NB Vital Statistics Office can't find birth certificate

[pbowers]

Greetings from a new member! I'm a US citizen, but my dad was born in New Brunswick in 1920. I want to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship by Descent, but the NB Vital Statistics Office can't find his birth certificate. I have his baptismal certificate, immigration records from when the family moved to the US in 1925, and US Army records stating his place of birth as Canada--but I'm wondering if all of these combined will make up for the lack of a birth certificate in the application process. Does anyone have any thoughts, experiences, or advice to share?

 

[hawk39]

Just a couple of far-fetched thoughts:

When he was born, did he have a different name that you don't know of? Maybe he was adopted and given the name he has now by his new family, but his birth was registered with his pre-adopted birth name. You can try searching the NB records here.

Does his baptismal certificate list his place of birth as Canada? Is the church listed on the certificate still operational? Maybe you can try to contact them to search their records, then they could send you an affidavit saying that he was born in Canada. This is a long stretch so I think you should contact IRCC to see if this would be an acceptable substitute before attempting though.

I don't think the US immigration and army records would help you out unfortunately. Without that birth certificate, you don't have verifiable proof that he was born in Canada.

I think you should contact IRCC to see if there is any other way to prove your father's citizenship, or to consult a Canadian lawyer (perhaps the law group that is hosting this forum).

 

[pbowers]

Just a couple of far-fetched thoughts:

When he was born, did he have a different name that you don't know of? Maybe he was adopted and given the name he has now by his new family, but his birth was registered with his pre-adopted birth name. You can try searching the NB records here.

Does his baptismal certificate list his place of birth as Canada? Is the church listed on the certificate still operational? Maybe you can try to contact them to search their records, then they could send you an affidavit saying that he was born in Canada. This is a long stretch so I think you should contact IRCC to see if this would be an acceptable substitute before attempting though.

I don't think the US immigration and army records would help you out unfortunately. Without that birth certificate, you don't have verifiable proof that he was born in Canada.

I think you should contact IRCC to see if there is any other way to prove your father's citizenship, or to consult a Canadian lawyer (perhaps the law group that is hosting this forum).

 

[pbowers]

Thanks for the reply! I'm sure of the name, and Vital Stats said that they do check variations in spelling and forms. The baptismal certificate is very detailed and does specify the city and date in which he was born, and the church is a large one that's still very much alive. They actually sent me a new copy of the certificate with the their official seal, so I hope that helps.
Do you happen to have contact info for IRCC? I wasn't able to find it on their website. Thanks again.

 

[hawk39]

You can either use the webform, or call Global Affairs Canada at (613) 944-4000 to get transferred to IRCC directly. Since you are calling from outside Canada, you can not use the toll-free number.

 

[pbowers]

Darn! The number for Global Affairs won't transfer a call from outside Canada, and the choices on the webform don't include my situation--But I'll give it a try anyway. Thanks.