Moving back to Canada with my wife and 2 kids

[Marcodisalvo4]

I am a Canadian Citizen who is living in the US. My wife and 2 kids are American. I am moving back home to Canada and I need to know each step that I must take to get them into the country and make sure that they have health insurance as my kids are 8 months and 2 years old.

I am confused with the process at this point. Can my kids get Canadian Citizenship right away and my wife would have to get a permanent resident card to start and then after 3 years get citizenship?

Basically what I am looking for is what steps must I take now while living in the US to make sure that they are covered when I move home in July?

Any help given is much appreciated.

Thank you,

 

[PMM]

Hi

I am a Canadian Citizen who is living in the US. My wife and 2 kids are American. I am moving back home to Canada and I need to know each step that I must take to get them into the country and make sure that they have health insurance as my kids are 8 months and 2 years old.

I am confused with the process at this point. Can my kids get Canadian Citizenship right away and my wife would have to get a permanent resident card to start and then after 3 years get citizenship?

Basically what I am looking for is what steps must I take now while living in the US to make sure that they are covered when I move home in July?

Any help given is much appreciated.

Thank you,

1. Assuming that you were a Canadian citizen at the time of the children's birth and you were born in Canada, then they are Canadian citizens. So you have to apply for proof of Canadian citizenship.
see: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/proof.asp Since the processing time is quite long, after you have applied for proof then you can apply for a Canadian passport for the children. See: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2009/ob154.asp
2. You will have to sponsor your spouse and as a citizen, you can do it outside Canada. You have left the time a little short though. The application and instructions are here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp Note the children are NOT included in the sponsorship, they are listed on the IMM 5406 only. You will have to include a statement with the sponsorship and application what plans you have made for returning to Canada, i.e. employment, accommodation, schooling.
3. Depending on the province you are moving too, there is a up to 3 months waiting period for Medical Insurance. So you will have to buy separate medical insurance to cover the waiting period.

 

[Marcodisalvo4]

Hi PMM,

Thank you for that feedback. I do realize that the process will take a while but can I move back to Canada with my wife and kids while waiting for all of that information and will they still be able to get health insurance, go to school etc....

I see that the Citizenship Certificate can take 10 months for the kids. Is there any way to get them a passport before I get the certificate?

As for my wife, Do I need to apply for the PR beforehand or can I just wait to get home and then get everything completed then? She will not have to work for the first year anyways but I just want to make sure that she can get insurance through the province of Ontario.

Thank you,

 

[matthewc]

You won't be able to get them passports before you have proof of citizenship.

For the kids, if you can satisfy and immigration officer at the border that they are citizens, they will be allowed in as citizens, even if you don't have the citizenship certificate / Canadian passports for them yet. I'd suggest having with you at the border:

1. A copy of the applications for proof of their citizenship that you have already filed.

2. Proof of your own citizenship, i.e. Canadian birth certificate, passport, or citizenship certificate that shows your were born in Canada or acquired citizenship before the kids were born.

3. Their birth certificates.

...that should get the kids in OK (as citizens, they have a right to enter Canada, the only issue is satisfying the IO that they are in fact citizens).

You, and the kids, will all need private health insurance to cover the wait period after you arrive, and you may have issues getting the kids OHIP if you don't have Canadian government issued proof that they are citizens. I'm not sure how OHIP deals with this.

As for your wife, I'd definitely recommend you start the process now, not after you re-enter Canada. If you do that, you'll be dealing with a situation of dual intent where she - as a foreign national - wishes to visit as a temporary resident while waiting for an application for permanent residence to be processed. I'd suggest you read here and here about how to appoach that.

As a visitor, I don't believe your wife will be able to get OHIP until her PR application is finalised.

Definitely get the applications for proof of citizenship for the kids, and also the sponsorship application for your wife, in now (take note of the important pointers PMM gave - that will all make sense when you look through the forms).

 

[RobsLuv]

As a visitor, I don't believe your wife will be able to get OHIP until her PR application is finalised.

That's right - as a visitor, your wife will not be eligible for OHIP. Also, she will have to have three months of residency in Ontario after she has permanent status before she's eligible to apply for OHIP.

 

[heatherusa]

We are in the exact same situation - I am a born Cdn citizen and my husband and daughter are US born citizens. I am applying for citizenship for my daughter but if it doesnt arrive on time I will rely on the fact that she is (a) able to travel with me to Canada as an American citizen with a valid US passport, (b) that I will have proof of the application for citizenship to Canada for her, and (c) the sponsorship and application for PR for my husband. We have been married for 12 years so I am hoping that our application will be quite smooth. We sent off fingerprint to the FBI the other day and I anticipate that to be one of our most troublesome processes as that may take the longest time.

 

[abedelia]

matthewc, those two links about being a visitor while waiting for PR are good information. I just wanted to relate my experience about that, Marcodisalvo4. I think the issue of dual-intent is often misunderstood. I entered Canada with my Canadian husband (I am a US citizen) and all of our worldly belongings and had not put in a PR application yet. I had some proof that I would not be searching for employment (a job in the US that I would work for from home) and explained that I would be putting in a PR application ASAP. I was issued a visitor record (which I have since renewed without complications) and have left and re-entered Canada alone and with my husband many times while I wait out my PR (I travel a lot for work). I do wish I had started my PR application before we moved so that I would not have to live here as a visitor for so long--it is somewhat stressful because: I could be denied re-entry to Canada at any time; I effectively only have catastrophic health insurance coverage from my US health insurance provider while I'm in Canada, although I can go back to the US for more routine things if need be and I could always buy health insurance in Canada if it were a major issue, AND, let's face it, even the cost of that would be offset by the fact that as a non-resident I don't have the privilege of paying Canadian income taxes quite yet! ; if I lost my US job, I would not be able to work here. So it's not ideal to do the application after you move, but as a US citizen I have had absolutely no trouble doing it this way and have never encountered any issues at the border (knock on wood). Just my experience, your mileage may vary! Good luck!!!

 

[Jeff Whitman]

Can Someone help me? I am a born Canadian with Australian Citizen. My wife has dual also. We were looking at moving back to Canada in October with our two girls ages 2 & 4 due to family matters. At the moment we hadn't applied for their citizenship as we hadn't planned on moving back so soon. I am finding it hard to get any answers as to... are we able to arrive into Canada on their Australian passport & apply for citizenship in the country? Everything we read says it will take 10 to 18 months to receive proof of citizenship. and we don't have that kind of time with my Dad being sick and all. Any help on this matter would be wonderful Thank You. Jeff Whitman

 

[can_usa_97]

I filed for my kids Certificates of Citizenship on July 13th it arrived in Syndey, NS.
On July 30th I got their cards in the mail!

I"m not sure why things moved so fast.... other than I wrote a letter and had my husband (the Canadian born citizen (I & the kids are American born) signed it, asking to expedite, that we were intending on moving in October or November of 2010 and it would be beneficial to their health care to be covered in Ontario right away (well, in 3 months instead of 13 from filing - which would have put them at August 2011).

II say it doesn't hurt to ask to expedite for Certs of Citizenship - it worked for me - WAY faster than I had expected