Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

Hi there,

It turns out my grandmother had a Canadian passport, though living and being born in the UK. She married a Canadian man, who unfortunately died during the war. She travelled to Canada for a few years to get to know his family after he died, We found the passport when sorting through the attic!

She is now deceased unfortunately, but I wonder if I could claim Canadian citizenship? Some questions:

- Would my mum need to claim her citizenship first, for me to then claim mine?
- How can I figure out if we are eligible?
- If it is possible, or might be possible, what is the process? Where do I start?!
- When searching online for immigration solicitors/consultants it seems to be a minefield of shady websites. I have read the /wiki/Immigration_Consultants-Canada page, but I'm still unsure how to go about finding a reputable professional to help with our case. Can you recommend anyone?

Thanks, anon.

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

Use the tool in this link

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...y-citizen.html

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

You don't need anybody to help with your case, if you're eligible (use the tool in the link above to tell you for sure) then it's pretty easy to apply for.

Good luck and welcome to BE.

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

Amazing, thanks for the pointers. The tools says that my mum likely is eligible, so we'll give it a go and report back.

Thanks again, Anon.

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

Yep, your Mum probably is, you're probably not from what you've said. Did you want to move to Canada, or did you just want to see if you could claim citizenship as a 'just in case' scenario?

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

So you think I likely wouldn't be eligible until my Mum has gone through the process, or do you mean that I likely wouldn't be eligible at all?

We don't plan to move to Canada in the short term, but my partner lived there for a year in the past, and I think we might move back one day.

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

I don't see how you'd be eligible at all. But again the test in the link above should tell you, just take it and answer it for your own specific circumstances rather than your mothers.

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

Let's say my mum successfully claims her Canadian citizenship, is she claiming her existing citizenship, or is she becoming a citizen?

That distinction seems to be what it comes down to, take this question from the tool: "Born on or after April 17, 2009, and at least one of my birth parents was a Canadian citizen when I was born".

If her claiming her Canadian citizenship proves she was a citizen all along, then I could answer "Yes" to that question. But if her claiming her citizenship means she is becoming a citizen, then I would have to answer "No".

What do you think?

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

Depends on your grandmother - from your first post, I'd assumed that she'd married the Canadian later in life, but if your mother was a minor when your grandmother got her citizenship then it's very different. Any rough idea of how old your mother was when your grandmother would have naturalised as a Canadian?

And the question above - were you really born after April 2009, i.e. you're less than 11 years old?

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

Grandmother married a Canadian pilot, who tragically died shortly afterwards in a training exercise for the war. She then spent several years in Canada with her husband's family. After that she returned to the UK and remarried, this time to my grandfather - my Mum's dad. I know that my grandmother received a special pension/similar for people widowed by the war from Canada and we now know she had a Canadian passport too.

Sorry, I copied the wrong question there! No, I'm older than that!

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

Ah, ok. So she became a Canadian citizen before your mother was born, which means your mother should have been a Canadian since birth from what you've said.

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

Since my mum has been married twice, her name has changed twice. According to this a copy of marriage certificates, divorce certificate, passport and driving license should be enough evidence there. We also need to provide copies of other documents, for example my grandmothers birth certificate.

It mentions not to send original documents, since they won't be returned. Do the copies need to be certified? I can't see anything which says that copies of documents must be certified, but often with things like this they do. Any ideas?

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

The general rule for 'things immigration' is that if they do not specifically ask for certified copies, then they do not want certified copies and will only ask for them downstream if they have doubts about the copies you provided.

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

I'm by no means an expert, but I fear things could be much more complicated than that !

Before the creation of Canadian Citizenship in 1947, a Canadian was just a British Subject with Canadian domicile (ie. residency). People back then travelled on a British Passport issued by their place of residence. For example, "British Passport, Colony and Protectorate of Aden", "British Passport, British Guyana" or indeed "British Passport, Canada".

Carrying such a passport did not mean that the holder necessarily acquired any status in that country after independence.

If the OP's grandmother lived in Canada with her husband before the war, she likely would have travelled on a "British Passport - Canada". Depending on where she lived in 1947, she may or may not have acquired Canadian citizenship. As far as I understand it.

Anon, what is the date on your grandmother's passport?
Perhaps BritInParis has some insights?

Re: Claiming Canadian citizenship through grandparent
 

Also, many historical "Canadian" passports list exactly how the holder acquired British Subject and Canadian Domicile. See the attached pic of a 1931 passport.

Anon, does your grandmother's passport list anything under "national status"
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...1614740c95.png
?