Moving back with British family

[PatriciaT]

Hi! I’ve been in the uk for 5 years and in mid/late May I am moving back to Canada with my British husband and British born two year old. My husband is a skilled professional and his work is sponsoring his work visa (or permit? Not sure the difference in terminology). My British son is eligible for citizenship, but even with a Fast track I am not sure it will be here in time. Will he be covered under my husband’s work visa? I am just considering planning to apply for his citizenship/passport when we get to Canada, but I am worried about issues that may arise when entering Canada if we declare that we are moving and not just visiting. They both already have an eta, as we travelled to Canada over Christmas.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Rob_TO]

How exactly is his employer getting him a work permit, I assume it has some operation in Canada that is securing him the LMIA needed for a closed work permit?

For your son, he's a Canadian citizen whether he has the proof of it or not. So if you just fly with his eTA and UK passport like you did previously, once in Canada you can show proof of his citizenship (like his birth certificate and your own proof that you were born in Canada), and hopefully CBSA accepts that to allow him in to enter. Else even with just his UK passport, he should be allowed entry with no problem.

I think there is an expedited process you can use for quick proof of citizenship for travel purposes, but not entirely sure.

 

[PatriciaT]

It’s an express entry one. He’s a professional in a multi natural pharma company. Upon looking it up, I think my son is covered. They are handling it all for us through their immigration lawyers. I just wanted to make sure about applying for express citizenship. I contacted to the consulate in England and they have said to apply for an express citizenship. I’m just wondering if I can get away with doing it from Canada/if there will be issues that way.

How exactly is his employer getting him a work permit, I assume it has some operation in Canada that is securing him the LMIA needed for a closed work permit?

For your son, he's a Canadian citizen whether he has the proof of it or not. So if you just fly with his eTA and UK passport like you did previously, once in Canada you can show proof of his citizenship (like his birth certificate and your own proof that you were born in Canada), and hopefully CBSA accepts that to allow him in to enter. Else even with just his UK passport, he should be allowed entry with no problem.

I think there is an expedited process you can use for quick proof of citizenship for travel purposes, but not entirely sure.

 

[Rob_TO]

It’s an express entry one. He’s a professional in a multi natural pharma company.

Express entry is a way to apply for PR, which is completely different from a work visa/permit.

Going through express entry is unnecessary, as you could have just sponsored him for PR with a family class app while living in the UK.

However if he has an express entry app in progress, then once it's approved he will get COPR and will land as a PR when he gets to Canada. So no work permit would be needed.

If express entry app is not approved before then, he could just enter as a visitor but would be unable to work.

Upon looking it up, I think my son is covered. They are handling it all for us through their immigration lawyers. I just wanted to make sure about applying for express citizenship. I contacted to the consulate in England and they have said to apply for an express citizenship. I’m just wondering if I can get away with doing it from Canada/if there will be issues that way.

Your son can not be included in your husband's express entry app, since he's already a Canadian citizen. If they are including him as a dependent in the app, they are doing it all wrong. As soon as a visa officer sees he's Canadian by descent, he'd be removed from the app anyways.

If he can get to Canada with just his UK passport/eTA, it should not be an issue for him to enter. As I said, just have proof of your own birth in Canada and that he's your son.