r/CitizenshipByDescent

My husband is eligible for Canadian ancestry by descent. After carefully reviewing all the instructions for completing the CIT0001 application, filling out all the forms, getting photos, paying the fee, and assembling all the documentation proving ancestry, we FedEx'd our packet on Sunday. Then on Monday, I saw this very helpful video on YouTube. Alas, too late. We had done a couple things wrong on the CIT0001 application. So much for double and triple checking the instructions. Anyway, if you haven't sent in your application, watch this video first. It clarifies some of the confusing/ambiguous parts of the form. The videos are nice and short, get right to the point and don't waste time with a lot of the usual YouTube video blah, blah, blah.

Our mistake was not realizing in the very first section, to check the box that says:

"I never had a citizenship certificate and I was born outside Canada, AND my parent was a Canadian citizen before I was born; I wasn't adopted by my Canadian parent"

I mistakenly checked the box that says, "I think I am Canadian and want to know for sure".

In Section 8, and Section 9, I didn't click the box "Parent (Grandparent) is/was a Canadian citizen, and add the remark that my husband's mother, and grandfather, who were born in the US, were Canadian citizens by descent. So that part is screwed up.

We are hoping once our application is delivered, someone will contact us and let us upload a corrected version of the CIT0001. I am really worried our application may just be rejected once the reviewer sees we have made some mistakes on the form. Fingers crossed.

My Canadian ancestor was born in Wawanosh in 1859 to Irish parents. Ontario was not issuing birth certificates then. Is it possible to find baptismal records for her? I assume that her family was Catholic, but I could be wrong. I had looked into the Huron County archdiocese, but they don't provide records due to Americans seeking citizenship.

edit: I FOUND IT!!! I used familysearch to find the record. The records aren't transcribed so I manually sifted through 600+ records. Only problem is that her surname is slightly off but I know for certain that it's my ancestor. Has anyone dealt with explaining typos to the IRCC? I know it's really common for old records to be slightly misspelled. I also have a US death certificate, US census, US obituary, and a Canadian census stating that she was Canadian.

I’ve been digging into the recent Canadian citizenship changes under Bill C-3, and I think a lot of people with Canadian ancestry may qualify without realizing it.

Most people assume citizenship by descent only applies if a parent was born in Canada, but the newer rules appear to go much further in some cases. I’ve seen examples where eligibility passed through grandparents and earlier generations because the citizenship rights were restored retroactively.

The biggest challenge seems to be documentation, especially for families that moved back and forth between Canada and the U.S. generations ago. Early Quebec and Ontario records, name spelling issues, incomplete church records, and proving each generation can get complicated fast.

What surprised me most is how many people probably have a qualifying ancestor and just never looked into it because the family left Canada a long time ago.

Has anyone here started the process yet or unexpectedly discovered they qualified through an older ancestor?

Hi All,

I know there's been a flurry of these posts, but I have a bit of a challenging situation and would love some insight/thoughts on the documents I have collected thus far.

G-1: Land Petition to the Crown (1834), Land Transaction Records (1842), Probate Records (showing G0 as heir), LDS Baptism Record (informal), Biographies (G-1 was born in Scotland, and moved to Canada.)

G0 Death Certificate, US Census as Child, US Census as Adult, LDS Missionary Register, Biographies, LDS Records (Born in Canada in 1840, moved to the US in 1842. No Canadian census records available as Simcoe records were lost, only aggregate statistics available.)

G1 Death Certificate, US Census as Child, US Census as Adult, Biographies
G2 Delayed Birth Certificate, Death Certificate, Marriage Certificate, US Census
G3 Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, US Census
G4 Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate
G5 Birth Certificate
G6 Birth Certificate (me!)

My current "game plan" is to use G-1's records to prove their presence in Canada at the time of G0's birth, and rely on the other documentation to establish a reliable relationship between G0 and G-1. Proper birth records only begin to be available with G3 and onwards, but G2 filed a delayed birth certificate later in life. I would love to find better Canadian records for G0, but they moved to the US as a toddler, and their family converted to the LDS church right around G0's birth date, so I have had no success so far finding a proper Canadian baptismal record. All of my records are consistent with minimal conflicting details.

Hello

I am reading conflicting information about my timeline. My father moved to Canada in 1950. I believe he became a Canadian citizen in 1957. I was born in 1958. Based on the law at the time I have read a Dutch citizen must have purposely renounced their citizenship at a Dutch consulate, and if they did not do so would still have been considered Dutch. Is this worth pursuing?

Thank you in advance for any advice. My grandparents (deceased) were both born in Canada and came to the US when they were about 20yrs old. My Mom (alive) was born in the US. She and myself are interested in obtaining a dual citizenship with Canada. My question is- would it be easiest for my mom to get her dual citizenship and then at a later date, for me to apply for mine? Thank you.

Wanting to see if I’ve got viable evidence for Canadian citizenship.

G0
Parish baptism and marriage records (Canada)
Canadian Census docs for G0+G1

G1
Parish baptism records (Canada)
Canada census records showing G0
US Census records showing G0 and then G2

G2
US census records showing G1 and G3
Edit2: Official informational birth certificate

G3
US census records showing G2 and G4
Edit2: Official informational birth certificate

G4
US census records showing G3
Edit2: Official informational birth certificate

G5
Me, US birth certificate

There’s a lot of other info linking everyone like obituaries, marriage announcements in local papers, military records, etc.

The Canadian parish records are from the official collections so that should be straightforward.

G0 immigrated to the US in the 1850s when G1 was 3 years old hence starting there.

Edit to add all these ancestors are paternal. So they all share my same surname.

Edit2: Ordered informational copies of birth certificates for G2 through G4.

Trying to get a better sense of current proof of citizenship by descent processing timelines under the new legislation. Hoping this can help all of us compare timelines and case types a bit more clearly.

If you’ve applied already, could you share:

1. What month/year did you apply?

2. What month/year did you receive AOR and/or approval?

3. What generation are you? (Example: G0 = Canadian-born ancestor, G1 = their child born abroad, G2 = grandchild born abroad, etc.)

4. Was your Canadian ancestor born in Canada or naturalized later?

5. Did you apply yourself or use a lawyer?

6. Did IRCC request additional documents after submission?

7. Was your application regular or urgent processing?

Thanks everyone!

Specifically, does his appointment and service under these conditions mean he retained or passed down German citizenship under the historical and current citizenship laws?

My family of 5 are all applying for citizenship certificates as a group. I am just about to to mail everything off. I am unsure if I should make each person's packet a complete set of support documents, (birth documents, marriage certificates, census etc.) or just do 1 master set. I've seen posts both ways. Is there a preferred way the IRCC wants things?

As the title says. Has anyone done this and any idea if it helps? I attached my mother’s (received yesterday) to mine via webform. I sent my proof application 5 months ago and only have an AOR.

I’ve filled out the forms and attached relevant docs but my G0 is great grandmother. Added the addendum section others have used to cover her. My question is this—because my mother was adopted by her stepfather (remember my ancestry is through the women on my mother’s side) I feel I need to explain the story more than just with line items and documents. Should I include a written timeline or explanation of the situation for clarification, maybe note it in on the application pages as exhibit 1 or something, then do the standard stuff in each section?

I recently obtained a birth certificate for my grandfather from Khotinsky Uezd, village of Kobolchyn Tsaronik, dated 1912, thanks to the community on this platform. I have his emigrant registration certificate from when he lived here in Brazil, as well as his marriage and death certificates. I also have my father’s birth certificate and my own. Do I need any other documents to apply for citizenship? I’m worried because, since the place where my grandfather lived at the time was Romania but is now Ukraine, I’m apprehensive about having to pay for the process and it not working out.

Ok. I am working on this for my partner. Hopefully I give all the relevant info. From the perspective of my partner:

German Grandmother has child (partner's father) in Germany in 1950 with American grandfather, before they are married.

German grandmother, American grandfather and father move to USA in 1958.

Grandparents marry each other shortly thereafter in New Jersey.

Pretty certain grandmother eventually naturalized in USA

Partner is born to said father and American mother in 1978. Father has German grandmother's maiden name throughout his life.

At first it seems that German grandmother out of wedlock passes German citizenship to partner's father, and partner is eligible.

But some wrinkles. Given that partner's father was born to his German mother, but also to his American father, does USA recognize partner's father as a dual citizen, without partner's father ever having to naturalize (thus not forfeiting German citizenship?)

Partner and father are estranged. So now, I'm wondering what I need to gather. We have partner's birth cert with her dad named on there. But do we have to prove whether or not partner's father naturalized in US? How do we do that?

If he did, I know that it matters when relative to partner's birth.

I am curious if others are experiencing delays in processing. I sent 2 packets USPS (not requesting urgent prioritization) 4/17. It was received on the 27th. I have an original Canadian birth certificate for our G0. Most users of the spreadsheet seem to get their AOR within a few days of arrival. Am I correct the spreadsheet seems to demonstrate a delay in getting AORs for non urgent processing?

Users identifying themselves as trans Americans have reported having their applications processed in as little as two weeks, under the urgent processing criteria established by Canada’s citizenship department, IRCC.

The applications is actually going back beyond grandparents, the key is proving an unbroken documentary chain connecting each generation to the Canadian ancestor. The further back it goes, the harder it gets in practice, as it can get difficult to locate the documents needed to prove the Canadian citizenship of the ancestor.

I would really recommend looking into professional help if you are dealing with a complex multi-generational case, as it makes a big difference having someone who knows exactly what IRCC wants to see.

As for non-certified records, from what I understand, IRCC does not typically need certified records.
Hope this helps, and good luck to us all!

Hello, trying to put my C3 packet together but the copy of the original, embossed docs don’t show the embossed area. I tried reading some How To’s but don’t understand them. Can someone send me a video How To link, please?