No. of Recommendations: 5
We have started this process. My dad was born in Canada to an American father, (his dad also born in Canada,) and Canadian mother. His oldest siblings were farmers in Quebec and my family name is still a prolific one there. He was moved back to the US shortly after birth. I use the term Canada for what is now Canada, as in my family's timeframe there, it has had many names and form of government.
Because Dad was born in 1929, getting an official Canadian birth certificate was difficult and we got a lawyer involved. In 1929 there were no official birth certificates and instead you had certificates of baptism from the local parish. Just received the documents needed to put our applications in. Another issue we ran into was the need to document name changes, both for Dad, who in the US used his middle name as his first, and for me due to marriage, and as Dad is no longer with us, we needed his official death certificate in order to get his Canadian birth certificate. Easy enough steps if you know the need for it. Getting the pictures you need for the application was a bit of a struggle, as they are of a different format than US passport pictures that are so easy to get here. Am also a herder of cats to get Youngest to provide me with his documents, as they want family groups to apply together.
For us, being retirees with plenty of assets, being a global citizen is not a big deal. I strongly doubt I would live in Canada for more than the 6 months or so that I have available to me already. I am NOT that big a fan of the cold. We have two offspring, however, roughly in their early 30's give or take, for whom I am doing this. Eldest, who can work from anywhere, already has his eye on Toronto, and our Environmentalist is excited about possible relocation as well. It will be easier to buy property in Toronto if a dual citizen. They are both still single and this is a great time to consider their options. We already gravitate toward Maine and Canada for our Summers, and getting dual citizenship for me will make it easier to bring DH along if we chose a more permanent relocation.
It's been really fun along the way learning more about my ancestry. Dad was youngest of 10 children, I am youngest of 6, and three of my grandparents were already dead when I was born with the 4th not speaking English and dead before I could conceive of the interest in my family history. I doubt they would have known of it, anyway. Always thought we were simply peasant farming stock, so it was a kick to find out that I can trace my family back to Toussaint LeDran, who came to "New France" in the mid 1600's. Through LeDran and his mother Charlotte Couvent we have direct lines back to Charlemagne and more. No family jewels, unfortunately, though the knowledge alone is a gift in itself.
Happy to answer questions about the process. The process is surprisingly cheap, compared to other ways of getting dual citizenship. We are reclaiming our Canadian citizenship now, in part out of concern that the popularity will trigger laws restricting it once again, similar to what happened with Italy. Many of my siblings are doing the same with their kids and grandkids. While none of my generation is looking to move there and usurp the health insurance without having paid into it, we want to offer the option to reside there to our descendants. As much as I understand the concerns regarding the health care being swamped with retirees, I suspect it is overblown. Time will tell.
IP
No. of Recommendations: 1
I'm not far behind you. The details of the new law didn't click with me until last week; but I've been putting together a task list and digging into my ancestry. It turns out that my birth family spent about 250 years in Canada; so there are some deep roots there but some of the older paperwork is hard to locate.
No. of Recommendations: 2
...some of the older paperwork is hard to locate.
An account on Ancestry.com can be helpful. Family Search also has some records. If you knows where your ancestors were born or died, you could try requesting those records from that municipality or through VitalChek. Make sure every site you use to track the records is legit. A friend of mine said her search got her into a scam, which happily she recognized as such and veered away without harm. You mention "birth family" which suggests you are adopted. There are some different rules for adoptees, but beyond knowing they exist, I know nothing else.
Make sure to tell the story of the way you are connected in such a way that you have proof for everything. Dad's birth certificate shows his middle name as his first name, so we had to document how he was now referred that way on all our US documents, including my birth certificate. We included things like an old census from when he was a kid, his draft documents, a passport, my marriage certificate to show the link between my maiden name and married name. His dad's death certificate that showed he was born in the USA, which was how my dad got US citizenship. I duplicated copies of all the needed documentation for each of our applications, so that they could each stand on their own if separated. Simply mailing in the package was an adventure, with UPS being better than FedEx by far. Generating your own UPS label and bringing it to the UPS store will save you about $70 on shipping, as opposed to them creating and packing it up. They still attached everything for me.
We probably could have skipped the immigration lawyer, and indeed we only used her to get the birth certificate, but it made the process easier and between all of us it was not excessive.
I am very happy our family departure from Canada was so recent. My friend has to go back 4 generations. She will be mailing in an encyclopedia of information.
Happy historic adventuring!
IP
