Starting the Process - Child born outside of Canada in US to Canadian Parent

[PozitiveHope]

Hey Everyone,

My situation is a bit complicated.

My father was born in Canada however at the time was not issued a birth certificate but rather a baptismal certificate. He moved to US before he was 18 and ended up becoming a naturalized citizen after he was 18. At the time dual citizenship did not exist (not sure if it was due to US or Canadian laws) so he had to renounce his Canadian Citizenship. To his knowledge he doesn't know if he submitted in any formal paperwork to Canada showing this or it was just something done with the US out of formality.

Now catching up to the present.

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I am 26 years old and am interested in traveling to Canada to study. I'm also interested in becoming a Canadian Citizen and from what I gather, I might already be one. From what I have been reading I think right now the best bet is for my dad to get everything set with his papers first then for me to apply. We really don't know the status on his papers though so I guess the Canadian Citizenship Records Search would probably be the best tool to use and or Proof of Citizenship.

The process seems very complex and I fall under a very special category but hopefully if my dad did not formally renounce his citizenship then I would be eligible under the first generation law.. If he did renounce it formally is there any way for him to get that back since he was indeed born there?

1) How do we get baptismal certificate converted into a birth certificate ?
2) Do we submit "Proof of Citizenship" documents or "Search of Citizenship Records" ?
3) I understand Surname is the last name but would the given name be my first name only or both first and middle
4) Does anyone have a direct number that I would be able to talk to a live person at consulate? I'm in Southern California and both LA and San Diego seem to only be automated systems, was never able to get a hold of someone.
5) Does anyone know the process of the medical examination? I am HIV positive therefore it complicates things a little bit more however am on treatment and have private insurance here in US that covers my medication. Does anyone have a link or info surrounding immigrating to Canada when HIV positive? Is the medical exam only if seeking sponsorship/residency or would it also apply to me as well ?
6) Would I submit in "Stateless Persons born to Canadian Parent" documents when the time comes or "proof of citizenship"?

Where do I start this whole process? It seems very tedious but were willing to put in the work to get it taken care of and understand it will take a long time however just need to know more or less the best route to go about this to not delay things any longer than necessary.

I apologize for the long email however figured would be best to get everything out there from the get go so I know what we are looking at. Have a great week !

 

[alphazip]

Hi. Your case isn't really complicated, except (possibly) in regard to the baptismal certificate issue. First...a question: was your father born in Quebec? If so, baptismal certificates were commonly issued in Quebec instead of birth certificates until rather recently. If he was not born in Quebec, are you sure that your father's birth was not recorded by the province? If you are 26, that put's your father's birth in (perhaps) the 1950s/60s. It would be rare for a birth not to be recorded in Canada at that time.

If your father was born in Canada, you are a Canadian citizen. It doesn't matter that he renounced his citizenship to U.S. authorities (as everyone becoming a U.S. citizen had to do). You don't have to have a search made...your father does not have to apply first...and your HIV status doesn't matter. All you would do, once the baptismal/birth certificate issue is straightened out, is to apply for proof of Canadian citizenship: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/proof-how.asp

 

[PozitiveHope]

Hey Alphazip,

Yes my dad was born in Montreal Quebec in the 50's. Do you know if Canadian government would accept a baptismal certificate or it's mandatory that we get that converted to a birth certificate? If so do you know where I would contact possibly to get that done?

Thank you for the help

 

[alphazip]

Hey Alphazip,

Yes my dad was born in Montreal Quebec in the 50's. Do you know if Canadian government would accept a baptismal certificate or it's mandatory that we get that converted to a birth certificate? If so do you know where I would contact possibly to get that done?

Thank you for the help

Baptismal certificates are not accepted, but your father can get a birth certificate from the Quebec government. More info on that here: http://www.tribemagazine.com/board/tribe-main-forum/60201-if-you-were-born-province-quebec.html

After that, it's just a matter of sending your U.S. birth certificate and his Quebec one (originals or certified copies...but a notary in California cannot certify a birth certificate) along with the application for a Citizenship certificate.

 

[PozitiveHope]

Perfect Alpha thank you.

I contacted Covil Registrar for Quebec and have forms filled out. Two questions

1) For application it has Given Name, Usual Given Name, and Other Given Names.
- Say my fathers name is John Henry Pierre Hancock but in all his US documents it shows as John Henry Hancock. Would actual given name be the full name including surname ? Then usual given would be John Henry Hancock and other given names be Henry, Pierre ? He only goes by John and second middle name was simply a formality at time of his birth and only on file in Canada.

2) I mentioned earlier he was born in Montreal in the fifties. All he has is a paper baptismal certificate so we are applying to get his actual long form birth certificate. Does Canada already have his birth on file somewhere and by submitting application and fee they will look it up or is that something my grandmother would have had to do for him (declare his birth with government ? Or was it declared when he was born?) Hope that makes sense. I just want to make sure we are applying for the right thing. We are applying for a birth certificate and not declaring a birth. He attended almost through high school in Canada so I'm sure there has to be a record somewhere on file of his birth besides his baptismal certificate.

Please clarify when you get a chance. Those are the last two steps I need before starting process and sending everything off.

 

[alphazip]

Perfect Alpha thank you.

I contacted Covil Registrar for Quebec and have forms filled out. Two questions

1) For application it has Given Name, Usual Given Name, and Other Given Names.
- Say my fathers name is John Henry Pierre Hancock but in all his US documents it shows as John Henry Hancock. Would actual given name be the full name including surname ? Then usual given would be John Henry Hancock and other given names be Henry, Pierre ? He only goes by John and second middle name was simply a formality at time of his birth and only on file in Canada.

2) I mentioned earlier he was born in Montreal in the fifties. All he has is a paper baptismal certificate so we are applying to get his actual long form birth certificate. Does Canada already have his birth on file somewhere and by submitting application and fee they will look it up or is that something my grandmother would have had to do for him (declare his birth with government ? Or was it declared when he was born?) Hope that makes sense. I just want to make sure we are applying for the right thing. We are applying for a birth certificate and not declaring a birth. He attended almost through high school in Canada so I'm sure there has to be a record somewhere on file of his birth besides his baptismal certificate.

Please clarify when you get a chance. Those are the last two steps I need before starting process and sending everything off.

1) I looked at the form. I would suggest this:

Surname: Hancock
Usual Given Name: John
Other Given Names: Henry, Pierre

2) As the form states: "These documents show the information that appears in the original act contained in the register, spelled as therein, and not the information provided on the application for a certificate or a copy of an act. Furthermore, they are presented in the language in which the event was registered." So, what you are requesting is a copy of your father's birth record that is already on file.

If you are mailing in the application, it wouldn't hurt to attach a copy of the baptismal certificate.

Note that you can use a driver's license as photo ID OR proof of address, but not both. In other words, you need to pick two IDs from the list.

 

[PozitiveHope]

Well good news we received certified copy of my fathers long form birth certificate in mail today. Only thing I forgot is to order two of them . The original we received in mail has certified printed on the bottom. Is taking a photo copy of the entire birth certificate enough or we will have to request another certified original?

And just to clarify with both of our birth certificates and me filling out proof of citizenship application and submitting along with fees ext... Then I should be able to receive my citizenship certificate and after apply for Canadian passport as well? I was under impression that the stateless person born to Canadian parent form needed to be filled out from what I understood on another forum but the less paperwork the better . Just want to make sure it doesn't get rejected and I start all over.

Thanks for the help everyone and especially Alpha. You've really been a huge help in clarifying this process.

 

[alphazip]

Well good news we received certified copy of my fathers long form birth certificate in mail today. Only thing I forgot is to order two of them . The original we received in mail has certified printed on the bottom. Is taking a photo copy of the entire birth certificate enough or we will have to request another certified original?

And just to clarify with both of our birth certificates and me filling out proof of citizenship application and submitting along with fees ext... Then I should be able to receive my citizenship certificate and after apply for Canadian passport as well? I was under impression that the stateless person born to Canadian parent form needed to be filled out from what I understood on another forum but the less paperwork the better . Just want to make sure it doesn't get rejected and I start all over.

Thanks for the help everyone and especially Alpha. You've really been a huge help in clarifying this process.

You don't need two copies of your father's original birth certificate (the document you received from the Quebec government) to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship. You can send the original of his and your birth certificate with the application, or you can send certified copies. (For information on certified copies, see the section called "Certified true copies" on this page: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/CIT0001ETOC.asp#CIT0001E4) What the information says is that you can have a notary certify that a copy of the original birth certificate is a "true copy." While that's true in Canada, it's not true in California, where the state does not allow notaries to certify copies of birth certificates as being true copies. So, the best thing to do is just to send the originals, though they will not be returned.

If your father wants a copy of his birth certificate for his own purposes, you can request another, but that doesn't need to hold up your application. After you receive your Certificate of Citizenship, you can apply for a passport. If you apply by mail, you will have to send your Certificate of Citizenship (which will be returned). For that reason, it is recommended that you use a courier service (FedEx, etc.) Also, you are not stateless. You are a U.S. citizen by birth and a Canadian citizen by descent.

 

[PozitiveHope]

Thanks for the info. I will start filling out proof of citizenship applications now.

My dad wants to keep his original since he has never had it before and doesn't want it to get lost anywhere in process. We did the accelerated processing with civil registrar and received it within 7 - 10 days, not bad. We will be passing through Nevada and Utah within next couple days as a family medical emergency came up and I looked up the notary laws in Nevada, they do allow notarization of birth certificate.

Do you think it would be fine to get it notarized in Nevada or would that send up red flags per say since we actually live in California? If so no biggie will order another certified copy and go about it like that. In meantime will get the apps filled.

Have a good night

 

[PozitiveHope]

Also on proof of citizenship application where I put my fathers information it asks for citizenship certificate number however obviously at this time we do not have that. Should I put pending? I'm hoping we don't have to go through this whole process with him first and then me. Average processing time is showing 5 months right now but just depends how busy they are I guess. Please advise whenever you get a chance. Thanks

 

[alphazip]

Thanks for the info. I will start filling out proof of citizenship applications now.

My dad wants to keep his original since he has never had it before and doesn't want it to get lost anywhere in process. We did the accelerated processing with civil registrar and received it within 7 - 10 days, not bad. We will be passing through Nevada and Utah within next couple days as a family medical emergency came up and I looked up the notary laws in Nevada, they do allow notarization of birth certificate.

Do you think it would be fine to get it notarized in Nevada or would that send up red flags per say since we actually live in California? If so no biggie will order another certified copy and go about it like that. In meantime will get the apps filled.

Have a good night

Looking here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_copy), it doesn't appear that Nevada or Utah allow notaries to certify a birth certificate as a true copy. Otherwise, there would be no problem having it certified in another state, such as Arizona.

Most likely, you'll just have to send the original (which will not be returned), and in the meantime your father can request another copy from Quebec.

 

[alphazip]

Also on proof of citizenship application where I put my fathers information it asks for citizenship certificate number however obviously at this time we do not have that. Should I put pending? I'm hoping we don't have to go through this whole process with him first and then me. Average processing time is showing 5 months right now but just depends how busy they are I guess. Please advise whenever you get a chance. Thanks

Your father doesn't have (or need) a citizenship certificate. His proof of citizenship is his Canadian birth certificate.

On the application:

How did this parent obtain Canadian citizenship? birth in Canada
Canadian certificate no:

They most likely mean his Certificate of Citizenship number, in which case you could write N/A. However, it could be argued that they want his birth certificate number. Whether you enter N/A or his birth certificate number is not going to matter, so just enter the only number you have, which is the registration/inscription number on the birth certificate.

 

[PozitiveHope]

I sent off my application and it was received by immigration on 16-08-02. I received a response today 16-08-17 saying it was incomplete. I got confused on one of the questions thinking it didn't apply but it did but since they were bubbles I couldn't mark N/A. Long story short it's filled out correctly now and I plan on sending back tomorrow. Everything else was fine except that one section. They sent me the appendix to fill out saying if I want a refund or to resubmit with corrected and complete info. They said proof of payment was returned and no fees were taken. I know the payments are done through a third party site so does this mean I need to pay the 75 Canadian dollars again or send in the original proof of payment they sent back to me ? I'm not requesting a refund so think I should be fine. They wrote 75 Canadian Dollars with initials HDM and custom officials sig (not sure if that means anything?) Just want to make sure everything is 100% good to go before sending back. Also the return address they have me sending it to is a po box but I'm sending personal courtier which is a different address and is the one I originally used to send in app. Not sure if fedex can take to a po box especially if I want proof of receiving ? Please advise on these two questions please. Thank you