Are my kids Canadian?

[Zimgyal]

hello.

I’ve been researching this for a while and seem to get conflicting information.

I am a Canadian citizen. I hold a Canadian Passport. However, I was born outside of Canada to my incredible Canadian mother. My mother (Canadian born) applied for my citizenship before I turned a year old and I was issued a Canadian proof of citizenship card.

Now, for the big question...

My kids (born in 2016 and 2018) were born outside Canada. Are they Canadian?

Bonus question: Can I pass my Canadian Citizenship to my American wife?

Go Habs.

Dudeee, you should have been way ahead you the law and had both your kids born in Canada instead then applied for their US Citizenship.......since you are a US Citizen by birth!!!!

 

[amitdi]

So, just because of my mother's emergency situation requiring her to go to a US hospital due to its proximity...my children are not Canadian? This seems wrong.

Everyone will acknowledge that the circumstances you faced are not typical. Does it deserve an exception to be made to the rule? Maybe. Will an exception be made? I doubt.

I think it all comes down to how important is it for you to acquire Canadian citizenship for your children v/s how much efforts (money & time) are you willing to spend on this. Make those decisions before hand, so that this doesnt drag out.

But keep us posted, we would like to know how this proceeds. All the best.

 

[screech339]

The analogy for parents/grandparents sponsorship is actually somewhat similar to your case: it’s currently done on a lottery basis, and will change to a first come first serve basis soon, but either way, someone could meet all the requirements and have made great contributions to Canada, or greater than many other applicants, yet still unable to sponsor his/her parents because failing to win the lottery or the delivery service was slightly slower than others, or the internet had a glitch and missed the chance to sign up before all the slots were taken ... that’s definitely not fair, but that’s how the rule works with IRCC

Parents / grandparents are valuable contributors to one's own family but not to Canada as a whole. They have not provided anything to the tax system their entire lives that are needed to support social programs that they will have access to (medical care / disability / old age pension).

 

[steaky]

Parents / grandparents are valuable contributors to one's own family but not to Canada as a whole. They have not provided anything to the tax system their entire lives that are needed to support social programs that they will have access to (medical care / disability / old age pension).

Similar to those Albertans who own vacation properties in BC are valuable contributors to the local economy in BC but not to BC as a whole. Like PGP, they certainly provide things like pst in the tax system when they stay/live in that province to support social programs that the will access to (medical care, etc).

 

[keesio]

I hate getting into a debate over this, but the example scenario you give re: George is not the same scenario I am in. My mother was very close to the US border when she went into labor with me. I was born outside of Canada purely because it was the nearest hospital when my mom went into labor. This was back in the 80's when you could travel pretty freely between Quebec and Vermont. The ambulance that took her to the US hospital had Quebec plates! After I was born, I returned to Canada to live with my mom for the first several years of my life - even attending several years of grade school. I obtained my Canadian Citizenship and my Canadian Passport in Canada. Despite being a Dual Citizen with the US today, I am by all accounts Canadian.

So, just because of my mother's emergency situation requiring her to go to a US hospital due to its proximity...my children are not Canadian? This seems wrong.

I understand and agree that if I had continued to live in the US immediately following my birth, never having claimed my citizenship and my children later in life would try to become Canadian on account that their grandmother was born in Canada...they would not be allowed. But this is not my situation. Again - no sense in debating this in a forum of public opinion. I will check with the proper authorities and retain legal council if necessary.

You basically got hosed by a blanket rule. The rule in question was never intended to impact people in your scenario. But there are always people who get unfairly impacted when a broad rule goes into effect. The spirit of the rule has good intentions but always there are always going to be people that get caught in it because of unusual corner cases.

As you will no doubtedly soon discover (when you move back to Canada), another example of a blanket rule conceived with good intentions that has a much more negative impact on the lives of people it was not intended to target is US taxation laws on US expats. This will make the Canadian immigration rule seem extremely benign to deal with in comparison.

 

[itsmyid]

You basically got hosed by a blanket rule. The rule in question was never intended to impact people in your scenario. But there are always people who get unfairly impacted when a broad rule goes into effect. The spirit of the rule has good intentions but always there are always going to be people that get caught in it because of unusual corner cases.

As you will no doubtedly soon discover (when you move back to Canada), another example of a blanket rule conceived with good intentions that has a much more negative impact on the lives of people it was not intended to target is US taxation laws on US expats. This will make the Canadian immigration rule seem extremely benign to deal with in comparison.

It didn’t seem like he ever indicated anything about moving back to Canada, otherwise sponsoring his kids for PR and citizenship would be much easier and less expensive than getting a lawyer to fight this ...

 

[screech339]

Similar to those Albertans who own vacation properties in BC are valuable contributors to the local economy in BC but not to BC as a whole. Like PGP, they certainly provide things like pst in the tax system when they stay/live in that province to support social programs that the will access to (medical care, etc).

Parents / grandparents are living things, not assets or commodities where you can spend and buy your vacation home. Poor example of comparison.

 

[steaky]

Parents / grandparents are living things, not assets or commodities where you can spend and buy your vacation home. Poor example of comparison.

Albertans are also living beings like PGP and they can buy commodities, assets and your vacation homes. Poor you (or should I say shame on you) to compare PGP with assets and commodities.

 

[screech339]

Albertans are also living beings like PGP and they can buy commodities, assets and your vacation homes. Poor you (or should I say shame on you) to compare them with assets and commodities.

Nice spin on your part. You brought up vacation homes as comparison. not me.

And besides, you are comparing apples (people bringing parents/grandparents) to oranges (people buying vacation homes)

 

[steaky]

Nice spin on your part. You brought up vacation homes as comparison. not me.

Read my original post again. I clearly compare group of Albertans with PGP. You can also own a vacation home and now you can be part of the comparison if you like.

 

[screech339]

Similar to those Albertans who own vacation properties in BC are valuable contributors to the local economy in BC but not to BC as a whole. Like PGP, they certainly provide things like pst in the tax system when they stay/live in that province to support social programs that the will access to (medical care, etc).

So you can also "own your parents/grandparents"? Is that what you are saying? I am failing to see your "apple to apple" comparison of a group of people with PGP with those who own a vacation home.

I am not going to go into a tangent discussion about your ridiculous PGP/vacation home comparison. My original argument for support of sibling sponsorship over PGP sponsorship with Avadava's post still stands.

 

[alphazip]

If you want to move to Canada - there's a very clear & easy path for you and your family. You would sponsor them for permanent residency through the Family Sponsorship program (you can do this from the US but would have to provide hard proof that you plan to move to Canada once their PR is approved). Once they are PRs and have lived in Canada for a few years, they would qualify for citizenship. So citizenship is absolutely feasible - just not through descent for your kids and not by marriage for your wife. Obtaining PR status and actually moving to Canada and living here would be required.

I agree that the OP's children are not Canadian citizens. However, as regards moving to Canada, the children don't have to live in Canada for "a few years" to apply for citizenship. As soon as they have PR status and are living in Canada, they can apply. That's because the children have a Canadian citizen parent.

 

[canvis2006]

Lately there's a lot of such threads from USA folks.

 

[amitdi]

Lately there's a lot of such threads from USA folks.

I wonder what the reason is... #maga

 

[itsmyid]

Lately there's a lot of such threads from USA folks.

Parents would do anything for the benefit of their kids, totally understandable, I would do the same if I were him