When Natalie’s son, George, told her that he and his wife were planning to immigrate to Canada she was excited. Natalie knew that she could not immigrate with George: Immigration Canada only allows spouses and children to immigrate together as part of one family unit. When George and his family left for Canada, Natalie decided to come as well. Natalie stayed in Canada as a visitor for more than three years by renewing her temporary immigration status. She was taking care of her grandchildren while George and his wife tried to settle in Canada. Natalie hoped that after 3 years of living in Canada George will be able to file a parent sponsorship application to sponsor her for PR. Unfortunately, they were not successful during the parental lottery and no application was filed.
Devastated by this, Natalie and George came to Legally Canadian to discuss other options for Natalie’s PR. George was making good money and the family met the minimum income requirement for sponsorship. They could also afford to support Natalie’s permanent stay in Canada. Natalie had an apartment back in her home country, but no other relatives. In fact, George and his family were the only family that Natalie had left.
We recommended Natalie to apply for a Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) application. She had decent establishment in Canada, and in light of the failure to obtain an invitation to apply for parental sponsorship we believed we could put forward a strong argument on compassion. Natalie and George decided to try their chance with an H&C. Natalie’s H&C application was voluminous with various support letters, family photos, and country reports.
So what happened?
After 1.5 years Natalie’s application for PR on humanitarian and compassionate grounds was approved. She then passed her medical exam, passed the criminal check and became a permanent resident of Canada. In a few years she will be applying for Canadian citizenship.