Canadian nationality law
From Freepedia
Citizenship in Canada can be obtained by a permanent resident who lives in Canada for three out of four years before applying for citizenship and be able to speak English or French. Time spent as a temporary resident before permanent residence is granted counts as half.
History of Canadian Citizenship
Canada was the second nation in the then British Commonwealth to establish its own nationality law in 1946, with the enactment of the Canadian Citizenship Act 1946. This took effect on 1 January 1947
The first Commonwealth nation to have done so was the Irish Free State, a Commonwealth member until 1949, which establised its own nationality law in 1935.
Under current Canadian law, Canada recognizes and allows for dual citizenship but Passport Canada encourages its citizens to travel abroad on their Canadian Passport, so they can access Canadian consular services.
Acquisition of Canadian Citizenship - 1 January 1947
In order to acquire Canadian citizenship on 1 January 1947 one generally had to be a British subject on that date. The phrase British subject refers in general to anyone from the UK, its colonies at the time, or a Commonwealth country.
Acquisition and loss of British subject status before 1947 was determined by United Kingdom law, although the Canadian government had the authority to confer British subject status on foreign persons through naturalisation. See History of British nationality law
Canadian citizenship was generally conferred on the following persons:
- British subjects born or naturalised in Canada
- British subjects who had resided in Canada as immigrants since 1 January 1942
- British subjects born outside Canada whose father met one of the above criteria and either were aged under 21 on 1 January 1947, or had been admitted to Canada as landed immigrants before that date
- Women who were British subjects married to Canadian men
- Those defined as Indians or Eskimos who were domiciled in Canada on 1 January 1947 (did not need to be British subjects)
Acquisition of Canadian Citizenship - Newfoundland
Newfoundland joined Confederation on 1 April 1949, having previously been a separate British dominion. Amendments were made to the Citizenship Act to confer Canadian citizenship on British subjects from Newfoundland from 1 April 1949 on broadly similar terms to those applying in the rest of Canada since 1947.
Acquisition and Loss of Canadian Citizenship - 1947 to 1977
Canadian citizenship was generally acquired as follows:
- birth in Canada (except in the case of those born to non-British diplomats)
- naturalisation in Canada after five years residence as an immigrant
- grant of citizenship to a foreign woman married to a Canadian man after one year's residence in Canada
- grant of citizenship to women who lost British subject status prior to 1947 upon marriage to a foreign man or his subsequent naturalisation
- registration of child born outside Canada to a Canadian father (in exceptional cases a Canadian mother)
Loss of Canadian citizenship generally occurred in the following cases:
- voluntary acquisition of another citizenship by a Canadian citizen aged 21 or over while outside Canada
- in the case of a person aged under 21, Canadian citizenship was lost if the responsible parent (usually the father, in exceptional cases the mother) lost Canadian citizenship and the child possessed another citizenship at the time
- naturalised Canadians who lived outside Canada for 10 years and did not file a declaration of retention (repealed 7 July 1967)
- where a Canadian had acquired that status by descent from a Canadian parent, loss of citizenship could occur on the person's 24th birthday unless the person was living in Canada on that date or had filed a declaration of retention
Although Canada restricted dual citizenship between 1947 and 1977, there were some situations where Canadians could nevertheless legally possess another citizenship. For example, migrants becoming Canadian citizens were not asked to formally prove that they had ceased to hold the nationality of their former country. Similarly children born in Canada to non-Canadian parents were not under any obligation to renounce a foreign citizenship they had acquired by descent. Holding a foreign passport did not in itself cause loss of Canadian citizenship.
Acquisition and Loss of Canadian Citizenship - From 1977
From 15th February 1977, Canada removed restrictions on dual citizenship. Many of the provisions to acquire or lose Canadian citizenship that existed under the 1946 legislation were repealed.
Under the 1977 legislation, Canadian citizenship is acquired by:
- birth in Canada (except in cases where parents are diplomats)
- birth overseas to a Canadian parent
- naturalisation (grant) after three years residence in Canada
- notification in the case of a woman who lost British subject status by marriage before 1947
- registration in some cases of persons born outside Canada to a Canadian citizen before 15th February 1977 (these provisions were terminated on 14th August 2004).
Canadian citizens are in general no longer subject to involuntary loss of citizenship, barring revocation on the grounds of immigration fraud.
The one exception is section 8 of the Citizenship Act which applies to Canadians born outside Canada to a Canadian parent who also acquired Canadian citizenship by birth outside to a Canadian parent. Such persons lose Canadian citizenship at age 28 unless they have established specific ties to Canada and applied to retain Canadian citizenship.
Children born outside Canada to naturalised Canadian citizens are not subject to the section 8 provisions. Nor is anyone born before 15th February 1977. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizen/retention.html
Japanese Repatriation
On September 22, 1988 the Prime Minister agreed a redress package for Japanese Canadians deported from Canada between 1941 and 1946 (about 4000 in total) and their descendants.
The package authorises a special grant of Canadian citizenship for any such person. All descendants of deported persons are also eligible for grant of citizenship provided they were living on September 22, 1988, regardless of whether the person actually deported from Canada is still alive.
Resumption of Canadian citizenship
Former Canadian citizens who lost their citizenship are generally required to obtain landed immigrant (permanent resident) status under normal rules and live in Canada for one year in order to resume Canadian citizenship.
On 5 May 2005, a special concession has been made to those who lost Canadian citizenship as minors between 1 January 1947 and 14 February 1977 based on a parent's loss of Canadian citizenship. These persons now have an unqualified right to resume Canadian citizenship. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizen/notice-resumption.html
Former Canadians who lost British subject status before 1947 have no specific rights to Canadian citizenship, except in the case of women who lost British subject status on marriage to a foreign man.
Canadians and British nationality
While Canada created Canadian citizenship on 1 January 1947, the United Kingdom nationality legislation continued to grant British nationality to Canadians until 31 December 1948.
At this point, Canadian citizens generally lost British nationality unless they had specific ties to the UK & Colonies itself. However, in the intervening period some people acquired British nationality based on ties solely with Canada, while not acquiring Canadian citizenship. These included:
- women from outside the Commonwealth who married Canadian men in 1947 and 1948 who did not register as Canadian citizens before 1 January 1949.
- children born outside Canada to Canadian fathers in 1947 and 1948 who were not registered as Canadian citizens before 1 January 1949.
Additionally, some British subjects connected with Canada did not become Canadians in 1947. This includes children born outside Canada to Canadian fathers where the child was born before 1926 (hence aged over 21 on 1 January 1947) and had not been admitted to Canada as a landed immigrant before 1947
Under the terms of section 12(4) of the British Nationality Act 1948:
- such persons acquired citizenship of the UK & Colonies (CUKC) on 1 January 1949 on the basis of being British subjects connected with Canada, if they did not have citizenship of, or connections with, another Commonwealth country or Ireland.
- where a person had connections with another Commonwealth country that had not introduced a citizenship law as of 1 January 1949, they acquired citizenship of the UK and Colonies on the date the other country introduced a citizenship law if they did not become a citizen of that country at the time
- A complication arises if the person had a connection with India or Pakistan and such a person may have remained a British subject without citizenship if he did not acquire Indian or Pakistani citizenship.
Persons acquiring CUKC would have retained it upon a later acquisition of Canadian citizenship. However they would only be British citizens today if they had obtained a 'right of abode' in the UK under the terms of the Immigration Act 1971, such as by having a UK-born grandparent. Otherwise they would be British Overseas citizens.
British subjects without citizenship would have retained that status only if they did not acquire a Commonwealth nationality (or Irish citizenship) before 1983, or any citizenship from 1983 or later.
British Overseas citizens and British subjects may register as British citizens if they have no other nationality (and have not lost another nationality since 4 July 2002), but otherwise do not have an automatic right to live in the United Kingdom.
Rights and responsibilities of citizens
Citizens are:
- Able to vote in political elections upon reaching the age of 18.
- Able to serve on a jury.
- Able to run for political office.
- Able to obtain a Canadian passport.
- Able to prevent risk of getting deported from Canada
- Able to work for the Federal government (where citizenship is usually required)
- Allowed to live outside Canada indefinitely while retaining the right to return
- Able to pass on Canadian citizenship to children born outside Canada.
Proof of Canadian Citizenship Document
Any Canadian can apply for a citizenship certificate. New Canadians get a certificate when they are granted citizenship. If you automatically acquired citizenship because you were born outside Canada to a Canadian parent or you are a woman who was landed in Canada before 1947 (e.g., a war bride), you can apply for a citizenship certificate. Details
It can take many months to issue a citizenship certificate. Processing Times for Citizenship Certificates
Commonwealth Citizenship
Under United Kingdom law, Canadians are Commonwealth citizens and hence are entitled to certain rights in the UK:
- access to the UK Working Holiday visa scheme
- for those with a UK born grandparent, access to the Ancestry Visa
- for those born before 1983 who meet the requirements, Right of Abode in the UK
- the right to vote and stand for public office in the UK
