angie123

Just rang passport office and applications for citizenship cards is a wait of 12 - 15 months! arggh - i want to leave uk in teh next 6 months.


anyone know what happens if you are a canadian citizen, bringing your child to canada who is not a canadian citizen (yet)? what happens, do you have to leave canada every six months and re enter?

thanks

PMM

Hi

You apply for the proof of citizenship and once you have evidence that you have applied, then you can apply at a CHC for a limited validity Canadian passport, which should only take about a month or less.

angie123

oh, thats good to know. thanks

bewillow

Your child is either Canadian or not. If he/she is Candian you can get a CCC for him/her.

Note also that, strictly speaking, if the child is Canadian, it can not be denied entry at the airport in Canada when you arrive, even if they are not carrying their Canadian documentation. You may have to wait for a while (bring water and food!) and provide supporting documents, like child’s birth certificate and your CCC and maybe a copy of the child's CCC application if that has been done, but they should eventually let the child in. It is one of the consitutional rights the child has.

abaddon

I must echo this comment - it is 100% correct. Your child is a Canadian citizen - with or without the card. The card is proof of citizenship.

I received my sons citizenship card last Saturday (3rd October 2009). We applied for the card on 5th October 2008, so the whole process took just about 12 months. In June, I applied for a limited validity passport and received this with no problem. The passport is valid for 2 years and we travelled to Canada at the end of June using this passport.

abaddon

tearing_hair_out

Hi, I am also in a similar situation! Does anyone know how or what form to use to apply for the limited validity passport? I can't find it anywhere! Also, sent the application for citizenship months ago, how do we get proof of applying? Thanks!

bewillow

You use the standard passport application.

You should have received back your documents from the CCC application, along with a likely a piece of paper saying you have applied.

If you did not, no worry. Just write them a short letter saying that you applied for your CCC on DATE and that while that is being processed you need to apply for a passport. They will stupidly ask you for a reason that you want the Canadian Passport. You might just want to write it down in the letter. E.g. moving to Canada, or travelling.

sandrafach

Hello,

I am newly registered to the British Expat forum and have found this thread.

Both my husband and I are Canadian citizens. We are living in the UK and our children were born in the UK. We are emigrating back to Canada, but are not yet in possession of the childrens' citizenship cards (but the application is in process). We won't have them before we go to Canada.

I have been advised by the Canadian High Commission to get facilitation visas (as outlined in the link above - thanks, first time I've seen that). I can't do the passport as outlined above because that is only for children 2 years and younger.

I am debating over whether or not I really need to do this. On my husband's recent visit to Calgary (where we will be entering), he asked an immigration officer at port of entry what would happen if our children came in with UK passports and without citizenship cards. She said the children would be admitted on their UK passports if we have proof they are our children.

The High Commission is saying they need this visa to be eligible for health care and schooling. I have checked with both. School is fine - they just need to see copies of their long birth certificate. And though I am pressing Alberta Health Care to ensure I understand and get a crystal clear answer, so far they have assured me that the children will be covered and that they automatically take our legal status and we do not need to provide documents for dependents.

If that is the case, I'm wondering why I really need to get these? (Furthermore, Alberta Health Care covers permanent residents - so what extra use would a 'temporary resident visa' actually be should someone indeed ask for documentation?)

Has anyone been through this process? If so, I'm interested in how you filled out the forms (see below) and what was actually put in your passport or what the immigration officer upon entry stamped in your passport when you arrived?

(Re: forms - so much of the forms seem irrelevant [for example, the guidelines say you need to satisfy them that the time in Canada is temporary; it wouldn't be, as we are moving back permanently.]. Furthermore, I am not applying for myself, it is only my children who apparently need this, so I'm assuming THEY are the applicants - which makes some of the questions tricky!)

Sorry for the tediously long post, but really hoping someone has been through this before and can shed some helpful advice!

Sandra

tearing_hair_out

Hi Sandra,
terrible as it sounds it's nice to hear someone having the same problems!! (makes me feel like i'm not going completely mad)
I have been given the same advise as you buy the Canadian High commission, so have basically been trying to fill out the ridiculous form as best I can. I'm going to put a cover letter explaining what i'm actually trying to apply for (as the form is almost completely irrelevant) and i'm also going to attach a copy of them email i received advising me to use the form... To be honest i think this is a new system so i'm just hoping for the best - if it all goes tits up we'll just have to bring my daughter in on her british passport and spend the extra time in the airport proving to them that she is actually a citizen...
good luck!
Lydia

sandrafach

I've just sent an email with a number of questions on filling out the form, so if I get any response, I'll let you know!

bewillow

A couple of questions for each of you:
(1) How old was the child when you applied for the certificate of Canadian citizenship?
(2) When did you do the application for the CCC?
(3) Have you tried actually applying for the child's passport and what happened?

I am sure you will have no problem arriving with the children at the airport. You will likely have to go to secondary screening, but that is it. Where we are in Ontario at least, registering at the school was a total non issue. They did not require proof of citizenship or permanent residence. And i suspect applying for health insurance will be no problem. If you have ANY problems, be sure to request a written notice of refusal from who ever refuses you, appeal it and talk immediately with your MP.

Remember that your child is a Canadian citizen. They means they have the right of coming a going to Canada, including a Canadian passport, and of services inside Canada. The CCC is just proof of the citizenship that is already existing.

bewillow

I do not see the link you refer to. I also suspect, without knowing much about it, that the facilitation visa does not have much use. Why do they suggest getting it?

Allie73

Contact Canada House. I called them when I was concerned about the same thing late last year. One of my kids had his Canadian citizenship card but the other two did not. I didn't have a 10-12 months to wait for their cards to arrive before we go to Canada. I spoke to a very helpful woman at Canada House who was extremely helpful, but I can't remember her name. I explained our situation and she said she'd send me the applications for their Canadian citizenship and she would try to get them rushed. She said she couldn't promise anything, but she said the quickest she had seen the cards come back was 3 months. And she called me very surprised two months later to says she had my kids' cards in her hand and would mail them that day.

Edited to add that we sent off for their Canadian passports right away and had them within 2 weeks. We were told that the kids and I needed to enter Canada on our Canadian passports.

sandrafach

Hi bewillow,

Sorry - the link was in another thread - it's http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resourc...2009/ob154.asp

I think they are suggesting we get these to ensure the children are let into the country and they are entitled to benefits, etc. But all my checking - port of entry, health care, school - indicates it is not necessary. I think children like mine are caught in between the cracks, so this is the way to deal with them. But it seems the only reason for these is, as the bulletin says: 'The facilitation visa issuance process should nonetheless be sufficiently rigorous to minimize the risk of admitting persons without status into Canada.' i.e people who fall through the cracks because they can't get the normal documentation.

Our kids are 5 and 3 and I just applied earlier this month. Because they are not 2 they do not qualify for the temporary passport.

Sandra