Operational Bulletin 385 - February 13, 2012

This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.

Instructions to create a GCMS application for sponsorship of unnamed children to be adopted and sibling adoption applications

Summary

This Operational Bulletin (OB) introduces instructions on how to create a file in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) for applications to adopt unnamed children and sibling adoption applications.

Issue

Effective July 18, 2011, the introduction of the new Generic Application Form [IMM 0008] for all family class applications came into place. Adopting parents applying to sponsor adoptive children are required to submit both the Application to Sponsor a Member of the Family Class and Undertaking [IMM 1344] and the IMM 0008 in order for their application to be considered complete. Some adopting parents may not have the full name and date of birth for the children to be adopted at the time of application. In this situation, adopting parents must still submit the IMM 0008 form, which will be used by the officer creating the application in GCMS.

Background

As of July 18, 2011, all applications to sponsor under the family class must be accompanied by an IMM 0008. This represents a shift in the way some family class sponsorship applications (including parents, grandparents, other relatives, adoptions and orphans) were submitted to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) for sponsorship eligibility assessment. Previously, for all non-priority family class sponsorship applications submitted only the IMM 1344 A and B forms, and supporting sponsorship documents were required to be submitted to CPC-M. Submission of the IMM 0008 and supporting documents to a visa office was undertaken after a sponsorship eligibility decision was made at CPC-M. The submission of both forms simultaneously is now necessary to allow for file creation in GCMS, and the submissions of both forms will streamline the process. In cases where an IMM 1344 is submitted without an IMM 0008, the file will be returned to the sponsor for completion.

Please refer to OB 325B and OB 326 for further information on the introduction of these new forms.

Instructions

Adopting parents (sponsors) of unnamed children should follow the instructions for sponsorship of children who are not yet identified in Appendix A of the instruction guide, and complete the IMM 0008 with as much information as possible. In cases where the name of the child is unknown, adopting parents are asked to leave the name field blank.

Officers are encouraged to create unnamed children applications in GCMS by using the information included in the IMM 0008 form received with the sponsorship application, as follows:

Family name: the sponsor or adopting parents last name(s)
Name(s): blank, “baby” or “child”
Date of birth: **asterisks**
Gender: unknown

It is the sponsor’s responsibility to notify the appropriate visa office once the child is identified. Visa officers will proceed to update the name of the child in the application originally created in GCMS.

Cases may arise where a sponsorship application, in support of a child to be adopted, is still pending for one unnamed child and the sponsor is notified that the birth resulted in a multiple birth, or that there are other siblings available for adoption. If sponsors want to adopt the second or more children they must complete a separate IMM 1344 for each child and submit it to CPC-M with the required documents. Sponsors should write on the envelope SIBLING ADOPTION to facilitate the cross-referencing of the new application(s) to the existing one.

Payment of fees for all additional new applications is required.

Contacts

For further information on any of the procedures outlined in this OB, please contact the Operational Management and Coordination Branch at OMC-GOC-Immigration@cic.gc.ca.

Effective October 14, 2010, the Internet location of all new forms, corresponding instruction guide and supporting documentation can be found at www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/visa.asp.

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