Resuming my citizenship

[jesray2004]

Hi,
My name is Jessica . I was born in Ottawa in 1973 to Indian parents who were working in Canada at that time. In the year 1997 I gave up my Canadian citizenship & took-up an Indian one instead, the reason being is I was getting married & had no intentions of coming back to Canada.
A few years down I realized It was a wrong decision taken by me I would like to get my Canadian citizenship back. I visited the Canadian High Commission here in Delhi & they have advised me that since I gave up my Canadian citizenship, I would need to go to Canada & stay there without being a liability to the government for a year & only then I would be able to get my citizenship back.
I feel that since I was born there it is my birth right & I should not be hassled & have to wait for so long. I was a born Canadian & stayed one for 23 yrs of my life. I want to give my kids the best & feel they are missing out on the good standard of living that Canada offers.
I would like to thank you for all your advice & assistance in advance & hope to hear from you soon.
Regards
Jessica

 

[Leon]

Re: reactivating my citizenship

So the high commission already told you what to do. If you disagree, you can ask an immigration lawyer for advice but apart from that, I am not sure what anybody here can do for you.

Yes, being Canadian was your birth right but you chose to give it up yourself. You were over the age of majority when you did this. It was your decision. Nobody forced you to do it.

To become a citizen again, you can find the requirements here:

Resuming citizenship: Who can apply
General eligibility

To be eligible to resume your Canadian citizenship, you must meet the following requirements.

You must:

* have been a Canadian citizen
* have become a permanent resident of Canada after you lost your Canadian citizenship and
* have lived in Canada as a permanent resident for at least one year immediately before you apply.

You see, it is not just a requirement that you live in Canada for a year. You also need to become a permanent resident. This means that it is just as hard for you to immigrate to Canada as anybody else. You will have to go to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp and find an immigration class you qualify to apply under and work on that application in order to get permanent residency. After you get permanent residency, you only need to live in Canada for one year in order to apply for citizenship. For everybody else, it would be 3 years.

 

[scylla]

Leon has outlined the process clearly and correctly. There's no short cut to the rules.