To make a VERY long story short, my grandmother was born in Canada, and I’ve always been curious about what that means for my father and for me in terms of our eligibility for Canadian citizenship. Neither of us ever pursued anything, Dad mostly because he was never really interested, and me because I was under the impression that Dad would have to pursue it before I could. And it wasn’t the easiest prospect for us to prove that the person on Nana’s birth certificate was the same person who gave birth to my father because there wasn’t a clear chain of documentation of the change in her name. (She was raised in an orphanage in Winnipeg, even though both her parents were living - like I said, it’s a long story - and Dad didn’t even know the name his mother was born with until about 20 years ago although she was born in 1914. Like I said, it’s a LONG story.)
So recent political events made me finally convince Dad to look into it, and finally we consulted with a Canadian immigration lawyer last week. Canadian law about people born to Canadian parents outside Canada has changed several times since I was born, and he said that trying to figure out who is grandfathered gives him a headache. His advice was “why don’t you just provide as much documentation of the name changes, etc. as you can come up with and give it a shot on your own? Either you’re eligible or you’re not, and you can probably explain the family history at least as well as I can.”
So yesterday I finished the genealogical research, put together a statement explaining the family history with a ton of supporting documentation, and put together a packet to apply for a Canadian Citizenship Certificate. In a few months I may know for sure.
I’m not picking up and moving to Canada just yet, but it would be nice to know whether I even have the option.
Fascinating. Typo Knig’s grandfather was not born in Canada, but was naturalized as a citizen (he was born a citizen of England, I think). I’ll have to forward this to him.
While the matter is somewhat less urgent after this weekend, it’s not a new subject in our household.
Just looking at the list of requirements on the page you linked, it looks like your father would have had to have become a citizen before you were born.
Well, I’ll see what they tell me, but in the U.S. context, if you are a citizen because your parents were at the time you were born, your citizenship begins automatically at birth. The rest is just paperwork. I have no idea how it works in the Canadian context, but I’m sure if it were that simple, the Canadian immigration lawyer I spoke with would have known that off the top of his head.
I have only been to Toronto. Most of my international travel has been either for educational purposes or to visit family/friends; the only personal contacts I have in Canada are a couple of Internet friends. As far as I know, even my grandmother only went back to Canada once after she left in 1930 at 15.
I looked into Norwegian citizenship at one point. My mother is Norwegian, and I lived in Norway for a few years as a child, after being born in the US. I inquired about it once, by emailing the consulate. They gave me a similar answer: maybe, fill out the paperwork and see. I never followed through, though. If I’d gotten a definite yes, I would still have had to check into what the downside might be in terms of taxes or other obligations. Plus the paperwork they sent me to fill out was in Norwegian. I am no longer fluent, so I would have had to send it to my mom to fill out, or at least help.
I applied for (and received) Canadian heritage citizenship when I was in my 20s (1990s). I didn’t plan to ever do anything with it, but life came along. The US wouldn’t let me sponsor a gay partner for US residence, but Canada would, so we upped stakes and moved to Canada. We’ve been here about 10 years now and are quite happy, and have been really glad to be able to watch the political and social developments in the US from over the border.
In my case it was a Canadian-born parent, so a bit more straightforward. The process was bureaucratic but fairly swift. Later, sponsoring my partner for immigration as a non-resident citizen was also straightforward and swift, as such things go.
We were then able to convince said Canadian parent to move back, after 50+ years in the US, which is a real relief in terms of health care finances.
I think you’re in good shape to be honest. The PM recently announced the intention to increase immigration numbers substantially this coming year.
I would think you’d be easily able to qualify, any tangential connection to Canada should help you considerably.
I know a foreign student, from a troubled location, here getting a masters degree, Covid keeps him trapped here for now. He’d like to get Permanent Resident status (Step 1 to citizenship). I suspect he will, with them increasing the numbers next year, he too would find it easier I expect.
If your grandmother left in 1930 at age15, I wonder if she ever was a Canadian citizen? Back then, there was no such thing as a Canadian citizen. She would have been a British subject, domiciled in Canada.
Did she get married before 1947? That’s when the Citizenship Act came into force. I have a hazy recollection that a woman lost her British status if she married a non-Brit, but I don’t know if that was still the case in the 1930s and 1940s?
But then, there was remedial legislation passed at later dates to put men and women on equal footing…
I can understand why the immigration lawyer three up his hands! I’m curious to know what the result will be. I’ve got no idea.
The Canadian immigration lawyer had no doubt that she was a Canadian citizen, or that my father and aunt are also Canadian citizens. The part where he threw up his hands was figuring out whether I am grandfathered as the second generation born outside Canada based on the date of my birth and the other facts. (And yes, she did get married before 1947, and my father and aunt were both born before 1947.) IIRC from trying to figure this all out, even if she had lost her citizenship by marrying a foreigner, one of the intervening changes in the law restored it.
And to a lesser extent, I am wondering whether they will believe the rather convoluted series of events that caused all the changes in her name throughout her life, but I think I did a damn fine job of documenting that, if I may say so.
My understanding of that was that following 1947, any British subject born in Canada was thereafter a Canadian citizen, retroactively as it were, but since my family were still here I’m not certain how residence was factored in.
I have had Canadian authorities reject my mother’s Canadian documents (pre-1947 birth certificate and 1990s expired passport) as “too old.” The expired passport wouldn’t have been a big deal, but the people who refused to accept it as valid and who could not look it up in their records were Passport Canada. This mattered, as it meant they refused to accept her married name, the name in her last Canadian passport, as a legal name, and issued a new one in her maiden name, which she hadn’t used since the 1960s.
(It would be easy enough to correct, but my mother doesn’t care enough to jump through the required hoops.)
I had a friend whose grandmother (or grandfather?) was born in Ottawa. She looked into whether she had Canadian citizenship back in 2012-ish. Answer: no because my friend was born outside Canada to a parent (her father) who was also born in the US. I think I have that right.
My sister looked into whether or not we had Italian citizenship because our mom was born in Italy and spent the first 10 years of her life there. Answer: we don’t. Italy regards my grandfather’s naturalization here as renunciation of his citizenship there, which meant my mother lost her Italian citizenship–not that that would have bothered her. She and my father (non-Italian, US-born) sacrificed a lot out of love for this country. I guess that’s why no matter how many Americans betray that faith, I’m not leaving. I figure if all of us who can leave do, who stays to keep fighting with those who don’t have that luxury?
I think you’re in good shape (IANAL, obviously, let alone a Canadian lawyer, but the Canadian lawyer I spoke with clearly indicated that my father, who was in a similar situation, is Canadian but just hasn’t documented it yet). Yes, dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada is a thing - I know a number of people who have it, including the former boss, a U.S. immigration lawyer (who is also a UK citizen by birth). It’s only $75 Canadian to apply - here are the forms and instructions.
I hope we can welcome you. I have always enjoyed reading your stories.
I am second-generation Canadian; all my grandparents came from England. I think I can claim UK “right of abode” because of that, but there would be a lot of expensive paperwork involved, and with the UK out of the EU, that’s not nearly as attractive an option now.
Yes, there were a lot of changes relating to the “Lost Canadians”. The situation seems to be confusing.
Well, I’ve been searching for some citizenship by investment programs, and I found that Portugal is the best among them. It gives many advantages in return for the investment. And I can be an EU citizen within a couple of years in this way. (This article helped me a lot about my questions: Portugal Golden Visa: The Definitive Guide | Get Golden Visa)
