New Immigration Law Might Affect Your Grandchildren

Children of children born abroad to foreign service parents might be affected by the new law. The following is from from the CIC website.

A new law amending the Citizenship Act came into effect on April 17, 2009. The new law gives Canadian citizenship to certain people who lost it and to others who are recognized as citizens for the first time.

Citizenship is automatic and retroactive to the day the person was born or lost citizenship, depending on the situation. These people do not have to apply for citizenship, but may need to apply for a certificate to prove their citizenship. People who were Canadian citizens when the law came into effect will keep their citizenship.

Learn more about the new citizenship law:

Who became a citizen under the new law

The law restores citizenship to people who:

• became citizens when the first citizenship act took effect on January 1, 1947, including people born in Canada prior to 1947 and war brides. It also applies to other British subjects who had lived in Canada for at least five years before 1947, became citizens on January 1, 1947, and who then lost citizenship.

It also restores citizenship to people who:

• were born in Canada or who became Canadian citizens on or after January 1, 1947, and who then lost their citizenship and
• were born outside Canada, on or after January 1, 1947, in the first generation born abroad, to a Canadian citizen.

The law also gives citizenship to some people who have never been citizens. This includes people who:

• were born outside Canada on or after January 1, 1947
• are in the first generation born abroad and
• were born to a Canadian citizen.

Who did not become a citizen under the new law

Some people did not become citizens under the new law. This includes people who:

• did not become citizens when the first citizenship act took effect on January 1, 1947
• were born in Canada but are not citizens because when they were born, one of their parents was a foreign diplomat and neither parent was a permanent resident or citizen of Canada
• were born outside Canada to a Canadian parent, who are not already citizens or who lost their citizenship in the past, and who were born in the second or next generation abroad (this includes people who failed to retain citizenship)
• renounced their citizenship as adults with the Canadian government or
• had their citizenship revoked by the government because it was obtained by fraud.

Understanding the first generation limitation

Under the old rules, it was possible for Canadians to pass on their citizenship to endless generations born outside Canada. To protect the value of Canadian citizenship for the future, the new law limits – with a few exceptions – citizenship by descent to one generation born outside Canada.

This means that children born to Canadian parents in the first generation outside Canada will only be Canadian at birth if:

• one parent was born in Canada, or
• one parent became a Canadian citizen by immigrating to Canada and was later granted citizenship (also called naturalization).

The rules may also affect children adopted by Canadian parents outside Canada, depending on the way in which the child obtained, or will obtain, their Canadian citizenship. Learn more about the new citizenship law and adoption.

Government workers and Canadian Forces personnel

All children born to a Canadian parent who is working outside the country for the Canadian federal or provincial governments, or serving in the Canadian Forces, will be Canadian, regardless of the generation in which they were born outside Canada.*

However, it is important to note that the children of diplomatic or military personnel will have limits on their ability to pass along Canadian citizenship to their own children if those children are born outside of Canada.

This means that their children born outside Canada (the grandchildren of diplomatic or military personnel) will not be Canadian, unless:

• one Canadian parent is working outside the country for the Canadian federal and provincial governments, or serving in the Canadian military; or
• one parent was born or naturalized in Canada (naturalized means they immigrated to Canada and were later granted citizenship).

*This exception does not apply to Canadians employed as locally-engaged staff.

Are you wondering how your situation may be impacted by the new changes?

The following scenarios explain how the change affects a child born to a Canadian parent outside Canada on or after April 17, 2009.

1) Jackie was born in Canada. While living outside Canada, Jackie gives birth to Angela. Angela’s father is not a Canadian citizen. Angela is born in the first generation outside Canada and is a Canadian citizen at birth. Jackie and Angela return to Canada. When in university outside Canada, Angela has a son, Edward. Edward’s father is not a Canadian citizen. Edward is not a citizen of Canada. Angela may apply to sponsor Edward to immigrate to Canada as a permanent resident (if she intends to move back to Canada). If he is granted permanent residence, Angela can apply on her son’s behalf to be granted citizenship immediately.

*If Angela returns to Canada to give birth to her son, Edward would automatically be Canadian, by virtue of being born in Canada.

2) Sarah was born in Canada. While living outside Canada, Sarah gives birth to Jessica. Jessica’s father is also a Canadian citizen. Jessica is a Canadian citizen at birth and is born in the first generation outside Canada. Sarah and Jessica continue to live outside Canada. Years later, not long after she begins working for the private sector outside Canada, Jessica has a daughter, Chelsea, with her partner, Sam. Sam immigrated to Canada and was naturalized (granted citizenship) there years earlier. Chelsea is a Canadian citizen at birth and is born in the first generation outside Canada. Chelsea remains outside Canada and when she grows up, she has a child named Peter. Peter’s father is not Canadian. Peter is not a citizen of Canada.

*If Chelsea comes to Canada to give birth to her son, Peter would automatically be Canadian, by virtue of being born in Canada.

Read more examples of people who are affected by the new law.

What do I need to prove I am a Canadian citizen?

For most purposes, people born in Canada may use their provincial or territorial birth certificate to prove their Canadian citizenship. People who were born in Canada and lost their citizenship, and who either resumed their citizenship in the past or regained it under the new law, should be able to use their birth certificate as proof of citizenship.

People who were born outside Canada need a citizenship certificate to prove their Canadian citizenship. Find out how to apply for a citizenship certificate.