US/Canadian Dual Citizen Questions

[spyfy]

The OP does not give the year in which his father was born, but considering that the OP was born in 1991, the father was almost certainly born before 1977. That being the case, the father's birth abroad would have had to be registered with Canadian authorities in order for him to have inherited Canadian citizenship from his father, the OP's grandfather. If it was not, then the OP's father was not a Canadian citizen until the changes to the Citizenship Act took effect on April 17, 2009. Although the father was made a citizen retroactive to his birth, this does not help the OP, because the limit on citizenship by descent to the first generation born abroad took effect at the same moment as did the retroactivity.

The OP's father had the ability to make a delayed registration of birth abroad (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/cit/proof/registration.asp), and thereby become a Canadian citizen, but that possibility expired in 2004. If he had done so [it sounds like that's what the uncle did], the OP would be a Canadian citizen now.

Ah OK, this makes sense. Thanks!

 

[picklee]

The OP would have a claim to citizenship if his father was a Canadian citizen when the OP was born, but, unless the father's birth was registered, he was not.

Right, so a second generation born abroad child with a birthdate on or before April 16, 2009 could claim citizenship provided their parent was registered as a born abroad Canadian.

 

[links18]

Right, so a second generation born abroad child with a birthdate on or before April 16, 2009 could claim citizenship provided their parent was registered as a born abroad Canadian.

Well, they would have to have been a Canadian citizen already when the 2009 changes took place, which they probably would have been in this scenario, provided they did not run afoul of the reaffirmation requirement prior to 2009. At least, I think that's how it went.

 

[Jean-Jacue]

The OP does not give the year in which his father was born, but considering that the OP was born in 1991, the father was almost certainly born before 1977. That being the case, the father's birth abroad would have had to be registered with Canadian authorities in order for him to have inherited Canadian citizenship from his father, the OP's grandfather. If it was not, then the OP's father was not a Canadian citizen until the changes to the Citizenship Act took effect on April 17, 2009. Although the father was made a citizen retroactive to his birth, this does not help the OP, because the limit on citizenship by descent to the first generation born abroad took effect at the same moment as did the retroactivity.

The OP's father had the ability to make a delayed registration of birth abroad (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/cit/proof/registration.asp), and thereby become a Canadian citizen, but that possibility expired in 2004. If he had done so [it sounds like that's what the uncle did], the OP would be a Canadian citizen now.

My father was born in 1962.

I am going to try to find out if he was registered Canadian when he was born.

I'll dig into some of the details from this thread with my father in more depth this weekend. I think I'll give my grandmother a call as well. She probably knows more. They could have registered my dad as a Canadian born abroad and he just never even knew.

They almost moved back to Canada when my dad was about 13 after the death of my grandfather.

I would be kind of surprised if my grandmother and grandfather didn't register them if they were both Canadian citizens themselves. But I don't know much about it, and they may not have either.

The way I understood the changes made in 2009 was that people born after that date, and people born before were still subject to the rules set in place for 1977 up until the point of changes.

I'm hoping I could be grandfathered in to those rules.

Obviously there seem to be a few different items to consider here that make it difficult being a second generation born abroad.

 

[alphazip]

Well, they would have to have been a Canadian citizen already when the 2009 changes took place, which they probably would have been in this scenario, provided they did not run afoul of the reaffirmation requirement prior to 2009. At least, I think that's how it went.

Looking at the original Citizenship Act, not only must a child born abroad be registered (within two years) to become a citizen, but that child ceases to be a Canadian citizen if, before age 22, he/she does not 1) file a retention of Canadian citizenship, and 2) divest himself/herself of any foreign citizenship. I never see these additional requirements discussed, so perhaps they were repealed in some later piece of legislation. Of course, the registration requirement was repealed altogether by the 1977 Citizenship Act, but the repeal was not made retroactive.

So, what we can say is that if a person born abroad after 1977 to a Canadian-born citizen had a child born abroad before April 17, 2009, then that child would be a Canadian citizen. For a person born before 1977 (as is the case with the OP's father), what matters is that he/she must have been a Canadian citizen at the time of the child's birth and that the birth must have occurred before April 17, 2009.

 

[alphazip]

The way I understood the changes made in 2009 was that people born after that date, and people born before were still subject to the rules set in place for 1977 up until the point of changes.

I'm hoping I could be grandfathered in to those rules.

Because your father was born in 1962, he is governed by the rules set up in 1946 (effective 1947, with subsequent modifications), not 1977. In 1977, the requirement that a birth abroad be registered was eliminated, but that was not made retroactive. However, as I mentioned, there was a clause inserted that allowed those born before 1977 to register their births and become citizens. It sounds like your uncle availed himself of that opportunity, while your father unfortunately did not.