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Dependent child sponsorship — document checklist
Prepared by CHK Immigration Services Inc. · government fee $180 per child, all in
Dependent child sponsorship — document checklist
Every document an officer will look for, grouped in the order they are read. The ones marked refusal risk are where these applications actually fail — a complete file is not the same as a persuasive one.
9 documents 6 where refusals happen Government fee $180 per child, all in
Identity
Who is this person, and is the story consistent?Where files fail here: Names, dates or passport details that disagree across documents.
The child’s birth certificate, naming both parents
The parent–child relationship is the whole file. A long-form certificate naming both parents is what the officer wants; where documentary proof is thin, IRCC asks for DNA testing.
Additional family information
Declares the child’s own spouse or children. A child with a partner is not a dependent child — a silent disqualifier applicants miss.
Background form, if the child is 18 or over
Security and background history once the child reaches majority.
Eligibility
Do they meet this program's bar, on paper?Where files fail here: A requirement evidenced by assertion instead of a document.
Confirm the child still meets the definition
Under 22 and without a spouse or common-law partner. Age locks on the day IRCC receives the complete application — but everything else must stay true throughout, so a child who marries mid-processing stops being a dependent child even though ageing out no longer matters.
Application to sponsor, agreement and undertaking
Undertaking runs 10 years or until the child turns 25, whichever comes first — three years for a child already 22 or over. Quebec differs.
Sponsorship evaluation
Tests the bars: undischarged bankruptcy, social assistance other than for disability, an unpaid immigration loan, default on an earlier undertaking, support arrears, incarceration, a removal order, certain convictions.
Evidence of dependency, for a child 22 or over
That dependency began before age 22 and is caused by a mental or physical condition preventing self-support — not by study, unemployment or choice.
Intent
Does the purpose hold together, and will they comply?Where files fail here: A plan that doesn't match the applicant's history or finances.
Consent of the non-accompanying parent, or a custody order
Whether the other parent agrees to the child leaving permanently. This is the most frequent hold on an otherwise clean file.
Admissibility
Is there anything that disqualifies them?Where files fail here: An old charge left undisclosed because it “didn’t count”.
Immigration medical exam
Required, and it expires. Family-class children are exempt from the excessive-demand assessment, but not from the exam.
General information, not legal advice. This checklist is prepared by CHK Immigration Services Inc. and was checked against the Government of Canada’s published requirements on the date shown. Requirements change and vary by case, and IRCC generates a personalised document list for many applications — where that list or canada.ca differs from this document, they govern.
Lead times are planning estimates, not guarantees. Police certificates and credential assessments in particular vary widely by country and provider. IRCC makes all final decisions.
CHK Immigration Services Inc. is an immigration consultancy with offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Our consultants are regulated by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). Nothing in this document creates a client–consultant relationship.
Current version: https://chkimmigration.ca/checklists/dependent-child
Checked against the official IRCC page for this application in September 2026. Where that page disagrees with anything here, it wins. General information, not legal advice. Lead times are planning estimates, not guarantees — police certificates and credential assessments in particular vary widely by country and provider. IRCC also generates a personalised checklist for many applications, and that list governs. IRCC makes all final decisions.
Having the documents is not the same as having a persuasive file.
Every item above can be present and correct and the application can still be refused — on intent, on a date that does not reconcile, or on a lead time that ran out. A licensed consultant reads it the way an officer will.
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CHK Immigration Services — Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions.