Canadian Citizenship

[randomusername123]

I am an American Citizenship and want to become a Canadian citizen. I am under 18 and currently live in the U.S. My dad's grandfather is a Canadian citizen by birth. He is dead, but if we prove with a birth certificate that he is Canadian, could my dad become Canadian by descent and pass the citizenship down to me. Is there any other way for me to become a Canadian citizen. I was born in the U.S. if that helps. I would not be able to become Canadian by naturalization. Thanks in advance.

 

[screech339]

It really depends on whether your dad was registered as Canadian by your grandfather. If he wasn't registered, it means he didn't have Canadian citizenship at time of your birth. If he was, he would be Canadian however up to age 28. If he failed to retain his citizenship, then he didn't have canadian citizenship at time of your birth. If he did retain his citizenship, only then can you claim canadian citizenship by descent since your father had canadian citizenship at time of your birth. If your father had citizenship but failed to retain his citizenship, he still will not have his citizenship back under the new 2009 law.

Now if your father wasn't registered by your grandfather, he would get his citizenship under the 2009 citizenship law and recognized his citizenship since birth. However the law is not retroactive so you still cannot claim citizenship because the 2009 law says your father is canadian since birth. The important fact you need to know is whether your father has canadian citizenship at the time of your birth.