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Questions on Spousal Sponsorship.

armoured

VIP Member
Feb 1, 2015
17,324
8,922
not too sure whatwent wrong honestly.
And still not too sure what’s the next step unfortunately so do I call immigration ? Ircc? Long wait but if it’s the only way to get answers! Don’t have a choice :(
With all due respect to other opinions, there probably is not much that is 'wrong.'

The fact that the ETA was issued is where the system messed up - it should have identified the child as a citizen but didn't - and with the ETA, the child boarded the plane. CBSA officers clearly didn't have an issue - even though they understood it.

You've submitted the citizenship application already - wait for it to get processed.

There is the possibility that you / your spouse should have indicated the child was a Canadian citizen when applying for the ETA - but they are not going to deny the child citizenship (as a minor especially) because of that. One of you could potentially be 'in trouble' for not declaring the child as a citizen when applying for the ETA. But I strongly doubt that IRCC is going to bother with pursuing that, and it would likely have minimal chance of being successful as a charge - because that statute likely requires intent and you'd just say 'we didn't realize.' And then the next step to this is that, basically, 'no harm was done' - it's hardly a problem that a Canadian citizen of minor age was ... admitted to Canada.

Now there are cases where inadvertently leaving something out would be misrepresentation and potentially serious consequences - but in this case, now that it's basically resolved, probably not.

So I'm going to suggest: wait it out and don't worry. Any 'mistakes that were made' or things that shouldn't have happened here have, likely, minimal or zero consequences for you, your husband or the child. It's not (IMO) even worth seeing a lawyer.

That said: my one suggestion would be that it's probably best if the child doesn't leave the country (necessitating return by AIR, and use of the ETA) until his citizenship is sorted. Just a risk of being stuck abroad. Returning by land to Canada should be okay (but also best to avoid, if possible).
 

armoured

VIP Member
Feb 1, 2015
17,324
8,922
- My son is born in Singapore but husband is a Canadian citizen who was born in Canada. we have applied for proof of citizenship and received a letter saying the application was received and will be in process. ( does this means my son also needs to extend his ETA? ) 13 months old baby.
To return to the questions here:
-it sounds like your son was actually admitted to Canada as a citizen - no need to extend his visitor status because he doesn't have such status. (Applying to extend it would only confuse things)
-I don't know about your status and will let others comment, sounds like you may be on implied status.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
55,705
13,559
With all due respect to other opinions, there probably is not much that is 'wrong.'

The fact that the ETA was issued is where the system messed up - it should have identified the child as a citizen but didn't - and with the ETA, the child boarded the plane. CBSA officers clearly didn't have an issue - even though they understood it.

You've submitted the citizenship application already - wait for it to get processed.

There is the possibility that you / your spouse should have indicated the child was a Canadian citizen when applying for the ETA - but they are not going to deny the child citizenship (as a minor especially) because of that. One of you could potentially be 'in trouble' for not declaring the child as a citizen when applying for the ETA. But I strongly doubt that IRCC is going to bother with pursuing that, and it would likely have minimal chance of being successful as a charge - because that statute likely requires intent and you'd just say 'we didn't realize.' And then the next step to this is that, basically, 'no harm was done' - it's hardly a problem that a Canadian citizen of minor age was ... admitted to Canada.

Now there are cases where inadvertently leaving something out would be misrepresentation and potentially serious consequences - but in this case, now that it's basically resolved, probably not.

So I'm going to suggest: wait it out and don't worry. Any 'mistakes that were made' or things that shouldn't have happened here have, likely, minimal or zero consequences for you, your husband or the child. It's not (IMO) even worth seeing a lawyer.

That said: my one suggestion would be that it's probably best if the child doesn't leave the country (necessitating return by AIR, and use of the ETA) until his citizenship is sorted. Just a risk of being stuck abroad. Returning by land to Canada should be okay (but also best to avoid, if possible).
At passport control they should have been able to identify that if the father was a citizen and they should have asked about whether they had applied for the baby’s citizenship and I formed the family that they child should on,y be entering Canada using their Canadian documentation. Not all frontline staff are aware of the immigration processes and procedures. Never suggested that anything would happen but not a good idea to keep leaving because one day the ETA may get cancelled and you could get stuck abroad.

Agree that the child needs to apply for recognition of citizenship and then get a passport.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
55,705
13,559
To return to the questions here:
-it sounds like your son was actually admitted to Canada as a citizen - no need to extend his visitor status because he doesn't have such status. (Applying to extend it would only confuse things)
-I don't know about your status and will let others comment, sounds like you may be on implied status.
How would he be admitted as a citizen using his Singapore passport?
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
55,705
13,559
We assumed the immigration had no issue letting us in because we had a passport for him and a ETA which is what was required for a singaporean passport holder to enter canada and we had all of that while entering ( we even entered twice like that because we went to Hawaii for a vacation a couple months back ) RE entering wasn’t an issue for us either just new eta applied and we entered the same way we did before.

not too sure whatwent wrong honestly.
And still not too sure what’s the next step unfortunately so do I call immigration ? Ircc? Long wait but if it’s the only way to get answers! Don’t have a choice :(
You need to start with getting him recognized as a Canadian citizen and then apply for a passport. Once your child is identified as a Canadian there are temporary documents available if you really need to leave Canada for an emergency. Think the processing times are actually closer to a year vs 17 months.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/proof-citizenship/about.html
 

armoured

VIP Member
Feb 1, 2015
17,324
8,922
At passport control they should have been able to identify that if the father was a citizen and they should have asked about whether they had applied for the baby’s citizenship and I formed the family that they child should on,y be entering Canada using their Canadian documentation. ...

Agree that the child needs to apply for recognition of citizenship and then get a passport.
How would he be admitted as a citizen using his Singapore passport?
As described in other threads, CBSA officers have the authority and indeed are required to admit anyone whom they are satisfied is a Canadian citizen. This is routinely done with US citizens (who yes, could also enter on the basis of their US passport but when they show Canadian docs are admitted as Canadian citizens). Or, if you prefer analogy, exactly as is done with PRs who have expired docs or simply know their UCI#.

From the description above - they showed the docs including the birth certificate and passport of the Canadian citizen-father. Hence it sounds to me that the boy was admitted as a citizen. Do I know this? No, but there is no other explanation - if they knew he was a citizen, his other citizenship is not relevant except as an identification document.

Even if he wasn't, he is a citizen and does not need an extension - no matter how he entered.

Not all frontline staff are aware of the immigration processes and procedures. Never suggested that anything would happen but not a good idea to keep leaving because one day the ETA may get cancelled and you could get stuck abroad.
Are you certain you know exactly what those procedures are as they apply to what a CBSA officer should do at the border? The way I read the law is that CBSA must admit a citizen - period. If IRCC (and/or Min Transport) have a gap in the ETA management, I doubt the CBSA officer cares. Their duty is to admit a citizen.

I think the implication of repeating several times that something was done 'wrong' is that there are potential repercussions. Hence my emphasis that probably not.

And yes, I wouldn't suggest testing this with further trips because the ETA system missed this one. But as I recall, I wrote exactly that.
 

armoured

VIP Member
Feb 1, 2015
17,324
8,922
You need to start with getting him recognized as a Canadian citizen and then apply for a passport.
From the very first post in this thread: "we have applied for proof of citizenship and received a letter saying the application was received and will be in process."