LyssaMcC

Hi, my husband, two children and I are just beginning our research to move to Canada. I'm Canadian, moved to the UK with my British husband in 2010 after our wedding in Canada. We now have two young children and I have Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK (granted in Nov. 2012)

When I originally left Canada and applied for my UK marriage visa, I applied in my maiden name as it saved time in changing my passport. So as a result, my passport and Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK are both still in my maiden name. Would it be in my best interest to change this before applying for Outland Family Sponsorship or is it doable to keep this all in my maiden name for the moment.

Thank you!

Engineer_abroad

No worries using the maiden name provided you can prove the connection between the maiden and married name i.e. marriage certificate. me and my wife have been doing this for the nearly 6 years we have been married and that included her ILR in UK, work permits in Argentina and now Canada.

SchnookoLoly

^ What he said. You are fine to keep things in your maiden name, not a problem at all.

Be sure to use the wiki and FAQ (linked in my signature) when doing your application, you will find it WAY easier.

BTW, do you have all your Canadian paperwork in line for your children, assuming they are Canadian? If not that is your first thing to do as it takes awhile and you'll need to have their Canadian paperwork in order (citizenship certificate and passport) before you move.

LyssaMcC

Hi and thank you. Yes I've read over the Wiki for which was very helpful.

Is it an absolute necessity for my children to have citizenship and passports before we start the process? I assume they automatically are considered citizens as I am a Canadian-born citizen and they were born post 2009. My eldest's British passport is due to expire in the next few months so do I renew this first or just apply for the Canadian one and relinquish the British one?

Former Lancastrian

Why not do both as dual citizens you are allowed 2 passports. With the new eTA rules one is not required for Canadian citizens travelling on Canadian passports. If no Canadian passport the eTA required. They don't have to absolutely have a Canadian passport or proof of citizenship on arrival but then depending how CBSA look at it they could be treated as visitors as you have no proof they are Canadians. If you have lots of time then do it before arriving as its much simpler.

SchnookoLoly

To expand on what FL said, if the kids don't have Canadian passports, they would need an eTA to fly on their British passports... except Canadian citizens aren't eligible to apply for an eTA. Now, since your kids have not been registered in Canada they may be able to get the eTA anyway, but I don't know for sure how that would or would not work. If it were me, I wouldn't be taking the chance. If it were me, I'd be getting their Canadian citizenship certificates and passports sorted out ASAP.

And your kids won't have to relinquish British citizenship at all, both countries allow dual citizenship so they'll carry both passports.

By the same token, you should sort out your British Citizenship before you leave the UK (if you don't already have UK citizenship). The good news is that for you this will be way quicker - I did my citizenship test in summer 2013, applied for my citizenship in October 2013, got my approval in December 2013, and did my citizenship ceremony two days later. I applied for my passport last year from within Canada. So get your citizenship sorted if you haven't already, you can sort out your passport once you're in Canada.

LyssaMcC

Thank you both! I wouldn't have considered the British citizenship option as we don't have any intention of coming back but I suppose for the future, if my children decide to move here as adults, I'd like to have the option of coming back if need be.

My husband's just bought a new printer so I'm off to print off everything to read!

SchnookoLoly

If you are eligible for it then there's not really a downside in getting it, other than the fact that it'll cost you a bit to get it. (Something like 800quid for the application? Can't remember offhand but it's a lot.) But it's definitely worth having, if you ever do decide to move back later on - who knows what cards life will deal you. So if you are eligible, and presumably you are, it's worth sorting.