My grandfather was born in Canada before 1947. My father (born in 1963) and I (born in 1998) were born outside of Canada. I have been doing some reading and found that one of the citizenship laws states "Children born on or after 17 April 2009 as second and subsequent generations born abroad have no claim to Canadian citizenship other than naturalization or adoption" - does this mean if we were born before that date we can claim citizenship? I was just 11 years old when this law was put into place, and hence was unable to make my own legal decisions. Given the opportunity, I would have and would still like to acquire citizenship. Thus, I am wondering, now that I am over the age of 18 will they still consider my application on the basis that I was a child at the time and not in charge of my own legal/citizenship destiny?
Grandfather born in Canada - just a child when the law changed -am I still eligible for citizenship?
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Sorry, but unfortunately if you didn't get your birth registered before 2004, or apply for your citizenship certificate before 2009 (only if your father had already acquired his citizenship before you were born for both situations), then the first generation limit now applies to you, and you're now ineligible for citizenship by descent.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/canadian-citizenship/acquisition-loss/acquisition.html
"Limit to citizenship by descent [subsection 3(3)]
The Citizenship Act limits citizenship by descent to the first generation born outside Canada to a Canadian parent. As of April 17, 2009, in order for a person born outside Canada to be a citizen by descent, that person must be born in the first generation to a Canadian parent.
This means that, in general, persons who were not already Canadian citizens immediately before April 17, 2009, and who were born outside Canada to a Canadian parent are not Canadian if
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/canadian-citizenship/acquisition-loss/acquisition.html
"Limit to citizenship by descent [subsection 3(3)]
The Citizenship Act limits citizenship by descent to the first generation born outside Canada to a Canadian parent. As of April 17, 2009, in order for a person born outside Canada to be a citizen by descent, that person must be born in the first generation to a Canadian parent.
This means that, in general, persons who were not already Canadian citizens immediately before April 17, 2009, and who were born outside Canada to a Canadian parent are not Canadian if
- their Canadian parent was also born outside Canada to a Canadian parent (the person is therefore the second or subsequent generation born outside Canada)"
Assuming that your father's birth was not registered with Canadian authorities (either by his parents when he was a child or by himself before 2004*), he became a Canadian citizen for the first time on April 17, 2009. Therefore, he was not a Canadian citizen when you were born, though he is now.
As hawk39 pointed out, a limit on citizenship by descent was imposed in 2009, which makes it impossible for you to now claim Canadian citizenship. That's because you are the second generation born outside of Canada. The fact that you were born before 2009 doesn't matter, because you were not born to a Canadian citizen.
*his birth could only have been registered if his father (the OP's grandfather) was still a Canadian citizen in 1963. The grandfather would only have been a Canadian citizen if he had not become a U.S. citizen.
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One clarification: the OP was born in 1998, and the requirement to register was eliminated in 1977. If he had been born to a Canadian citizen (and it's very unlikely that he was), his only requirement would have been to retain by age 28, but that requirement was eliminated in 2009, when the OP was 11.
"Exception to limit to citizenship by descent [subsection 3(4) (transitional provision)]
The limit to citizenship by descent does not have the effect of taking away the Canadian citizenship of persons born outside Canada after the first generation prior to April 17, 2009, who were already Canadian citizens on April 16, 2009 (i.e., the day before the legislative amendments came into force). These persons keep their citizenship. "
In 2009, the Act limited citizenship by decent to the first generation. So wouldn't I have been granted citizenship before April 2009? How can someone under the age of 18 be able to make such a decision for themselves legally? What I am saying is that I did not have the legal capacity to register myself for citizenship before this date, otherwise perhaps I would have. Not only was I unaware that I could have become a Canadian citizen before this date, but I was unable to make this decision for myself until I turned 18 - what is the stance of the Canadian government on this?
Also - just to add, my fathers birth certificate strictly says my grandfather's birthplace as Montreal, Canada.
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I also found this on the Canadian Government website:
" Registration
Before April 17, 2009, a person born outside Canada in the second generation was automatically a Canadian citizen at birth. For second generation born outside Canada, the approved application for proof of citizenship fulfilled the registration requirement of subsection 8(b) of the Citizenship Act."
Does this apply to me? And what does subsection 8(b) actually refer to?
Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/canadian-citizenship/acquisition-loss/retention-prior-attaining-28-years-old.htm
" Registration
Before April 17, 2009, a person born outside Canada in the second generation was automatically a Canadian citizen at birth. For second generation born outside Canada, the approved application for proof of citizenship fulfilled the registration requirement of subsection 8(b) of the Citizenship Act."
Does this apply to me? And what does subsection 8(b) actually refer to?
Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/canadian-citizenship/acquisition-loss/retention-prior-attaining-28-years-old.htm
That page about retention *would* have applied to you if you had been born abroad in the 2nd generation to a Canadian citizen. If your father was a Canadian citizen when you were born, you would have become a Canadian citizen at birth. Then, before turning 28, you would have needed to apply to "retain" your citizenship by showing that you lived in Canada or at least had a substantial connection to Canada. That requirement was eliminated in 2009, but it never applied to you in the first place if you were not born to a Canadian citizen.
Here is your situation in more detail:
Grandfather: born in Canada before 1947, but moved at some point before 1963 to the USA. Your grandfather would have been a Canadian citizen as of January 1,1947 IF he had not taken U.S. citizenship before that date. If he did not become a U.S. citizen before 1977, then he would never have lost his Canadian citizenship. If he did lose his citizenship by taking U.S. citizenship before 1977, it was restored to him in 2009 (or 2015, if he became a U.S. citizen before 1947).
Father: born in the USA in 1963. If his father had not taken U.S. citizenship before 1963, your father could have been registered as a Canadian citizen. However, he would then have had to take another step in his early 20s of filing to retain his Canadian citizenship and divesting himself of his U.S. citizenship. If he did neither of those things, he was given yet another chance to be a Canadian citizen, which was to make a delayed registration of birth abroad between 1977 and 2004. If, however, your grandfather had become a U.S. citizen before 1963, your father was not born to a Canadian citizen and could not have been registered. In 2009 (or possibly 2015), your father became a Canadian citizen because of changes to the Citizenship Act.
You: born in the USA in 1998. If your father had been a Canadian citizen at the time of your birth, you would be also. All you would have had to do was retain at age 28, but since that was eliminated in 2009, it wouldn't have affected you. The reason you are not a Canadian citizen is that citizenship by descent was limited in 2009 to the 1st generation born abroad, and you were not already a Canadian citizen at that time.
In summary, if your father was eligible to make a delayed registration of birth abroad (see the source you gave above) and if he had done so, you would be a Canadian citizen today. Assuming he did not, it's too late for him to do so now. Your citizenship status has nothing to do with any decision you made or could have made. It was determined by your father's citizenship status at the time of your birth.
Here is your situation in more detail:
Grandfather: born in Canada before 1947, but moved at some point before 1963 to the USA. Your grandfather would have been a Canadian citizen as of January 1,1947 IF he had not taken U.S. citizenship before that date. If he did not become a U.S. citizen before 1977, then he would never have lost his Canadian citizenship. If he did lose his citizenship by taking U.S. citizenship before 1977, it was restored to him in 2009 (or 2015, if he became a U.S. citizen before 1947).
Father: born in the USA in 1963. If his father had not taken U.S. citizenship before 1963, your father could have been registered as a Canadian citizen. However, he would then have had to take another step in his early 20s of filing to retain his Canadian citizenship and divesting himself of his U.S. citizenship. If he did neither of those things, he was given yet another chance to be a Canadian citizen, which was to make a delayed registration of birth abroad between 1977 and 2004. If, however, your grandfather had become a U.S. citizen before 1963, your father was not born to a Canadian citizen and could not have been registered. In 2009 (or possibly 2015), your father became a Canadian citizen because of changes to the Citizenship Act.
You: born in the USA in 1998. If your father had been a Canadian citizen at the time of your birth, you would be also. All you would have had to do was retain at age 28, but since that was eliminated in 2009, it wouldn't have affected you. The reason you are not a Canadian citizen is that citizenship by descent was limited in 2009 to the 1st generation born abroad, and you were not already a Canadian citizen at that time.
In summary, if your father was eligible to make a delayed registration of birth abroad (see the source you gave above) and if he had done so, you would be a Canadian citizen today. Assuming he did not, it's too late for him to do so now. Your citizenship status has nothing to do with any decision you made or could have made. It was determined by your father's citizenship status at the time of your birth.
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As I said before, those of the second and subsequent generations that had successfully obtained their Canadian Citizenship certificates and became citizens before April 17, 2009 get to keep it. Those that did not make that deadline of the second and subsequent generations are no longer eligible for citizenship by descent because of the first generation limit enacted by the legislation on April 17, 2009.
The only way you would have been granted citizenship before 2009 is if your father was also a Canadian citizen (i.e.: had already gotten his citizenship certificate) when you were born, and then had applied for your citizenship certificate. I'm sorry to hear that you think it is unfair that you were not given the chance to apply because you were a minor and did not know about the law, but in the eyes of the government, the parent is responsible for the well-being of the child. Even today, a parent or guardian is responsible for filling out and signing their child's citizenship application, if the child is under the age of 14. Don't take this as setback though; now that you are an adult and if you still want to be a Canadian citizen, you can apply to immigrate and follow the path to citizenship by naturalizing in Canada.
No, that does not apply to you. Again, your father had to be a Canadian citizen before you were born for you to qualify for citizenship by descent. FYI, Section 8 is what second and subsequent generation citizens by descent have to do to retain their citizenship before the age of 28, otherwise they lose it:
"Citizens born abroad
8 Where a person who was born outside Canada after February 14, 1977 is a citizen for the reason that at the time of his birth one of his parents was a citizen by virtue of paragraph 3(1)(b) or (e), that person ceases to be a citizen on attaining the age of twenty-eight years unless that person
- (a) makes application to retain his citizenship; and
- (b) registers as a citizen and either resides in Canada for a period of at least one year immediately preceding the date of his application or establishes a substantial connection with Canada."
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All true with (sorry) one minor clarification: there was only one requirement re: the OP's father, which was that he be a Canadian citizen when the OP was born. The easiest way the father could have achieved this was by making a delayed registration of birth abroad before 2004. (Delayed registrations were retroactive and negated the original obligation to renounce the non-Canadian citizenship.) The OP's father did not have to register his son's birth or apply for a citizenship certificate for his son. If the father was a Canadian citizen in 1998, the son would have inherited citizenship from him, and that status would not have ended in 2009. (The 2009 changes didn't take citizenship away from anyone who already had it.) Therefore, the OP could apply for proof of his status (a citizenship certificate) today, if the father had been Canadian.
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Ah OK, so it is as I wrote to you in my last PM. Thanks again
.I thought delayed registration ended in 2004. Typo?
Yes, a typo! Thanks for catching it; it has been corrected.Ah OK, so it is as I wrote to you in my last PM. Thanks again
I thought delayed registration ended in 2004. Typo?
I believe you. But, Canadian citizenship by descent isn't based on a grandparent (or even a long line of ancestors) being born in Canada. It is based on being born to a Canadian-citizen parent. In other words, it's your father's status (specifically in the year 1998) that is important, not your grandfather's status (though your father's status is dependent on his father's status). It may sound confusing, but it all boils down to one question: was your father a Canadian citizen when you were born?
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Hi there! My grandfather was also born in Canada. He was born in 1924 in Ontario and moved to Detroit with his parents when he was very young. He fought in WWII and was offered US citizenship then, so he became one probably around 1942. My mother was born in 1955 in Washington DC, and I don't know whether they ever registered proof of her birth abroad. Would she still be able to apply for proof of citizenship or is it not worth it? I'm not sure if my grandfather gave up his Canadian citizenship at the time he became at US citizen, but would the 2009 changes nullify that, giving my mom citizenship?
From what I've learned, it looks like myself (and my 2 siblings) would not qualify due to being born in the 2nd generation (all of us were born in the US before 1990) because my mother would have become a citizen in 2009, correct?
From what I've learned, it looks like myself (and my 2 siblings) would not qualify due to being born in the 2nd generation (all of us were born in the US before 1990) because my mother would have become a citizen in 2009, correct?