Upgrading of Citizenship

[TonyBee]

I used to be a landed immigrant 40 years ago. Stayed for a few years in Canada and became a citizen, a full citizen with all the regular/normal rights of a citizen.

I then moved away and had a daughter outside Canada. She is a Canadian citizen but because she received her citizenship by descent, she cannot pass that citizenship to her children if she gives birth outside of Canada.

She is currently in Canada at university and most likely she will be there at least 5 years. I would like to find some way for her to "upgrade" her citizenship so she can also be a full citizen like me. But I've not been able to find any way to do this.

I've looked and looked and have not been able to find any way to make this happen. There should be a way as it doesnt make much sense otherwise....
I (a foreign immigrant) went to Canada and was able to obtain full Canadian citizenship (And able to pass it on).
Any number of immigrants and refugees are also able to go to Canada and after a few years, obtain the same full citizenship (And able to pass it on).
My daughters (born outside of Canada, but Canadian passport holders and citizens by descent) hopefully can do the same : stay for a few years, fill out some papers and obtain a full Canadian citizenship.

Any pointers would be much appreciated it.

 

[scylla]

No easy path.

Here's how she would have to do it (I'm going to assume she's already 18). She would need to start by formally renouncing her Canadian citizenship. Note that as soon as she renounces her Canadian citizenship she will no longer qualify for the cheaper domestic student university fees (she will have to start paying international student fees to attend school) and will also need to obtain a study permit to continue her studies. Next, you would either have to sponsor her for permanent residency - to do this you would need to be living in Canada for the entire duration of her sponsorship and would likely have to move to Canada earlier to establish yourself (not sure if you're living in Canada now or not) - and once she's a PR, she would need to live in Canada long enough to meet the residency requirement for citizenship and then apply for citizenship once she qualifies. Alternatively - if you cannot sponsor her for PR for some reason (e.g. not residing in Canada), then once she renounces citizenship and is an adult with the required work experience to qualify for permanent residency, she could apply on her own for permanent residency.

 

[TonyBee]

No easy path....

Thank you for your quick reply. I had actually found this "path" on my own but it seems quite illogical and silly to have to go thru such hoops.

It seems, under current rules / regulation / laws that a immigrant (like I was) or a refugee has more rights than a bonafide Canadian citizen. Immigrants and refugees are able to upgrade their status to a full citizen but a citizen with limited rights cant do it so easily.

Is there no other option? Could we petition our local MP to intervene? Would they be able to do much for such a case? Are there anyone that could process an exception?

 

[scylla]

Thank you for your quick reply. I had actually found this "path" on my own but it seems quite illogical and silly to have to go thru such hoops.

It seems, under current rules / regulation / laws that a immigrant (like I was) or a refugee has more rights than a bonafide Canadian citizen. Immigrants and refugees are able to upgrade their status to a full citizen but a citizen with limited rights cant do it so easily.

Is there no other option? Could we petition our local MP to intervene? Would they be able to do much for such a case? Are there anyone that could process an exception?

There is no other option. To have "full" citizenship, your daughter would either need to have been born in Canada or follow the same immigration path as you did to obtain citizenship (i.e. become a PR and then qualify for and obtain citizenship).

An MP can't change immigration law. No point even trying - it will be a waste of time.

Note that a refugee would be in no different a situation than you or any other immigrant for that matter. You immigrated to Canada (i.e. became a PR and then a citizen). A refugee who immigrates to Canada would do the same (i.e. become a PR and then a citizen). If that refugee's children are born outside of Canada (as your daughter was) - their children would have have citizenship by descent as well (just like your daughter). So exact same situation as yourself and your daughter - no difference.

 

[TonyBee]

A refugee who immigrates to Canada would do the same (i.e. become a PR and then a citizen). If that refugee's children are born outside of Canada (as your daughter was) - their children would have have citizenship by descent as well (just like your daughter). So exact same situation as yourself and your daughter - no difference.

To me it seems different
Immigrant or Refugee comes to Canada, lives productively for a few years and becomes a full Canadian ciitizen.
A "Canadian by descent" person comes, lives productively for a few years and is unable to attain the same.

An MP can't change immigration law. No point even trying - it will be a waste of time.

Well, a sufficiently motivated MP could introduce a new bill Yes, I do realize its a pipe dream but surely we are not the only ones in this predicament. Does it not seem like someone has forgotten a small bit of legislation to make this happen. Logically, a Canadian (by descent) should have some reasonable path to neutralize themselves whether its by time, money, application or otherwise.

Thank you again for your thoughts

 

[scylla]

To me it seems different
Immigrant or Refugee comes to Canada, lives productively for a few years and becomes a full Canadian ciitizen.
A "Canadian by descent" person comes, lives productively for a few years and is unable to attain the same.

It was the singling out of refugees specifically that didn't make sense to me in your earlier post. All immigrants (economic, family class, refugee) would fall into this bucket. Refugees are just another class of immigrant.

 

[TonyBee]

It was the singling out of refugees specifically that didn't make sense to me in your earlier post. All immigrants (economic, family class, refugee) would fall into this bucket. Refugees are just another class of immigrant.

Yes, ofcourse. Refugees and Immigrants are one and the same and treated equally and fairly.
Whats illogical is that they are able to obtain a level of citizenship that is denied to an actual citizen who happened to be born outside of Canada.

To my logical mind, that makes no sense.
Its distressing to know that a non citizen is able to attain a particular benefit and a citizen is unable to do the same.

 

[scylla]

Well the rules are as they are. Sure - laws can be changed. But this isn't one that has any focus right now so I definitely wouldn't hold your breath.

Your daughter's realistic options are to either keep things as they are - or go the renouncement path.

 

[TonyBee]

Seeing as I live outside of Canada and have no real plans of returning, I think "no action" is the order of the day.
Thank you again for your thoughtful replies.

 

[scylla]

Seeing as I live outside of Canada and have no real plans of returning, I think "no action" is the order of the day.
Thank you again for your thoughtful replies.

Yes - in that case that's absolutely the way to go. If you wanted to sponsor her for PR, you'd definitely need to reestablish residency here and likely live here for at least a year to complete the sponsorship process.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Your daughter would have to sponsor her foreign-born children for PR but as soon as they are PRs, she can immediately apply for their citizenship. The overall process for sponsoring a dependent child and then applying for a grant of citizenship would probably take around 1.5-2 years.

 

[Rob_TO]

Agreed, exactly zero percent chance there would be any change to current laws, and no MP or anyone else in government would even hear out the idea.

As mentioned there is already a path for citizens-by-descent to sponsor a child born abroad for PR and then immediately get their citizenship. At the most it's a minor inconvenience.

 

[steaky]

Here's another way:

Once your daughter renounce the status, get a Canadian citizen or PR son-in-law and have him sponsor your daughter for immigration. There is no need for OP return to Canada.

Your daughter can also find a Canadian born citizen or naturalized citizen for marriage or common law, so that the father can apply Canadian citizenship by decent for your grandkids.

 

[Buletruck]

Or she could just live in Canada and have her kids here.....

 

[carolbb23]

Here's another way:

Once your daughter renounce the status, get a Canadian citizen or PR son-in-law and have him sponsor your daughter for immigration. There is no need for OP return to Canada.

Your daughter can also find a Canadian born citizen or naturalized citizen for marriage or common law, so that the father can apply Canadian citizenship by decent for your grandkids.

are you serious sounds like a moc and ircc and cic has ways to find out if the relationship is real