Please be aware that this article is accurate as of January 29, 2006 This
article is intended to be used as general information only, not as legal
advice.

Question:

I am applying as a skilled worker. I have two sons, aged 21 and 22 years of
age, who I want to add as my dependent children on my application.

My application takes one and a half years to process, and by the time the
immigration officer finally makes a decision regarding my case, you sons have
finished their schooling, are no longer financially dependent on me, and are
aged 23 and 24.

Are my two sons still eligible on my Canadian immigration application as
"dependent children"?

Answer:

Yes.

Dependent Children

Non-Canadians are allowed to apply to immigrate to Canada in the "skilled
worker" category, which assesses an applicant's ability to immigrate to
Canada based on a combination of many factors, including work experience,
education, and language ability.

Applicants in the skilled worker category are allowed to include their spouse
and their and dependent children on their applications, in order to allow
their spouse and dependent children to immigrate with them to Canada, if
their application is successful.

For the purposes of skilled worker applications, "dependent children" are
defined as including (among other factors), children who are less than 22
years of age, or children who are 22 years of age or more, but who have been
substantially financially dependent on their applying parent since before
reaching age 22, and who has also been, since before age 22, in school on a
full-time or continuous basis.

However, one important factor which is not defined in the statutory rules is
exactly when information regarding dependents is "locked in", or be "frozen"
on the application form. In other words, will a child's age and financial
dependency be calculated as of the application date, or as of the immigration
officer's decision date, or as of some other date?

Lock-in Date for Age

The Canadian immigration officials (Citizen and Immigration Canada, or "CIC")
has internal policies regarding the locking-in of age for children. Their
rules make the lock-in date for dependent children of skilled workers the
date of the application.

The CIC policy manual gives the following definition of lock-in date:

Lock-in date

The lock-in date is a reference point used to freeze certain factors for the
purpose of processing applications. Neither the Act nor Regulations define
it. It does not overcome any requirements of the Act and Regulations
applicants must satisfy when an officer admits them...

Refugee and Economic class: Lock-in (of age) occurs when a visa officer has
accepted a submission as an application...

This policy does not conflict with jurisprudence in this area (jurisprudence
over-ruling CIC policy in cases of conflict).

Therefore, in the example above, your youngest son would continue to be
eligible as your dependent child, even a year an a half after the date of
application, for he was 21 at the time of the "lock-in" date for age.

Lock-in Date for Financial Dependency - NEW

In contrast to the lock-in date for age, in the past CIC maintained that the
lock-in date for financial dependency was the date of the application being
decided.

Therefore, in the example above, according to former Canadian immigration
policy, your oldest son would not be eligible as your dependent child as of
the day that an immigration officer made a decision on your file, one and a
half years after you applied, for at that time he was no longer financially
dependent on you, despite his financial dependency on the date of your
application. Combined with his age, he would thus no longer be considered a
"dependent child".

However, this has now changed, at least for the time being. In Hamid, a
Federal Court of Canada court case decided in December 2005, the court held
that, in the absence of a contrary statutory requirement, the lock-in date
for financial dependency for the dependent children of skilled workers is the
day of application. The court in Hamid explained that the lock-in date for
age logically should also apply to that of financial dependency - that there
is no principled reason for an applicant to be penalized for a delay in
processing, for this is beyond an applicant's control.

Therefore, since Hamid, an applicant's children may be considered dependent
children, and therefore allowed to remain on the applicant's application for
a longer period of time.

Keep these points in mind

The following points are very important to keep in mind:

- This article is accurate as of January 29, 2006. The law changes often, so
be sure that you are aware of the most current law. Please be in touch with
me at any time in order to request information regarding the current law. I
can be reached at www.canada-immigrate.ca.

- The new rules regarding the lock-in date for financial dependency applies
to applicants under the skilled worker class only - it does NOT apply to
applicants under the family class.

- The lock-in date applies for applications that are complete and in
compliance with all statutory requirements. In other words, until an
application made properly and fully, there is no lock-in date.

- Hamid will likely go to the Federal Court of Appeal, and once the case is
heard at that court, there may be a decision that a different lock-in date is
more appropriate than the date of application.


About the Author
Sat-Sung Kalman is a Canadian immigration lawyer specializing in Canadian
immigration, visitor, work, and study permits. You can reach Sat-Sung Kalman at www.canada-immigrate.ca