Citizenship and Immigration committee  For citizenship it's 18 years old, and for immigration it's the definition of “dependent”, for which 22 is the minimum. If the child is still studying, it can go longer than that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Whatever country it was would examine it first. After that, CIC would look at it to see whether there is a genuine parent-child relationship or whether it's an adoption of convenience. Without knowing the details of the specific case, I wouldn't bet on the person coming to Canada.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I am not sure. We could provide the number of cases that were refused, but it's not necessarily for trafficking. In many of the cases it would be because we consider it's an adoption of convenience.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That could be a situation in which, for instance, when we interview the applicant--who is, let's say, 15 years old--we find that the child doesn't know that he or she is being adopted. When we interview the biological parents, they don't know. They know their kid is going to live with their uncle in Canada, but they don't know the details of what happened.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The vast majority of adoptions are taking place through adoption agencies. They are very familiar with the details of the requirements on both sides, because it's their bread and butter. It's more difficult when it's individual parents. An example might be a private adoption through an aunt who is a nun in some country and works in an orphanage, or that type of thing.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, they are two completely separate processes. The adoption process—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I cannot say exactly how long the process in China takes at this time. I know that it has varied over the years. My last posting was in China and when I was there, it took less than a year, from the time when the Chinese government identified an infant until the process was completed on China's end.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  For the child to be identified, the parents must have completed the process, in other words, applied for citizenship. That part is done first, here in Canada, and then at the mission overseas. At the mission overseas—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That depends on when the parents apply after they've adopted the child. Furthermore, it varies a great deal from one country to the next, largely because of the complexity. In the case of China, for instance, the processing time is under one month. So it may take a few weeks between when the application is received at the embassy and when the citizenship is granted.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That is correct. Chinese authorities require that at least one parent remain in the country to complete the process. In some countries, that is not necessary, while in others, they insist that the parents to live there for a few months or even a few years in some cases.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Either citizenship or permanent residence is needed, one or the other.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Let's say that the adoption took place last week and the parent goes to the embassy today to apply. First of all, the child must have a passport. It takes a two-part process to get a passport. First of all, they must apply for a Canadian passport. Second, the Chinese government will not allow a child to leave on a foreign passport.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  With few exceptions, they are almost copies of each other. The few exceptions would have to do with the residency of the sponsor or parents--that is, whether the parent is a permanent resident as opposed to a citizen. That would make a difference. Otherwise, with regard to the adoption itself, within the country the provincial review of the parents' fitness to adopt, for lack of better words, is exactly the same for whatever process has been selected, whether it's naturalization or permanent residency.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In 2009, 60% were through naturalization and about 40% were through immigration.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It varies, usually, because the naturalization study—