Hello,
Thank you for sharing your questions with us.
If you or your spouse’s application for Canadian permanent residency is approved, a Confirmation of Permanent Residence document (COPR) will be issued. COPRs are valid for one (1) year after issuance. Once the COPR is issued and received outside Canada, the applicant must come to Canada to complete the PR process and apply for and receive their PR card within one (1) year.
If the COPR expires before the applicant can come to Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) may email to ask if the applicant still wishes to get permanent residency of Canada. IRCC may then ask for new medical records and other relevant information for updates. If IRCC decides to make an exception for the expired COPR, IRCC may issue a new COPR to the applicant. If IRCC decides to close the file, the applicant will have to reapply. Please note that there are risks associated with letting your COPR expire and relying on IRCC’s goodwill to have a new one issued. We strongly recommend that you do your utmost to “land” within the one (1) year window provided by IRCC.
Your child can be a Canadian citizen if at least 1 parent became a naturalized Canadian citizen before the child was born. To find out if your child can apply for Canadian citizenship, please follow the questionnaire located here: apply for a citizenship certificate.
If your wife gives birth before a decision is made on the application, you can add the child to the application. You can use the online tool to find out if your child is a dependent.
If the child will not be eligible for Canadian citizenship by virtue of you or your wife being a Canadian citizen at the time of their birth, an option is to sponsor your child. Parents who are permanent residents can only sponsor a family member while they are residing in Canada. If you were to proceed on this path, once you or your wife become Landed Permanent Residents and are physically present in Canada, an application for sponsorship can be submitted.
If your newborn child becomes a citizen of a country that requires visa for entering Canada, your child will need a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV). If the child does not need a visa, the child will then need an electronic travel authorisation (eTA) for entering Canada.
As set out in section 52(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, your child cannot come to Canada without a passport or travel document:
Additional documents may be needed to prove the relationship between the child and the parents. These documents may include any medical records relating to the pregnancy and DNA testing.
You can inform IRCC about your situation and contact your local Canadian embassy for more information.
If you can provide us with more information on your and your spouse’s residency status (i.e. PR or Foreign National), we may be able to provide a further response to your question.
Finally, we noted that Canada has implemented travel restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 that you must comply with. Up to date restrictions can be found here: https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid.
We hope that the information we provided is helpful to you. We would also recommend you to seek legal help from a lawyer or a licensed consultant familiar with Canadian immigration to find more information about your particular circumstances.
Please let us know if you have further questions.
Sincerely,
Your Settlement.Org team
Disclaimer:
This document does not contain legal advice. This document was prepared with the assistance of PBSC Western law student volunteers. PBSC volunteers are not lawyers and they are not authorized to provide legal advice. This document contains general discussion of certain legal and related issues only. If you require legal advice, please consult with a lawyer.