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Originally Posted by margaret
That's tough situation. At least you have custody and guardianship. I found this about Ontario:
Ref: CanLII - Child and Family Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.11
Maybe he would have to be made a Crown ward first and then you could adopt him. See a lawyer.
If you wait until he's 19, you can adopt him without parental consent since you have a long established relationship and he'll be an adult who can choose his own family.
Best of luck Trina. Is it the passport that's an issue? What other Canadian citizenship rights would be worth the legal costs? |
Thanks Margaret, I think the laws would be rather similar between Ontario and Alberta, where I live. My divorce lawyer is currently looking into it, but I think it's probably a really complicated situation for anyone to handle, and he's procrastinating any efforts.
If I wait until he's 19, I wouldn't really be doing him any favours. The purpose is to give him Canadian Citizenship automatically because he would then be my son. At the age of 18, he can apply on his own, but there are costs, exams, waiting periods, etc. I would rather he didn't have to go through all that, but I may have no choice.
Angelo has been abandoned by his two biological parents. I guess one reason for adopting him is to give him more of a sense of security, like I'm not going anywhere, no one is ever going to abandon him again. I have full guardianship and parenting rights, so it may be easier than I think. Right now, the idea is still quite overwhelming.
Another reason I want him to have Cdn citizenship is because he's a really great baseball player. His team has the talent to go to the Canadian Junior championships, and quite possibly, the Little League World Series. Having a Dominican passport, then I would have to get him a visa, which I can't forsee a problem, but it's just a lot of red tape, translation of Dominican documents, etc. that I don't want to go through. I'd like to take him to Disneyworld, Mexico, and other places, and not have the hassle, but I guess there would probably be more hassle trying to adopt and get citizenship with his absentee or unwilling biological parents.
Thanks for your support.