Non-accompanying spouse or child: what has to be declared and examined

1. What is the rule?

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A foreign national shall not be considered a member of the family class by virtue of their relationship to a sponsor if … (d) subject to subsection (10), the sponsor previously made an application for permanent residence and became a permanent resident and, at the time of that application, the foreign national was a non-accompanying family member of the sponsor and was not examined.

Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, s.117(9)(d) ↗

Translated: if you became a permanent resident without your non-accompanying spouse or child being declared and examined, the Family Class is normally closed to them. The regulation itself exempts a family member an officer decided didn't need to be examined (s.117(10)). Outside that, the routes are a humanitarian and compassionate application or, when one is in force, IRCC's public policy for excluded family members.

2. Who does it apply to in a spousal sponsorship?

• The applicant: in this application, their dependent children are declared and examined, including a child who lives with the other parent, a child from a previous relationship, and a child the other parent won't let be examined. If they aren't, the applicant can't normally sponsor them after becoming a permanent resident.
• The sponsor: if the sponsor became a permanent resident while already married to, or 12 months into living with, the applicant and didn't declare them then, the rule above applies to this sponsorship.

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Even if there’s a written agreement or court order to show that the sponsored person doesn’t have custody or responsibility, you must list the child on the application and this child must undergo a medical exam and pass any background and security checks, if applicable.

Guide 5289, sponsor your spouse ↗

A partner only becomes a family member once the couple is married or has lived together for 12 months; before that, there was nothing to declare.

3. What does "examined" mean?

The non-accompanying family member completes the medical exam (and background checks where applicable) even though they aren't getting a visa. If a child's other parent refuses to allow the medical, the applicant tells IRCC in writing with the evidence, because the exemption from examination is narrow and IRCC decides it.

4. What if this already happened?

The Family Class is normally closed to a family member who wasn't declared and examined; the routes outside it are the ones in section 1. For these situations, IRCC's representative page lists who may give advice.

5. On the form

Additional Family Information (IMM 5406) lists every family member, accompanying or not, and the Generic Application Form (IMM 0008) asks whether each will accompany the applicant. Marking someone as non-accompanying is allowed; omitting them is the problem. The checklist also asks the sponsor whether this person was declared and examined as a non-accompanying family member when the sponsor applied for permanent residence. In OpenVisa each family member is entered once and used on every form that asks for them; IMM 0008 and IMM 5406 are portal forms, so the answers are shown for copying and the Chrome extension can fill them in the Permanent Residence Portal.