I was born in the US to a Canadian mother and just accepted a summer internship in Vancouver. Canada Border Services will not give me a work visa because they say I am automatically Canadian and don't need one. The problem is, I need to start work in a few days and I can't get an SIN (which I need for work) without a Canadian Citizenship certificate - and they take 5 months to process. So - if I understand this correctly - I was assigned Canadian citizenship (without my knowledge) and I now can't work in Canada for 6 months while my Citizenship is being verified? However, if I wasn't assigned Canadian citizenship, I could get a work visa and an SIN and start work right away? This seems very odd. Are there any other ways for me (and thousands of other unaware "first generation" citizens like me) to get some sort of temporary status so we can work in Canada sooner?
Citizenship by Descent Causing Problems
- Thread starter cancamamo
- Start date
- Location
- Toronto
Hi there,
You weren't "assigned" Canadian citizenship, you are Canadian by virtue of being born to a mother who was either born or naturalized in Canada. In the past, you would have had to confirm that you wanted to keep your citizenship after the age of 27, but not any more.
You have status in Canada. You can live in work in Canada whenever you want to. You could enter Canada whenever you want, though since you don't have proof you will obviously be prevented from doing so until you have proof of your citizenship.
This is what you need to do:
You need to apply for an urgent citizenship certificate from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC, formerly CIC) by completing the application and providing:
Hope this helps.
You weren't "assigned" Canadian citizenship, you are Canadian by virtue of being born to a mother who was either born or naturalized in Canada. In the past, you would have had to confirm that you wanted to keep your citizenship after the age of 27, but not any more.
You have status in Canada. You can live in work in Canada whenever you want to. You could enter Canada whenever you want, though since you don't have proof you will obviously be prevented from doing so until you have proof of your citizenship.
This is what you need to do:
You need to apply for an urgent citizenship certificate from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC, formerly CIC) by completing the application and providing:
- your long form birth certificate (it must list your mother's name)
- proof of your mother's citizenship (a valid passport, her citizenship certificate, her birth certificate, etc.)
- a letter from Service Canada stating that you need your citizenship certificate in order to get your SIN (if you can get this)
- a letter from your internship program stating that you need your citizenship certificate and a SIN to participate in the internship with clear deadlines saying you will not be allowed to participate if you do not provide these things from a specific date
- a cover letter explaining why you need the application to be processed by whatever date.[\li]
Hope this helps.
Thank you so much for your quick response! While I'm sure it wasn't the intent of the law to actually prevent Canadians from being able to work, I was hoping that there would be some sort temporary status that would fill the gap until a certificate could be issued. I will submit the Urgent Request right away and I truly thank you for your detailed advice. Fingers crossed!
- Location
- Toronto
Good luck to you.
- Location
- Toronto
Great news! Did you write a letter to them requesting urgent processing?
- Location
- Toronto
Cool.
Good luck with your internship.
Good luck with your internship.
canadaplaza
New Member
- Location
- Ho Chi Minh
Problem is solved now with some conditions.
- Location
- Toronto
And what would those be?