Am I eligible for Citizenship by Descent?

[ashiebee]

Hi there,

I have a strange scenario and I am not sure if I would be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship.

My father was born in 1944 in London. His mother was a British Citizen and his father was a Canadian Citizen. My grandmother later remarried and my father was later adopted by her new husband who was a British Citizen, but his birth certificate was never changed though, and still states his birth father on it. I am not sure my fathers birth was ever registered in Canada, in fact, I am pretty certain it wasn't.

I was born in 1978, in London and wonder if I would be eligible to apply for Citizenship.

Any advice you could give me would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ashleigh

 

[scylla]

It's extremely unlikely you qualify for Canadian citizenship. If your father's birth wasn't registered with Canada - then I unfortunately don't think you stand a chance.

If you wanted to give it a try - the first step would be for your father to obtain his citizenship documents to confirm that he is recognized as a citizen.

 

[alphazip]

Hi there,

I have a strange scenario and I am not sure if I would be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship.

My father was born in 1944 in London. His mother was a British Citizen and his father was a Canadian Citizen. My grandmother later remarried and my father was later adopted by her new husband who was a British Citizen, but his birth certificate was never changed though, and still states his birth father on it. I am not sure my fathers birth was ever registered in Canada, in fact, I am pretty certain it wasn't.

I was born in 1978, in London and wonder if I would be eligible to apply for Citizenship.

Any advice you could give me would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ashleigh

When you say that your father's father was a Canadian citizen, I assume you mean that he was born in Canada. If so:

Under the Canadian Citizenship Act of 1946, your father became a Canadian citizen when the law took effect on 1 January 1947. However, under the rules of that act, unless he lived in Canada or made a declaration of retention before age 23, he would have lost Canadian citizenship in the 1960s. Therefore, he was not a Canadian citizen when you were born in 1978. As of 2009, changes to the Citizenship Act returned citizenship to your father, but the fact that you were not a citizen at that time (2009), means that you are not a citizen now. That's because, as of 2009, citizenship by descent is limited to the first generation born abroad.