Replacement Citizenship Certificate (Card)

A Citizenship Card was the old proof of Canadian Citizenship issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It has been replaced by the Citizenship Certifcate, though either is acceptable proof of your status. The Card / Certificate is proof of your citizenship if you are a naturalized Canadian Citizen (you swore the oath), if you were born to Canadian parents overseas, or if you applied for it to have proof in addition to your Birth Certificate. You can use either the Card or the Certificate to take advantage of your benefits as a Canadian Citizen. Use it to

• apply for a passport
• apply for government issued ID
• vote
• work and study here as a citizen
• buy properties

To get one directly you should apply using CIC’s website. Fill out the forms and mail them to the processing centre with the fee.
If you would like to use Immigroup to file your Citizenship Certificate application, download the forms and submit them to our office by fax (416-640-2650), email, mail, courier, or in person . If you are using a service like Immigroup’s, you will need to complete a "Use of Representative" (IMM 5476), included in our package.

If you would like our office to assist you with the application, address your package to:
Immigroup Inc.
1180 Danforth Avenue
Toronto ON
M4J 1M3

If you are sending your application directly to CIC by regular mail, you should address the package to:
Case Processing Centre – Sydney
Proof of Citizenship
P.O. Box 10000
SYDNEY, NS B1P 7C1
CANADA

However, if you are sending your application by courier, you should address the package to:
Case Processing Centre, Sydney
Proof of Citizenship
47-49 Dorchester Street
Sydney, NS
B1P 5Z2

You get your Citizenship Certificate directly after you take the oath of Citizenship and relinquish your PR Card.

All CIC fees must be paid in Canadian dollars. You can pay the $75 fee in one of two ways:

• Online with
  • A Visa, Mastercard or American Express credit card
  • A printer and
  • An email address
• In person at a Canadian financial institution. In order to do so you must get an original fee receipt (IMM 5401) from CIC.
• If you live overseas, and you cannot pay online, you will have to pay where you are applying, as you cannot pay at a Canadian financial institution. You cannot pay by personal cheque at a visa office or embassy.

The current processing time for a regular application is 6 months.

If you require your citizenship certificate urgently, it may be possible to expedite the processing of your application. Contact us to determine if you meet the requirements. It may be possible to receive your certificate in as little as 10 – 15 business days.

The photos should measure 35 mm x 45 mm (1 3/8? x 1 3/4?). The photos can be either black and white or color. Photos must have been taken within the last 6 months to ensure an up-to-date likeness. You must be facing the camera directly, with a neutral expression. The back of the photo should bear the date the photo was taken. You should take the photo specifications with you to the photographer.

Photograph and head size specifications

• The face must be square to the camera with a neutral expression, neither frowning nor smiling, with the mouth closed.
• If the photographs do not meet the specifications, you will have to provide new photographs before your application can be processed.

Requirements

• Provide two (2) identical citizenship photographs (except Renunciation applications, where only one (1) photo is required.)
• Your photographs must comply with the specifications below. If the photographs do not meet the specifications, you will have to provide new photographs before your application can be processed.
• Photographs must be printed on quality photographic paper.
• Provide the name of the photographer or the studio, the studio address and the date the photos were taken on the back of the photos
• Print the name of the person on the back of the photos.

Specifications

• The photographs must be identical and taken within the last six months. They may be either black and white or colour.
• The photographs must be clear, well defined and taken against a plain white or light-coloured background.
• If the photographs are digital, they must not be altered in any way.
• Your face must be square to the camera with a neutral expression, neither frowning nor smiling, and with your mouth closed.
• You may wear non-tinted prescription glasses as long as your eyes are clearly visible. Make sure that the frame does not cover any part of your eyes. Sunglasses are not acceptable.
• A hairpiece or other cosmetic accessory is acceptable if it does not disguise your normal appearance.
• If you must wear a head covering for religious reasons, make sure your full facial features are not obscured.

Photograph and head size specifications

• The frame size must be at least 35 mm x 45 mm (1 3/8? x 1 3/4?).
• The photographs must show the full front view of the head, with the face in the middle of the photograph, and include the top of the shoulders.
• The size of the head, from chin to crown, must be between 31 mm (1 1/4?) and 36 mm (1 7/16?).
• Crown means the top of the head or (if obscured by hair or a head covering) where the top of the head or skull would be if it could be seen.
• If the photographs do not meet the specifications, you will have to provide new photographs before your application can be processed.

Immigroup can help you check the status of your application as it is processing. Please contact us for assistance.
You may also check the status of your application by visiting CIC’s website. You must have the following information to check the status of your application online:

• The applicant’s date of birth
• The applicant’s country of birth
• The applicant’s last name
• ONE of the following:
• Applicant’s client ID number
• Applicant’s Record of Landing or Confirmation of Permanent Residence number
• Applicant’s IMM5401 receipt of payment number for the receipt submitted with the application
• Applicant’s Immigration File number
• Applicant’s Permanent Resident Card number
• Applicant’s Citizenship Receipt number
• Applicant’s Citizenship File number

Without this information you will not be able to check the status of your application. If you are missing the required documentation and / or you would like assistance with this process please contact us at Immigroup at 1-866-760-2623.

Yes, you can. You can apply at a Canadian visa office or Embassy or you can apply directly to CIC if you are using Canadian or American IDs to support your identity.

If you lost or damaged your original Citizenship Card (or Certificate) issued to you at your naturalization, or had it stolen, then your application is for a replacement certificate.
If you have never had a Citizenship Card (or Certificate) because you were born in Canada or you were born to Canadian parents overseas, and you want proof of your Canadian Citizenship, then you need to apply for your first certificate.

If you were born in Canada, or born to Canadian parents in another country*, you are a Canadian Citizen. If you were naturalized, meaning you took the citizenship test (unless you were a minor at the time), and swore the citizenship oath in front of a judge, you are a Canadian Citizen. If neither applies to you, you are not a Canadian citizen.>
*If your birth was not registered at the nearest Canadian diplomatic mission you may not be a Canadian Citizen if you were born before 1977. You may need to apply for ministerial permission to become a Canadian citizen through the 2009 citizenship regulation changes.

You may still be able to apply for a replacement citizenship certificate. Please contact our office for more information.

You can only apply with valid IDs. You will have to renew them before you apply.

As a Canadian Citizen, you are only allowed to hold one proof of citizenship at a time, just like you are only allowed to hold one Canadian Passport at a time. Holding more than one document proving your Canadian citizenship is against the law, so if you are in possession of the old document you must submit it with your application to update the information.

Yes you can, provided you are using Canadian or American issued IDs to support your identity. If your identification documents (besides passports) were issued outside Canada or the USA, you must apply through the Canadian consulate closest to you in order for your IDs to be authenticated.

Yes you can, however, if nationals from your country require a visa to enter Canada, then you will need to acquire a visa to enter on your foreign passport even though you are a Canadian citizen because you do not have proof of your Canadian citizenship. Do nationals from your country need a visa to enter Canada?

The regular processing time in Canada is about 5-6 months. Applying through a Canadian embassy or consulate adds 3 – 4 months to the processing time..

It takes longer because CIC has to do more work to authenticate your non-Canadian IDs. It will usually take another 3-4 months on top of the regular processing time.

You should contact CIC and ask that your application be withdrawn.

You will need to apply for a Certificate of Canadian Citizenship and then you will have to use that to get a passport or an emergency travel document through the Canadian consulate in the country where you are located.

You will need to replace it by applying for a replacement Citizenship Certificate.

If you do not understand why the application was returned to you, contact us to determine how we can make sure your application is processed.

• Correct all mistakes indicated by the officer and follow any instructions
• Double check your entire application to make sure there are no other errors
• Return the whole application back to CIC with the letter and instructions attached
• Send the package to the attention of the officer who sent your application back to you

If the mistake was on your Record of Landing, you must file a Request to Amend the Record of Landing with CIC. After you receive the result you may then apply for an updated citizenship certificate and request the amended date of birth to be listed.
Some provinces will let you fix the mistake by applying to change your date of birth officially through the registrar general of that province, and then you can apply to have it fixed on your citizenship certificate. Not all provinces will do this (Ontario and Quebec will not) so you must contact your Registrar. See here for a list of Provincial Registrars.

You should contact CIC as soon as possible for an update on your application.

No, you cannot lose your Canadian citizenship because you have a criminal record. The only way you can lose your citizenship is if you acquired it through misrepresenting yourself on your PR and Citizenship applications.

It is now possible to lose your citizenship if you misrepresented yourself when you became a Permanent Resident or when you became a citizen. If this is discovered it is possible that the government of Canada will look into revoking your citizenship. You should contact Immigroup for a consultation.

You will need to apply for a replacement Citizenship Certificate before you can get your new passport or an emergency travel document. Without this proof of citizenship you will not be able to come back to Canada because you will not be able to replace your passport or get an emergency travel document.
An emergency travel document is a temporary travel document for Canadian citizens trying to return to Canada from overseas without a passport. You need proof of citizenship to get one.

Citizenship Certificates and Cards do not have an expiry date. If your Certificate is still in acceptable condition, you do not have to replace it. If it is damaged or if it is unreadable you do have to replace it because the government will not accept it as proof you are a Canadian citizen.

The commemoration of your citizenship ceremony which you received after taking the oath is not an official proof of citizenship. It does not contain the security features that the certificate contains, and it is not acceptable as proof when applying for government benefits or for trying to prove your status. The commemoration and certificate are not the same thing.

The replacement certificate is your valid proof of citizenship and the old document is no longer valid as you would have declared it lost to apply for the new certificate. You should send the old card to CIC as you are not legally allowed to carry two proofs.

• We have helped thousands of clients with citizenship matters. This gives us the experience that you can utilize.
• We make sure that we submit the best possible application for every single client.
• We have been in business since 2004.
• Our staff members have years of experience in the immigration field.
• You can call us between 8:00am and 6:00pm Eastern Standard Time and speak to a live professional.
• More than half a million people visit www.immigroup.com each year to use our great tools and information.
• Our legal fees are disclosed on our website. Not many law firms are willing to do that!
• We make it easy for you to get started on your application by email, phone, or fax.
• Customer service, sound and ethical advice are our highest priority. Once you have used us you will feel the difference knowledge, service, and loyalty makes.
• We think outside the box to help you with your case, but we don’t take clients on just because they can pay!
Expect an honest opinion – we will advise you if applying is not in your best interest. Click here to see our firm’s application statistics
• We go out on a limb to give you the highest level of service.
• We don’t take short cuts - we are perfectionists!

Top priority applicants usually receive their Citizenship Certificate within 10 – 15 business days of filing. Urgent filing applicants usually receive their Citizenship Certificate within 20-30 business days of filing. Please note that it is the CIC officer’s decision whether your proof of urgency is accepted or not. Please click here for our most up to date statistics and disclaimer.

No application has a guaranteed successful outcome whether you submit it yourself, use our company, or hire the most expensive lawyer in Canada. However, the great thing about Immigroup is that you can see statistics of the success rate of our past applications. If your Citizenship Certificate does not come in the time frame, we will refund the difference between urgent and regular service. Click here for detailed statistics

Immigroup has the highest standards in hiring and training. Mistakes that effect the processing time of your application are extremely rare. However, if Immigroup makes a mistake on your application which causes a delay in processing, we will take full responsibility and process a refund appropriate to the situation. Click here to see statistics on these incidents and our terms of reimbursement to you.

You do not have to use a representative for your Citizenship Certificate application or any application.

You can definitely do any application on your own without hiring a company to help you. However, when you use Immigroup, you gain these advantages over people who do it themselves:

• You can be completely sure that the best possible application was submitted. This means that there will be no mistakes, errors, or omissions which could cause delays or refusals of an application.
• This also means that Immigroup will offer you the most ethical and sound advice regarding your application. We will tell you if something in your application works against you or could cause problems in the future.
• Immigroup has years of experience which can be leveraged in your favor to know what works and what doesn’t in an application.
• Using Immigroup will also save you time because you don’t have to fight with the government to submit an application or follow up on it. You can simply call or email any time you want to know the status of your application.
• Immigroup offers 20% off our service fee for every additional application.
• Immigroup offers 20% off our service fee for returning clients.

We are committed to helping everyone with their immigration needs. This is why www.immigroup.com offers free tools and information to answer all types of immigration questions. We have also accumulated a database of free government and non-for-profit agency information which can be searched: click here and start searching. Immigroup does charge a fee for all services, but we are always looking for feedback on how we can further help our community. Our email address is info@immigroup.com

You can easily search our database of FAQs. However, if you still can’t find the answer to your question, email us your question and you will receive a response within 2 business days. Depending on the complexity of your question, you may be advised to schedule a consultation with one of our immigration practitioners to ensure that you receive the best advice. The cost for a consultation is $84.75 (tax included) which is up to 30 minutes; however, if you retain Immigroup for a full service after the consultation, this fee well be deducted from the cost of the service. Consultations are available in person at our Toronto office or by phone. (Other options are available for hearing-impaired persons.) Call us at 1-866-760-2623 or email at info@immigroup.com to schedule your consultation. Click here for more information.

Only general information is available when you call our office. If you are still unsure how you should proceed, contact us to schedule a consultation to discuss the details of your specific case. Click here for more info.

I used Immigroup but I lost my Citizenship Certificate. Do I have to do the entire process again?

Do you offer any discounts?

I need your help, but I can’t afford the fees? Can you help?

My case is complex, are you the right firm to use?

Do you know something that the government does not?

Can I pay you in installments?

Do I pay you when I get my card?

Do you work weekends or evenings?

How accurate is your website?

I had something happen to me that is not posted on this webpage

I can’t find an answer to my question

Canadian Citizenship is a nationality and a right acquired by being born in Canada, by being born to Canadian parents overseas, or being naturalized (taking the oath of citizenship). A Canadian citizen can vote in Canadian elections, run for office in Canada, work and study and Canada, serve in the Canadian military, and receive government benefits, among other rights and privileges. Canadian Citizens are allowed to travel on a Canadian Passport. As a Canadian citizen, you will also be eligible for jury duty.

Originally, Canadian citizenship was similar to British citizenship since all Canadians were subjects of the British Crown. At Confederation, the Canadian Parliament was given control over citizenship and immigration. In 1910, the first mention of “Canadian Citizen” appears in law. Canadian Citizens were born in Canada, naturalized in Canada, or even British who moved to Canada. But this only meant that these people didn’t have to undergo immigration controls. In 1914, it became slightly harder to naturalize in Canada: the residence requirement changed from three to five years. In 1921, the notion of Canadian Nationality (and hence citizenship) was finally put into law as a separate thing from British nationality.
In 1931 Canada finally gained full legislative independence from Britain but retained various rules about citizenship inherited from Britain. This continued until the Canadian Citizenship Act of 1946. If you were a British subject living in Canada at this time, you most likely became a Canadian citizen. This also applies to British Subjects living in Newfoundland when Newfoundland joined Canada three years later in 1949.
The biggest change in Canadian citizenship regulations occurred in 1977. These new rules legalized dual citizenship in Canada and also made it official that anyone born in Canada after 1947 was automatically a Canadian citizen (unless they were the child of a foreign diplomat). This is proved through the issuance of a birth certificate. The other effect of the new law was that children born to Canadian parents overseas became Canadian at birth, having only to apply for proof of their citizenship. Additionally, if you were the son or daughter of the son or daughter of a Canadian born overseas (i.e. second generation) you could still claim your citizenship if you applied to do so before your 28th birthday.
In 2009 this last rule changed. Citizenship by descent (outside of Canada) now only applies to the first generation but there is no need to apply or register your status. For those second generation children born after April 17, 2009, who are now not Canadian citizens (even if they have siblings born before April 17, who are Canadian citizens), these children can become Canadian Citizens if they first become Permanent Residents. They do not need to wait the usual three years to apply for citizenship.
These new changes also affected adoption. Foreigners adopted by Canadian Citizens in Canada now become Canadian Citizens at the time of the adoption.

There used to be many different ways to prove Canadian citizenship. Before 1977, those who were born in Canada can prove their citizenship through a birth certificate only if they also didn’t lose their citizenship under the pre-1977 rules. Those born overseas before 1977 to a Canadian need a certificate of registration of birth and a Certificate of Retention of Canada Citizenship. Those naturalized before 1977 received a Certificate of Naturalization as proof. At this time, if you lost your Certificate of Naturalization, it was replaced with a pink copy. This copy is no longer acceptable proof of citizenship.
After 1977 Canada issued a photo ID Citizenship Card [photo]. It contained the citizen’s picture, name, height and eye colour. This was in place until February 2012. Because they didn’t have to be updated, they weren’t very good IDs. The photo ID card has been replaced by a Citizenship Certificate, an 8” x 11” double-side piece of paper that contains more security features than the old card. The Coat of Arms of Canada is on the front and a machine-readable barcode is on the back. Both the old Card and the new Certificate are proof of citizenship. It also helps ensure that people will stop trying to use their Citizenship Cards as IDs. Of course, if you were naturalized before the Card came into effect; a Certificate of Naturalization is proof of citizenship, provided it is still in good condition.
A person who is a permanent resident may apply for Canadian citizenship by naturalization (grant) subject to the conditions outlined by CIC.
A Canadian passport, though seen as proof of Canadian citizenship outside of Canada, is not normally acceptable proof of citizenship when dealing with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Your citizenship commemoration is different than your Citizenship Certificate and is not proof of citizenship by itself.

Please see Right of Citizenship. You can become a citizen of Canada through naturalization if you are over 18 and

• are a permanent resident
• you have lived in Canada for a total of 1095 days during the four years preceding your application for citizenship, including two years as a permanent resident
• have knowledge of Canada (as demonstrated by taking a test, which is required as part of the application process, but only if the applicant is between 18 and 54 years of age)
• have proof of your knowledge of the English or French language
• are not a subject to any criminal prohibitions
• you are not a war criminal
• you are able to speak English or French well enough to communicate with people[8]

If you are a child, you have fewer requirements:

• you should be a permanent resident
• your parent should be a Canadian citizen or in the process of applying for Canadian citizenship

If you are 14 or over you must attend a citizenship ceremony as the final stage of their application.

In 1977, the new rules made it impossible to give up your citizenship without officially renouncing it. However, new laws mean you could lose your citizenship if you are convicted for fraud regarding your immigration admission or your citizenship application.
You could have lost your citizenship before 1977 if you

• were naturalized in another (dual citizenship wasn’t legal in Canada)
• lived outside of Canada for a prolonged period of time
• if your parent lost their citizenship while you were a child

In 2007 efforts were made to help those who had lost their citizenship prior to 1977. By the new citizenship rules of 2009, it was possible to regain your Canadian citizenship if you could claim it by descent.

Canadian citizens are eligible to apply.

The application fee for a PR Card is $75 CDN. The cost of the Citizenship Certificate using Immigroup depends on the processing time. Please see the fee grid above.

This paper document is literally the record of your landing in Canada as an immigrant. If you were naturalized, you would have received one at the time you landed in Canada.

Laminating your certificate or altering it in any other way is considered damaging it. If you have laminated it, it will not be accepted by Passport Canada or other federal agencies and you must apply to replace it.

No, you cannot alter your certificate in anyway. If you do so, it may be refused as proof of citizenship by Passport Canada and other federal agencies.

Your Citizenship Card or Certificate is official proof that you are a citizen of Canada. They both have embedded security features that make them difficult to forge. A photocopy is just a piece of paper; it lacks the security features of your Card or Certificate and it is much easier to fake. Always use the real thing when applying for your privileges as a Canadian citizen, unless the application you are submitting specifically requires a copy.

The pink copy of your naturalization certificate is not acceptable proof. You will need to apply for a new certificate.