Jase84

Hi All

I have never been to Canada, but my mum was born in BC and lived there for the first couple of years of her life, she has then lived in the UK ever since. When she was 19 she claimed Canadian citizenship, with the plan to move to Vancouver, but then she met my dad and it never happened.

Just had a look on CIC website and it says I may be a citizen by decent, which would be great news as I am in the middle of trying to move my family to Canada.

Is this correct, could I be a Canadian citizen already?

My mum citizenship is in her maiden name, does that matter? she has her birth certificate to prove she was born in BC.

If I am a citizen, does that also help my wife and kids on moving to Canada?

Thanks

Jase

christmasoompa

To clarify, your mum didn't apply for citizenship when she was 19, she was a citizen from birth and simply got proof of it.

Yes, from where I'm sitting you are a citizen, which would mean you could sponsor your wife and kids (they aren't like to be citizens) for PR, much easier than any employment based route.

HTH.

Jase84

Thanks, yeah she just got prove when she was 19.

Wow that is great news, I have been trying to get my head around PR and Visa, etc... and turn out I may already be a citizen!

magnumpi

Yes you are a citizen by decent

It's a long wait tho, my wife's claim took almost 2 years and I read on hear the other day some one is still waiting, no contact and it's been 18 months. As long as you are in no rush then apply for proof of citizenship

SchnookoLoly

Agreed with the others. You're a citizen by descent and you can sponsor your family. But as magnumpi said, the application takes awhile, so get moving on that, and then allow another year for the sponsorship. So I'd say you would be looking at moving around 3ish years from now if you start getting things moving asap.

Jase84

Thanks for responses, I will get application for my citizenship certificate done asap.

Shame about the timeframes but at least its more straight forward.

So am I stuck in the UK until I have my citizenship certificate and my wife and kids have PR?

Thanks

Former Lancastrian

What do you have to prove you ARE a Canadian citizen? Once you get proof of citizenship then you are free to sponsor your family members and move to Canada. Once you have proof no need to stay in the UK.

magnumpi

OP has mums birth certificate

Former Lancastrian

A birth certificate is NOT prima facia evidence of Canadian citizenship merely an indicator.
So how does the person get to Canada as they cannot apply for eTA and cannot get a Canadian passport until they have proof of citizenship.
Of course they could always fly into the USA and then drive into Canada and hope the CBSA officer believes they are a Canadian citizen.

9.4 Establishing citizenship without documents
Canadian citizens returning to Canada by air usually have to provide proof of identity and citizenship to get on the flight. Canadian citizens arriving at land borders, however, will frequently be without satisfactory documentary proof of Canadian citizenship. In these cases, the border services officer should question the person until the border services officer is satisfied with the person’s claim of Canadian citizenship. Once the border services officer is satisfied that the person is a Canadian citizen, the person must be allowed to enter Canada without further delay.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resourc.../enf04-eng.pdf

magnumpi

OP will apply for proof of citizenship

We already said this may take 2-3 years

Jase84

I don't have any proof, but my mum does and she has her birth certificate. I guess I will have to apply for a citizenship certificate before I can do anything!

Former Lancastrian

Yes but she then asked does she have to stay in the UK until she gets it. I gave another option but warned of the pitfalls.

MarylandNed

Sounds like you are a Canadian citizen. You can check here:

See if you may be a citizen

When were your kids born? If they were born before Apr 17th 2009, they might also be Canadian citizens. You can check using the same link above but this time answer the questions from the point of view of your kids.

magnumpi

Tingalingaling

Penny drop sound lol (I see what u was doing now)

bert07

I applied for a Canadian cit cert a couple of years ago and it only took 6 months (they say 2 years online as a guide).

Got my sons last year (from inside Canada) and it also took 6 months.

As someone else said, if kids were born before 17 Apr 2009 they may be citizens as well (I have 1 kid before and 2 kids after which I'm sure will go down well when they realise later in life!)