The Procedures for Processing Sponsorships Involving Adoptions

Colin R. Singer
May 16, 2021

This section covers sponsorships of:

Adopted children
Children to be adopted and,
Orphaned relatives

Officers will need to go through the following sections to obtain a better understanding:

For the definition of adoption, officers will need to refer to the provisions specified in R3 (2)
For the requirements that adoption typically involves, officers will need to refer to the provisions specified in R117 and,
For the policy, officers will need to refer to the provisions specified in the section titled ‘The Guidelines for Adoptions and Orphaned Relatives’ i.e. section 5.4 of IP 2

Officers will need to handle sponsorships differently based on the type of adoption.

OP 3 provides additional details on adoptions. It includes details on the responsibilities of provincial and federal adoption authorities. It specifies the requirements for adoptions and assessment by officers as well.

The Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) will usually not require a copy of the adoption order. But, the visa office might require this for determining whether the adoption has taken place in accordance with the laws of the country of residence.

The Steps that Take Place Once the Officers Recommend a Sponsorship

Once the officers make a recommendation on the sponsorship, the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) will need to:

Notify the sponsors by virtue of a letter – refer to Appendix C
Forward the permanent residence applications for children already adopted to the visa office responsible for the country of residence
Upload the sponsorship information to the Computer Assisted Immigration Processing System (CAIPS) for all other adoption cases, following which, Docupost will need to send the application to the sponsor for submitting to the visa office on behalf of the child
Ask provincial adoption authorities to indicate if the adoption is a Hague Convention case or not and also ask them to send the letters of no objection or no involvement, appropriate to the type of case, directly to the visa office – refer to Appendix B and,
Forward any letters that it receives from the provinces to the visa offices

The Process for Changing a Child’s Name on the IMM 1344AE

Situations could arise where a sponsored child is no longer available for adoption. In this scenario, the sponsors will need to ask the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) to replace the name on the IMM 1344AE with the name of another child. It is worth highlighting that the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) will not charge a new processing fee when it replaces a name for this reason.

The Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) will need to provide the new name to the visa office and the provincial adoption authority. This is applicable in all cases unless the sponsor has notified the visa office first.

The Process for Quebec Sponsors

The Ministère d’Immigration et communautés culturelles (MICC) will typically assess sponsors and send copies of the engagement to the sponsor. Thereafter, the Service à l’adoption internationale du Québec will need to send the letters of no-objection directly to the adopting parents.