special Needs
India
Kenya
Philippines
USA

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has released statistics showing that 2,122 children found adoptive homes in Canada in 2009.  That's 207 more children than 2008.

For more information and a breakdown by province, see Family Helper's Adoption News Central.