My wife's sponsorship is complete. What do I do with my child?Its dangerous here

[tlgdesign]

I'm currently living in Iraq and working here as a Canadian expat.

I got married in Baghdad and had a child (who is now 3). I applied for PR for my wife and for the citizenship card for my son.

Now that my wife's application is complete, CIC say my son's can take another year or so. What makes matters significantly worse is that this place (which was more dangerous than what I'm used to in Canada to begin with) is turning into a hotbed of violence and sectarian conflict. With the recent kidnappings of foreigners and especially after the murder of American journalist James Foley, I don't feel safe anymore and just want to get out of here.

But I can't. Technically me and my wife can, but obviously that's not feasible if our son can't come with us.

What do I do?

How can I get my son, who is legally Canadian out of here and to Canada as soon as possible?

 

[tink23]

Senior members, is there an emergency passport he can get for his son?
Perhaps applying for a visitor visa if there is no way to expedite or get an emergency passport in a situation which is potentially dangerous?

 

[tink23]

I'm trying to search through the citizenship page, and the only thing I found for an emergency citizenship, the applicant must be an adult and has been a PR who lives at least 1095 days in Canada. I haven't been able to find anything that seems to relate to your situation with your son. I'm not sure if there is anything possible to do but to wait for it to go through. Hopefully a senior member will have some options for you.

If you feel it is unsafe, perhaps it is best to travel to a country that you feel is safer that your sone can do on an Iraqi passport until his Canadian citizenship is received.

 

[steaky]

Can you bring your family to a safe nearby country to take refuge while getting your child's Canadian passport?

 

[rhcohen2014]

is there a canadian embassy where you are? perhaps they will be able to help expedite the passport or citizenship certificate? even though cic suggests it can take a year for a citizenship certificate to be issued, MANY people have received it in far less time.

stay safe and good luck!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

How can I get my son, who is legally Canadian out of here and to Canada as soon as possible?

You need to apply for a facilitation visa for your child.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/visa/types/facilitation.asp

Some circumstances that might warrant the issuance of a facilitation visa include the following:

- for presumptive Canadians under the age of 18 who are coming to Canada either to reside with their Canadian parent(s) or for humanitarian and compassionate reasons as determined by the visa officer. The person must also be in possession of a valid foreign national passport or travel document in order for the facilitation visa to be issued. Satisfactory evidence (a Canadian birth certificate, citizenship certificate, etc.) must be presented to prove that at least one parent is Canadian and the visa officer must be satisfied of the parent-child relationship.
.

 

[on-hold]

How is it possible that this takes a year? My child was born abroad, and got a US citizenship certificate within less than 8 weeks -- and, because of instability, I had to apply in a different country than the one he was born and lived in. Is it because Canada has a less developed network of embassies?

 

[inexplored]

I am sorry to hear about your situation. When I applied for citizenship certificate for my son born abroad. The Consulate I had been dealing with gave me an acknowledgement receipt and said IF I or my spouse is traveling abroad. They can apply for a LIMITED VALIDITY PASSPORT (LVP). It is valid for 2 years maximum.
What I had to do was to made all the travel arrangements. Provided proof of my travel (Including paid ticket with invoice) and they issued me a passport in 4-8 weeks (And that's when I had my sons citizenship certificate application was under process at the time).

Contact nearest Consulate or the High Commission and you shall be fine and ready to fly with your child in few weeks. Hope this helps.

 

[tlgdesign]

If you feel it is unsafe, perhaps it is best to travel to a country that you feel is safer that your sone can do on an Iraqi passport until his Canadian citizenship is received.

I'm not in direct danger, so it doesn't make sense to go to another country right now because its just not feasible for me and my family to live in abroad without any sort of income and potentially having to wait for a year for the processing of my child's application.

Lol, the last thing i would want is to live at a refugee camp waiting for my Canadian son's papers to process, but obviously if the situation becomes worse I will have to seriously consider my options of moving out of here regardless of any hardship. Better safe than sorry right.

There is no embassy here, and i've been trying to contact the nearest one (in Jordan), but to no avail today.

I will follow up with the embassy tomorrow. They are hard to get a hold of. I'm also researching all available options.

 

[tlgdesign]

You need to apply for a facilitation visa for your child.

I've read about it, and it is one of the options available. Has anyone applied for the facilitation visa and have experience in it? As mentioned, I've read about it on this forum, but did not find anyone who's actually applied for and received one.

what are the processing times and what do i need?

 

[tlgdesign]

How is it possible that this takes a year? My child was born abroad, and got a US citizenship certificate within less than 8 weeks -- and, because of instability, I had to apply in a different country than the one he was born and lived in. Is it because Canada has a less developed network of embassies?

Canadian citizenship takes 10 months average to process, but can take up to 30.

 

[tlgdesign]

I am sorry to hear about your situation. When I applied for citizenship certificate for my son born abroad. The Consulate I had been dealing with gave me an acknowledgement receipt and said IF I or my spouse is traveling abroad. They can apply for a LIMITED VALIDITY PASSPORT (LVP). It is valid for 2 years maximum.
What I had to do was to made all the travel arrangements. Provided proof of my travel (Including paid ticket with invoice) and they issued me a passport in 4-8 weeks (And that's when I had my sons citizenship certificate application was under process at the time).

Contact nearest Consulate or the High Commission and you shall be fine and ready to fly with your child in few weeks. Hope this helps.

Hi,

currently the two options that are available are facilitation visa and LVP.

Passport Canada has a policy whereby a limited validity passport may be issued to children under the age of two who have never been issued a proof of citizenship; provided they are satisfied the child is a Canadian citizen. Therefore, persons over two years of age will require a proof of citizenship before a Canadian passport can be issued; however, current processing times for overseas proofs may extend to more than a year.

Based on this, the LVP can take up to a year since my child is above two years of age.

How old was your child and how long did it take for the whole application to process?

I'm stuck between facilitation visa and LVP (are there any other options?) and I'm not getting through to anyone from the nearest embassy that can help me. Right now I'm relying mainly on this forum to point me in the right direction. And i honestly thank everyone for their concern and efforts.

 

[on-hold]

Canadian citizenship takes 10 months average to process, but can take up to 30.

Not Canadian citizenship by birth, which is the situation here. A child born in Canada to Canadian parents can get a birth certificate within a month. Here, all he has to do is demonstrate that the child is his and he is Canadian, and how he received his citizenship. Does the Embassy not handle it?