Born abroad Canadian seeking citizenship for US born children

[johcro]

Our situations is like this. Husband (me) is America, Wife is Canadian citizen born abroad in Germany to Canadian parents.
Our two kids ages 2 and 4 were born in the USA. We are seeking to gain them dual citizenship. It is my understanding that they no longer qualify for birthright citizenship and have to apply. We have no long term plans on staying in Canada ourselves, just want to meet the minimums for gaining PR and citizenship. The American husband does not intend on becoming a Canadian citizen.

What is the process for doing this, and what are our requirements. From what I have read it looks like this is the only requirements.
- is the minor child of a Canadian citizen [the parent can apply at the same time under subsection 5(1)];
- makes an application for citizenship (the application must be made by a person authorized to do so on behalf of the minor child);
-is a permanent resident with no unfulfilled conditions relating to their status as a permanent resident;
-has an adequate knowledge of one of Canada’s official languages (14 years of age and older only at time of application);
-demonstrates in one of Canada’s official languages that they have an adequate knowledge of Canada and of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship (14 years of age and older only at time of application);
-is not the subject of a declaration by the Governor in Council made pursuant to section 20 of the Citizenship Act; and
-is not prohibited under section 22.

Questions. Do we need to stay in Canada for the entire time (says 56 days) for our PR cards to arrive. Can we apply for the immediately when we enter Canada.

Once we obtain our children's PR cards must we remain in Canada or can we return to our home in the states. (We have Grandparents in Canada where we will live). Is there any sort of physical presence requirement for minors.

Once we apply for citizenship can we expect to wait the full year in order to receive approval.

Any other issues we need to know about.

 

[Rob_TO]

I think you have your facts wrong.

The kids have no claim to citizenship, since mom was not born or naturalized in Canada. So the kids (and you) must all apply for PR first. For US citizens this can take 4-6 months on average for the application process if you apply outland, before you can get PR status. Until then, you can always enter Canada as a visitor.

The PR application is here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp . You and kids will all have to do medical exams, and you will need FBI check done.

Once the children get their PR status, they can then immediately apply for citizenship based on their mom being a Canadian citizen already. This is only for minor children, you could not get citizenship status like this.

After getting PR status, as long as you're living with your Canadian citizen spouse you can live outside Canada indefinitely.

Note that a part of the PR application process if the sponsor (your wife) does not live in Canada, she must show evidence she intends to move permanently to Canada as soon as PRs are all approved. If you aren't actually going to move to Canada, there may be issues with the PR app.

 

[SaskinSeoul]

The have no birthright to be Canadian unless they changed the law which means they have to go through the whole permanent residence fiasco.

After they meet the Canadian citizenship requirements they can become Canadian citizens but without plans of living in Canada it most likely won't happen.

The Canadian parent has to prove intentions of living in Canada and your application can be denied if the spouse doesn't provide enough proof.

Happened to some couples in South Korea and Japan recently on a Facebook group I'm in.

Three kids were denied permanent residence in another case as both parents lived in South Korea and were born in South Korea to Canadian parents.

 

[Rob_TO]

After they meet the Canadian citizenship requirements they can become Canadian citizens but without plans of living in Canada it most likely won't happen.

Once the kids are PR they can apply for citizenship immediately since their mom is Canadian. For minors there is no residency requirement for citizenship, only rule is they must be PRs first and have a citizen parent.