IMM 5604: the parent who stays behind, and the notary who witnesses it

IMM 5604, the Declaration from Non-accompanying Parent/Guardian for Minors Immigrating to Canada, is a single page that IRCC asks for when a child under 18 is immigrating without both parents or guardians. The parent who is not coming signs it to say they have no objection. The current English edition is printed in the bottom left corner as IMM 5604 (02-2023) E, and near the top of the page, in bold, the form says who has to witness that signature: a notary public. One form covers one child, so two children travelling with one parent means two declarations.

IRCC's page for the form adds one more condition before anything is filled in: the form has to be printed and signed by hand.

The page, zone by zone

Most descriptions of this form list its fields as a single run. On the printed page they fall into six zones, and only three people ever write on it: the parent who stays behind, the notary, and IRCC.

Zone, and who completes it	What goes in it
Opening statement: the parent who stays behind	Their own name, then the child's full name and date of birth exactly as the passport or travel document shows them
Who the child travels with: the same parent	Each parent or guardian the child is immigrating with and their relationship to the child, plus a separate line if someone else brings the child to Canada
Printed acknowledgement: nobody	Two fixed paragraphs the parent adopts by signing; there is no box to tick
Signature row: the parent, in front of the witness	Signature, date, an emergency contact telephone number and the place of signing
Witness block: the notary public	Title and full name in block letters, professional chop or stamp, signature and date
For office use only: IRCC	File number and date, left blank by everyone else

The first of the two printed paragraphs is the one that gives the page its weight. By signing, the parent confirms that they have read the declaration and understand they may be permanently separated from the child named above. The second paragraph says that if that parent later wants to come to Canada, as a visitor or as a permanent resident, they have to meet the immigration rules in force at that time. Neither paragraph can be edited or crossed out.

The form asks for no reason why the parent is staying behind, no address history and no copy of a custody order. Those questions, where they arise, are handled elsewhere in the application.

Why the form says notary public, and not commissioner

Many sworn and declared documents in Canada can be signed in front of a commissioner for oaths. This one is different. The witness block is headed with the words "To be completed by the witness (notary public)", and the name line inside it repeats the point:

must be a notary public

In Ontario the two roles come from two separate statutes. Notaries are appointed under the Notaries Act. Commissioners for taking affidavits hold their power under the Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act, either by appointment or because of an office they hold. Holding one appointment does not give a person the other. Some pages online say a commissioner's signature is enough for IMM 5604; the form itself does not offer that choice. The difference between the two appointments is set out in more detail in the article on notary public and commissioner for oaths.

The stamp matters for the same reason. The form gives the witness a box of its own for a "professional chop/stamp", next to the printed name and title. A signature without that box filled in leaves the page visibly incomplete.

Where the parent who stays behind can sign

The form does not say which country the signing has to happen in. It asks for the place of signing beside the parent's signature and leaves the rest to the witness block.

When that parent lives in Ontario

A parent who is in the Toronto area can sign in front of an Ontario notary public. The witness is the person who watches that parent sign; it does not matter where the child or the other parent is at the time, because the declaration belongs to the parent who signs it.

When that parent lives in another country

The form is still signed in front of a notary public, and in that case it is a notary where the parent lives. A notary in Scarborough cannot witness a signature made in another country, and a page signed abroad and later shown to a notary here has not been witnessed. The signed original then travels to the family that is putting the application together.

What happens at the desk

The appointment follows the instructions printed on the form, in this order:

1. The parent arrives with the page filled in but not signed, and with an original identification card. The form says in so many words that the original card is presented to the witness.
2. The notary identifies the parent from that card, the same card whose name appears in the opening statement.
3. The parent signs and dates the signature row in front of the notary, and adds the emergency contact number and the place.
4. The notary completes the witness block: title, full name in block letters, signature, date, and the stamp in its own box.
5. Where there is more than one child, the same steps are repeated on each child's form.

The notary's role ends at the witnessing. The notary does not decide whether the child qualifies as a dependant, whether the declaration is enough for the application, or whether anything else has to go with it. IRCC also asks for a photocopy of a valid, legible identity document of the signing parent, and its guide for sponsoring a spouse or child describes that ID as one that carries the parent's signature. The form and that photocopy go to IRCC together.

IMM 5604 and a consent-to-travel letter are two different papers

Both are signed by a parent who is not travelling with a child, and both are often witnessed by a notary, so they are easy to confuse. They do different jobs.

Point of comparison	IMM 5604	Consent-to-travel letter
What it is for	A child becoming a permanent resident of Canada	A child crossing a border on a trip
Who writes the wording	IRCC, on a fixed form	The family; no fixed government form is required
Witness	A notary public, as the form requires	Any adult; federal guidance strongly recommends a notary
Who receives it	IRCC, as part of the application	Airline staff and border officers who ask to see it
Is it compulsory	Yes; IRCC's guide says it must be submitted	No; it is recommended, and officials may still ask for it

A family moving to Canada can need both: the declaration for the application, and a letter for the flight itself. How the travel letter works is covered on the consent-to-travel letters page.

When the signature cannot be obtained

IRCC's guide for sponsoring a spouse, partner or dependent child addresses this directly. Where having the form signed by the other parent is impossible, for example because nobody knows where that parent is, the application has to include a letter of explanation in place of the missing declaration. The guide does not list what the letter must say, and whether it is enough is decided by IRCC on the file.

The same guide covers the opposite situation, a child who lives with the other parent and is not moving. A child in the sole custody of a former spouse or partner still has to be declared on the application and still goes through the medical exam, even when a custody agreement or court order says the applicant has no custody. That rule is about the application, not about IMM 5604, but it explains why the form so often comes up in the same conversation.

Other one-page IRCC declarations follow similar patterns; the common-law one is read part by part in the article on IMM 5409.

Before the appointment

The checks below come from the form itself, so they can be made against the page in hand:

• the edition line at the bottom reads IMM 5604 (02-2023) E, or IMM 5604 F in French;
• there is one form for each child, each with that child's name and date of birth as printed in the passport or travel document;
• the signature row and the witness block are both empty;
• the signing parent brings an original identification card.

Signatures on forms like this one are witnessed at this office as described on the notarization page, and a time can be arranged through the booking page.