Citizenship by Descent Question

[Parkslope]

I am posting here because I registered today but am unable to get the "start new topic icon" to appear on the message index page.

My father was born in Canada, but I was born in the US and have never lived in Canada. I have a question about how to answer Section 6 on the Application for Citizenship Under Section 3 (CIT-0001E). The first part of Section 6 asks if I am a citizen of one or more other countries, to which I answered Yes and indicated US (no problem there). However, the second part of section 6, Absences from Canada, asks "Did you leave Canada for more than before 1977?". Because I have never lived in Canada, I obviously didn't leave Canada. However, my concern is that an answer of No will be interpreted as meaning that I have lived in Canada continuously since 1977. The last part of this section asks for specific dates of absences (From and To), destination, and reasons. Again, having never lived in Canada I don't know how to answer. One possible answer would be to put my date of birth under From and the date when I submit my application under To. Another option would be to write N/A in both From and To and write that I have never lived in Canada in the Reasons box. Any advice on how to answer section 6 would be greatly appreciated.

 

[alphazip]

I am posting here because I registered today but am unable to get the "start new topic icon" to appear on the message index page.

My father was born in Canada, but I was born in the US and have never lived in Canada. I have a question about how to answer Section 6 on the Application for Citizenship Under Section 3 (CIT-0001E). The first part of Section 6 asks if I am a citizen of one or more other countries, to which I answered Yes and indicated US (no problem there). However, the second part of section 6, Absences from Canada, asks "Did you leave Canada for more than before 1977?". Because I have never lived in Canada, I obviously didn't leave Canada. However, my concern is that an answer of No will be interpreted as meaning that I have lived in Canada continuously since 1977. The last part of this section asks for specific dates of absences (From and To), destination, and reasons. Again, having never lived in Canada I don't know how to answer. One possible answer would be to put my date of birth under From and the date when I submit my application under To. Another option would be to write N/A in both From and To and write that I have never lived in Canada in the Reasons box. Any advice on how to answer section 6 would be greatly appreciated.

Did you leave Canada before 1977: Don't answer yes or no, write this: N/A I never lived in Canada
Dates of absences: Birth - Present USA Born in USA; never lived in Canada

 

[Parkslope]

Thank you!
My only concern with following your advice is that the box in the part of section 6 that asks "Did you leave Canada before 1977" only allows you to click on either the Yes or the No circle. It isn't possible to write in an answer while filling out the form online. Do you advise that I not click on either yes or no and hand write "N/A I never lived in the USA" after printing the document?

 

[alphazip]

Thank you!
My only concern with following your advice is that the box in the part of section 6 that asks "Did you leave Canada before 1977" only allows you to click on either the Yes or the No circle. It isn't possible to write in an answer while filling out the form online. Do you advise that I not click on either yes or no and hand write "N/A I never lived in the USA" after printing the document?

Yes, exactly. Except, it's "I never lived in Canada", not "I never lived in the USA."

 

[Parkslope]

Thanks again!

The instructions for CIT0001 repeatedly say that you should not leave any questions blank and should write N/A if the question doesn't apply to you.

However, the page on the Help Centre website titled What if some of the questions don't apply to me? states that: If you are applying online and the form does not allow you to input “N/A,” leave the space blank. (I would post the link, but apparently that isn't allowed on this forum.)

This is the case for the question I am asking about--you can click on the yes or no circle, but you aren't allow to type in anything, including N/A. Thus I remain uncertain as to what to do.

 

[alphazip]

Thanks again!

The instructions for CIT0001 repeatedly say that you should not leave any questions blank and should write N/A if the question doesn't apply to you.

However, the page on the Help Centre website titled What if some of the questions don't apply to me? states that: If you are applying online and the form does not allow you to input “N/A,” leave the space blank. (I would post the link, but apparently that isn't allowed on this forum.)

This is the case for the question I am asking about--you can click on the yes or no circle, but you aren't allow to type in anything, including N/A. Thus I remain uncertain as to what to do.

You're not applying online. You're filling out a form online that you will print out and send through the mail to Sydney, Nova Scotia. You'll notice that on page 1 it says: "Please PRINT in ink or TYPE." Doesn't that suggest to you that you're free to print information on the form (in ink) as required, and not restricted to what you can type? In fact, you could fill out the entire form by hand if you wanted to. What is important is not how the form is filled out (typed or hand printed), but that you give all pertinent information (and "N/A I never lived in Canada" is pertinent). It's certainly better to write "N/A" in every section that doesn't apply to you than to give CIC the impression that you skipped something.