Mother born in Canada son born in USA what paperwork do I need to travel?

[Django_]

Hello,

My wife was born in Canada and my son was born a couple of weeks ago in the States, which I understand make him Canadian at birth. We hope to make a trip to Ontario and back in late 2017.

Should I go ahead and get him a Canadian proof of citizenship, a passport (and I presume a social insurance number?) now, before we go? Or can I just use his US paperwork to travel now, and if he ever decides later in life to move to, or work in, Canada to then apply for all the above mentioned paperwork?

Thanks very much!

 

[PMM]

Hi

Hello,

My wife was born in Canada and my son was born a couple of weeks ago in the States, which I understand make him Canadian at birth. We hope to make a trip to Ontario and back in late 2017.

Should I go ahead and get him a Canadian proof of citizenship, a passport (and I presume a social insurance number?) now, before we go? Or can I just use his US paperwork to travel now, and if he ever decides later in life to move to, or work in, Canada to then apply for all the above mentioned paperwork?

Thanks very much!

1. I suggest you get his proof of citizenship now, as you never know how the Citizenship rules may change in the future: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/proof.asp

 

[Mthornt]

I had someone in my family that was in a similar situation, and I will tell you that if possible, get paperwork for both US and Canada as to have dual citizenship established. It may not seem like a big deal now, but it may become one later. You never know how rules may change in the future, especially with the new administration... sometimes timing is everything

 

[Django_]

So if I have proof of citizenship do I also need a Canadian passport for him to enter into Canada? Or can I just show proof of citizenship at the border while he is under 16.

 

[PMM]

Hi

So if I have proof of citizenship do I also need a Canadian passport for him to enter into Canada? Or can I just show proof of citizenship at the border while he is under 16.

1. For him to enter as a Canadian citizen, he will require a passport, since the presentation certificate for proof of citizenship, can't be used as a travel document.

 

[andrewhl]

Hello,

My wife was born in Canada and my son was born a couple of weeks ago in the States, which I understand make him Canadian at birth. We hope to make a trip to Ontario and back in late 2017.

Should I go ahead and get him a Canadian proof of citizenship, a passport (and I presume a social insurance number?) now, before we go? Or can I just use his US paperwork to travel now, and if he ever decides later in life to move to, or work in, Canada to then apply for all the above mentioned paperwork?

Thanks very much!

I have a similar situation. My wife is Canadian citizen and our kid will be born in the States if we got stuck for more than we planned to because of my business down south.

As far as I understand, if you are going to Canada in rush, you can simply across the border by land using his US long form birth certificate
if by air, you need his US passport.
if you have a flight ticket with your kid's name on it in two weeks, you can go to local passport agency ask for urgent passport service. you can get your kid's passport in 48 hours.
SSN is not required to apply a US passport if your kid does not have one. but if you are not in hurry, you can always wait till SSN arrived.

CIC website states that for American-Canadian, they do not need to show Canadian passport to enter Canada. Other dual national citizens need to show Canadian passport at the boder while flying to Canada. So I think US passport would be good for you right now.

You can either apply for your kid's Canadian citzen certificate in Canada while he is in Canada
or you can apply in US while he is in US.
the process time on CIC website is 5 months

Of course, I recommend you do the paperwork as soon as possible. It is ridiculous how long it will take for American-born Canadian newborns to apply for their Canadian citizen proof. I know US oversea newborn only spend around one month to get their US passport sorted out.

Hope this helps you

 

[JGK]

I had someone in my family that was in a similar situation, and I will tell you that if possible, get paperwork for both US and Canada as to have dual citizenship established. It may not seem like a big deal now, but it may become one later. You never know how rules may change in the future, especially with the new administration... sometimes timing is everything

Plus, if you have the childs dual citizenship established now it will provide them with increased options in future life (freedom of movement, education and work wise).

 

[andrewhl]

Plus, if you have the childs dual citizenship established now it will provide them with increased options in future life (freedom of movement, education and work wise).

I agree with you
A lot of Canadians don't realize that a US-Can Dual citizenship will bring their kids much easier life in the future:
1. Their kids will be considered as domestic applicants when applying for US universities, not international students as regular Canadians.(Although their kids still needs to pay for out of state tuition unless they can let their kids attend US high schools for a certain period of time)
2. Their kids won't need to worry about all the headache for applying F1 student status/ TN/H1B work authorization