TRV for my children

[DMajor]

Hi!

I am a Canadian citizen and live and work overseas. We have three children aged 9, 6 and 1. My partner is Kenyan and holds a Kenyan passport. My oldest son and daughter currently hold Ugandan passports. Our newest son, Jacob, has a Kenyan passport. My two oldest kids are from a previous marriage. My two oldest kids have traveled to Canada many times before on a TRV. The last time we traveled to Canada was over two years ago. We are planning on traveling to Canada this Christmas to spend time with my family in Ottawa and to introduce my family to our newest member of the family. I applied for TRV's for my partner (Kenyan passport), and the three kids. My partner's visa was approved but my three kids were denied. The reason they gave was that 'your father is a Canadian citizen - therefore your kids are not eligible for a TRV. This was truly a shock to me as we have been to Canada many times. We fly to Toronto on December 14th. I am really confused as to why the Canadian High Commission would approve our previous requests (all information was supplied etc) and not this one. At some point we will apply for a citizenship card and passport but does that mean that until we do we can no longer travel to Canada as a family? So confused.

 

[kingwil]

As a citizen i would suggest you contact the high commission and find out what really happen here....Or maybe the kids are automatic citizen of canada because the you, i duno but if thats the case i suggest you get the kids Canadian passport thur the embassy/high commission. I can only assume thats why TRV refuse...because they dont need TRV.

 

[PMM]

Hi

As a citizen i would suggest you contact the high commission and find out what really happen here....Or maybe the kids are automatic citizen of canada because the you, i duno but if thats the case i suggest you get the kids Canadian passport thur the embassy/high commission. I can only assume thats why TRV refuse...because they dont need TRV.

If the father was a Canadian citizen at the time of the children's birth, then the children are Canadian citizens by decent. He should be apply for proof of citizenship for them: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/certif.asp He can submit the application and the same time apply for a limited validity for the 1 year old. If he wishes to visit Canada, what he should do is submit the proof application and apply for a facilitation F-1 visa for the children, which would be the fastest method at this time. The processing Visa office should have explained this. See: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2009/ob154.asp

 

[DMajor]

Thanks so much for the responses. I have a meeting at the Canadian embassy here in Lusaka, Zambia on Monday morning. My hope is that they will fully understand the situation and allow our kids to travel to Canada for Christmas. Although I am not sure that this trip constitutes urgency which could be a problem.

In reading the bulletin it also mentions that F-1 visas would be granted to...

'children born in Canada to foreign nationals who have returned to their country and do not wish to ‘claim’ the citizenship automatically granted to Canadian born children'

Question - does this also apply to children who were NOT born in Canada (but have a Canadian parent) who do not wish to 'claim' the citizenship automatically granted to Canadian born children? I suppose our situation is 'unique' but in my mind there should be some sort of remedy that can be offered in order to cater for all situations once that situation is fully understood.

Well, I feel A LOT better about this now. It's great to have a forum like this where we can get answers that make sense.

Regards,

DMajor

 

[PMM]

Hi

Thanks so much for the responses. I have a meeting at the Canadian embassy here in Lusaka, Zambia on Monday morning. My hope is that they will fully understand the situation and allow our kids to travel to Canada for Christmas. Although I am not sure that this trip constitutes urgency which could be a problem.

In reading the bulletin it also mentions that F-1 visas would be granted to...

'children born in Canada to foreign nationals who have returned to their country and do not wish to ‘claim' the citizenship automatically granted to Canadian born children'

Question - does this also apply to children who were NOT born in Canada (but have a Canadian parent) who do not wish to 'claim' the citizenship automatically granted to Canadian born children? I suppose our situation is 'unique' but in my mind there should be some sort of remedy that can be offered in order to cater for all situations once that situation is fully understood.

Well, I feel A LOT better about this now. It's great to have a forum like this where we can get answers that make sense.

Regards,

DMajor

The solution is that they issue a F-1 facilitation visa. I assume there is a reason why you don't want your children to have Canadian citizenship. Although from my reading it appears that as long as you file a form 2 your children can have both Canadian and Kenyan citizenship.

 

[DMajor]

OK, we will sort this out on Monday at the Canadian Embassy here in Lusaka. Is the F-1 visa issued from the Lusaka embassy or will we have to send the kids passports to the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa (where we initially sent our TRV applications etc)? Sorry for all the questions but it will help in planning - as we are scheduled to fly out on December 13th. And I would assume that the F-1 visa is discretionary - is that accurate?

DMajor

 

[PMM]

Hi

OK, we will sort this out on Monday at the Canadian Embassy here in Lusaka. Is the F-1 visa issued from the Lusaka embassy or will we have to send the kids passports to the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa (where we initially sent our TRV applications etc)? Sorry for all the questions but it will help in planning - as we are scheduled to fly out on December 13th. And I would assume that the F-1 visa is discretionary - is that accurate?

DMajor

Lusaka doesn't issue any visa's so, it will have to be sorted out at Pretoria. F-1 is discretionary.