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Orphans

Let 123Visa consultants help sort out the details involved with applying to sponsor orphans from outside Canada. You must meet the requirements for the adoption process as well as the Citizenship process in order to be eligible for citizenship to be granted for a child adopted from outside of Canada. You must meet the requirements of citizenship yourself as a sponsor and ensure that the child also meets the requirements of orphans being adopting from outside Canada.

Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents may sponsor brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces or grandchildren who have been orphaned, if they are 18 years of age or under and not married or in a common-law relationship and meet all criteria.

You can determine if you are eligible to adopt an orphan from outside Canada based on your citizenship status and theirs by reviewing the requirements listed below as defined by the CIC:

To be eligible to be granted Canadian citizenship, the adoptee must meet the  ‘Minor [subsection 5(2)]’ requirements and criteria listed below:
  • not currently have Canadian citizenship
  • be 18 years of age or under
  • be unmarried and not in a common-law relationship
  • at the time of submitting the application, 1 or more parents must be a Canadian citizen
  • not be subject to the first generation limit to citizenship by descent – meaning the orphan is not eligible if the parent sponsoring them was born outside Canada to a Canadian citizen, or the parent sponsoring them was granted Canadian citizenship under the adoption provisions regarding adopting in Subsection 5.1 of the Citizenship Act.
To be granted the right to sponsor orphans, you must meet Canadian citizenship Adult [subsection 5(1)], requirements and criteria listed below. You must be:
  • a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada
  • a minimum of 18 years old
  • currently residing in Canada
  • prove that you can support the individual you’re bringing to Canada by providing the basic requirements of life, including food, clothing, utilities, personal requirements, shelter, fuel and household supplies, until legal adults
  • not in prison, bankrupt, receiving social assistance for reasons other than disability, under a removal order or charged with a serious offence
The following sections from the Citizenship Act and explain the different definitions and more detailed requirements for citizenship grants:

Adult [subsection 5(1)]

Subsection 5.1(1) of the Citizenship Act: Persons adopted as minors (not destined to the province of Quebec)

Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration will, on an application, grant citizenship to a person who

  • while a minor child, was adopted by a Canadian citizen on or after January 1, 1947;
  • was adopted before January 1, 1947, by a person who became a citizen on that day; or
  • was adopted before April 1, 1949, by a person who became a citizen on that day further to the union of Newfoundland and Labrador with Canada.
The adoption must
  • have been in the best interests of the child;
  • have created a genuine relationship between parent and child;
  • have been in accordance with the laws of the place where the adoption took place and the laws of the country of residence of the adopting citizen;
  • not have occurred in a manner that circumvented the legal requirements for international adoptions; and
  • not have been entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring a status or privilege in relation to immigration or citizenship.
See also 123Visa’s blog on Family Sponsorship in Canada
Other readings include:

Subsection 5.1(1) of the Citizenship Act: Persons adopted as minors (destined or not destined to the province of Quebec)  

Minor [subsection 5(2)]

Ministerial discretion to waive requirements [subsection 5(3)]

Discretionary grants [subsection 5(4)]

Statelessness [subsection 5(5)]

Automatic acquisition of citizenship [subsection 11(2)]

This post is also available in: Persian