Spousal sponsorship is approved, but no answer yet on proof of citizenship for our kids

[Trevor 49]

I hope I am posting this in the right category, I searched older chats trying to find an answer to this but didn’t have any luck.
My question is this: I married a Filipino lady and we have 2 children together. My wife has been approved for travel to Canada under the spousal/family visa, but I applied at the same time for proof of citizenship for our 2 kids and it is not yet approved. Surely they don’t expect my wife to come without our children. I am a Canadian citizen from birth, my wife has just received COPR (confirmation of permanent residence). Our children are 2 years old and 5 years old, can they come here with there mother? Or maybe there’s a temporary application I could submit in the meantime while waiting for proof of citizenship?
thanks in advance
Cheers
Trevor

 

[armoured]

I hope I am posting this in the right category, I searched older chats trying to find an answer to this but didn’t have any luck.
My question is this: I married a Filipino lady and we have 2 children together. My wife has been approved for travel to Canada under the spousal/family visa, but I applied at the same time for proof of citizenship for our 2 kids and it is not yet approved. Surely they don’t expect my wife to come without our children. I am a Canadian citizen from birth, my wife has just received COPR (confirmation of permanent residence). Our children are 2 years old and 5 years old, can they come here with there mother? Or maybe there’s a temporary application I could submit in the meantime while waiting for proof of citizenship?
thanks in advance
Cheers
Trevor

How long ago did you apply for the children's citizenship?

At any rate, you should be applying for passports for them. You'll have to search, there is info on govt websites about how to apply for 'temporary' passports for children that are citizens and don't yet have proof of citizenship (i.e. born abroad to citizens).

 

[scylla]

I hope I am posting this in the right category, I searched older chats trying to find an answer to this but didn’t have any luck.
My question is this: I married a Filipino lady and we have 2 children together. My wife has been approved for travel to Canada under the spousal/family visa, but I applied at the same time for proof of citizenship for our 2 kids and it is not yet approved. Surely they don’t expect my wife to come without our children. I am a Canadian citizen from birth, my wife has just received COPR (confirmation of permanent residence). Our children are 2 years old and 5 years old, can they come here with there mother? Or maybe there’s a temporary application I could submit in the meantime while waiting for proof of citizenship?
thanks in advance
Cheers
Trevor

Proof of citizenship is taking around a year at this time to the best of my knowledge. When did you submit their applications?

As suggested above, the best course of action is to apply for temporary passports for your children. See here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-passports/travel-documents-non-canadians/temporary-passport.html

 

[Trevor 49]

How long ago did you apply for the children's citizenship?

At any rate, you should be applying for passports for them. You'll have to search, there is info on govt websites about how to apply for 'temporary' passports for children that are citizens and don't yet have proof of citizenship (i.e. born abroad to citizens).

It will be 15 months ago next week that I applied for all. When I check the status online it still only says that the kids papers have been received. There not being processed yet.

 

[Trevor 49]

Proof of citizenship is taking around a year at this time to the best of my knowledge. When did you submit their applications?

As suggested above, the best course of action is to apply for temporary passports for your children. See here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-passports/travel-documents-non-canadians/temporary-passport.html

Thank you very much, I really appreciate your guys help! I searched on google and in this forum, but I honestly didn’t know what to search for. This is great, thanks again

 

[armoured]

Thank you very much, I really appreciate your guys help! I searched on google and in this forum, but I honestly didn’t know what to search for. This is great, thanks again

The search function is not very useful here, at least can be hard to find stuff even if you know it's there, I was looking for a post of my own with a good link and couldn't find it even though I know I wrote it.

So: contact the consular section of the Canadian embassy. Don't get hung up on the terminology of temporary passport or full passport etc. They might call it something else, or have a specific form that corresopnds to your case.

Explain your issue in simple terms: your children ARE Canadian citizens (by birth). You have applied for PROOF of Canadian citizenship, which is taking a long time. (I call this presumptive citizenship - not a real term). To travel to Canada, they need Canadian passports/travel documents, and they need to travel with their parents. Explain your situation and what you need and most likely the consular people will figure out what they need to do.

The consular people will know what to do - they issue a passport which is temporary because you don't have the proof of citizenship yet. But as long as proof of parentage and your own citizenship (including that you are born in Canada or naturalized, i.e. not second-gen Canadian) is clear, there won't really be any doubt about the citizenship of the children - or at least not much.

(Note, not all the consular people are equally helpful and competent, and - of course- some of them are more concerned about fraud etc than others. But for the most part they will try to help, eventually, and you'll get there. Don't get angry, don't get defensive, and if some of their requirements seem weird to you, just try to work with them. Just tell the truth and be persistent.)

 

[armoured]

Sorry, one additional point - when you applied to sponsor your spouse, you would have provided information (and copies probably) about their application for citizenship certificates. Keep that handy, that info will help you convince the consular people all in order.

And before you ask: I don't know how to get the consular people on the phone. Getting a human being is the hardest part.

 

[MJSPARV]

I second all the advice about calling the consulate near you etc. I'd also add that you might call CBSA and ask what the options are for entering with your kids on Filipino passports at the land border. We're also in the proof of citizenship is taking forever situation and they let our daughter into Canada as a citizen twice with her US passport, birth certificate showing her Canadian parent listed, and a copy of her dad's passport. Both times it was at a land border, and I don't know if it made a difference that it was a US passport or not, but it would be worth calling CBSA, explaining the situation, and asking. For what it's worth, the first the time the CBSA officer told us that she could ALWAYS enter Canada as a citizen with that trio of documents, and when we had to call CBSA to ask about something else (importing a car from the US) they were actually easy to get ahold of on the phone and really helpful. Good luck! I'm not sure why citizenship certificates for children born to citizens outside Canada are such a slog to get these days, but I know exactly your frustration!

 

[MJSPARV]

I second all the advice about calling the consulate near you etc. I'd also add that you might call CBSA and ask what the options are for entering with your kids on Filipino passports at the land border. We're also in the proof of citizenship is taking forever situation and they let our daughter into Canada as a citizen twice with her US passport, birth certificate showing her Canadian parent listed, and a copy of her dad's passport. Both times it was at a land border, and I don't know if it made a difference that it was a US passport or not, but it would be worth calling CBSA, explaining the situation, and asking. For what it's worth, the first the time the CBSA officer told us that she could ALWAYS enter Canada as a citizen with that trio of documents, and when we had to call CBSA to ask about something else (importing a car from the US) they were actually easy to get ahold of on the phone and really helpful. Good luck! I'm not sure why citizenship certificates for children born to citizens outside Canada are such a slog to get these days, but I know exactly your frustration!

I should add that you and anyone else reading this should check with CBSA before trying this. We didn't know it was an option before crossing - we expected she'd be admitted as a US citizen and thus visitor and we'd apply to extend her visitor status if necessary. Her being admitted as a citizen was a surprise

 

[armoured]

Both times it was at a land border, and I don't know if it made a difference that it was a US passport or not,

I am 85% certain it's because it was at a land border.

The issue coming from elsewhere: child will need visa or ETA, and both must be applied for in advance. And it will mostly be impossible to get - particularly visa instead of ETA - either if the child has a claim to Canadian citizenship (impossible without lying, anyway, and that's not recommended).

 

[marcello81]

We applied in September 2020 for proof of citizenship for children born abroad. One month ago we received the confirmation that they have started the process. So it takes a very long time.

 

[Trevor 49]

The search function is not very useful here, at least can be hard to find stuff even if you know it's there, I was looking for a post of my own with a good link and couldn't find it even though I know I wrote it.

So: contact the consular section of the Canadian embassy. Don't get hung up on the terminology of temporary passport or full passport etc. They might call it something else, or have a specific form that corresopnds to your case.

Explain your issue in simple terms: your children ARE Canadian citizens (by birth). You have applied for PROOF of Canadian citizenship, which is taking a long time. (I call this presumptive citizenship - not a real term). To travel to Canada, they need Canadian passports/travel documents, and they need to travel with their parents. Explain your situation and what you need and most likely the consular people will figure out what they need to do.

The consular people will know what to do - they issue a passport which is temporary because you don't have the proof of citizenship yet. But as long as proof of parentage and your own citizenship (including that you are born in Canada or naturalized, i.e. not second-gen Canadian) is clear, there won't really be any doubt about the citizenship of the children - or at least not much.

(Note, not all the consular people are equally helpful and competent, and - of course- some of them are more concerned about fraud etc than others. But for the most part they will try to help, eventually, and you'll get there. Don't get angry, don't get defensive, and if some of their requirements seem weird to you, just try to work with them. Just tell the truth and be persistent.)

Thanks for your help, I just messaged the consulate in Cebu, it’s really great how you guys take the time to give such great advice. Thank you sir