I am Canadian!

[marmite]

First thing... this is not a political rant, clickbait or about Molson beer slogans. I just wanted to share a big moment.

It came as quite a shock today, picking up my mail to see an envelope from Immigration. I honestly thought it was bad news about my application status. Instead, I opened the envelope and discovered a beautiful Canadian Citizenship certificate was inside. This is my long awaited "confirmation" of citizenship, in essence the government is confirming I have been Canadian since birth. I couldn't believe seeing the certificate would make me cry, but wow, this was such an emotional moment for many reasons.

I will still treasure having British citizenship, but I honestly can't wait another moment to apply for a Canadian passport and will start that process tonight. I will not miss renewing my Permanent Resident status every five years, or keeping up with all the ESTA applications to travel to the US. I will finally be able to check in online for flights, breeze through the airport and not need special screening of my documents. All great things for someone who loves to travel (as I'm sure many of you can relate to).

 

[SmithOp]

Congratulations!

I felt the same back in 1973 when I was sworn in as a US citizen and received my naturalization certificate. Still British at heart but very much an American now.

 

[am1]

Remember Canadians are not traveling to US anymore. Congrats on exercising your birth right.

 

[jackio]

Congratulations

 

[Passepartout]

Congratulations to ALL who get to be official CITIZENS of where the wish to be!

 

[LAX Mom]

Congrats Marmite! We love Canada and the people who live there!

 

[easyrider]

Congratulations.

Bill

 

[GrayFal]

Congratulations, I am glad this has made you so happy!

 

[pedro47]

Congratulations that was a very special envelope. Treasure the content inside that envelope.

 

[geist1223]

How long did it take. I need to get my Act together and apply for Canadian Citizenship. My Dad was born in Canada and lived there until he was 18. Once I get it done my Kids can apply. My middle Son is also looking to apply to several European Countries.

 

[Bucky]

Having been born and raised in MI we spent plenty of time in Canada. Beautiful country with beautiful people. Congrats.

 

[Brett]

Congratz

I've visited Canada many times (mostly at Niagara Falls which is better than the American side )

 

[marmite]

How long did it take. I need to get my Act together and apply for Canadian Citizenship. My Dad was born in Canada and lived there until he was 18. Once I get it done my Kids can apply. My middle Son is also looking to apply to several European Countries.

I'm not sure what the wait is for applying for Canadian Citizenship, it depends on the situation and they give you the approximate current wait times on their website (there is a link to find out processing times on this page). My situation is being born abroad to a Canadian mother (while living in England). My wait time when I applied was supposed to be 4 months, but it ended up taking 14 months (they received my application in December 2024). I do not think this is the norm, they were having difficulty finding a copy of a specific document that they were searching for.

Also, there is new legislation that applies,The Citizenship Act has just been amended by Bill C-3, permanently ending the first-generation limit that prevented people from being recognized as Canadian citizens. I don't know all the details, but yes, there are ways for people to claim their citizenship even back through a great-grandparent.

Both my daughters are born in Canada so are Canadian Citizens, but for the youngest we applied on her behalf for British Citizenship (just last year) and although there was a lot of back-and-forth, it was a very quick for her to get her Citizenship, approximately 3 months. Good luck with your application process. I had a hard time answering some of the questions about where my mother was living during specific years, I can only imagine how little information I would have had if trying to apply based on information about a great-grandparent!

 

[marmite]

Remember Canadians are not traveling to US anymore. Congrats on exercising your birth right.

Thanks for the congratulations. I still have a lot of for my American neighbours (many of which are on TUG) and do continue to travel there.

 

[moonstone]

Congratulations from a fellow Canuck! I remember how excited my late in-laws were when they finally got their Canadian citizenship (both also born in the UK).

~Diane

 

[AJCts411]

Remember Canadians are not traveling to US anymore. Congrats on exercising your birth right.

This one is as many others are. Problem is the $1.42 ish exchange rate. The retirees can't afford it any longer. Congrats on your citizenship.

 

[joestein]

Thanks for the congratulations. I still have a lot of for my American neighbours (many of which are on TUG) and do continue to travel there.

I think most still do. Most American and Canadians don't hate each other or the countries. It is just the news that tries to push the most divisive angle to every story.

 

[easyrider]

Thanks for the congratulations. I still have a lot of for my American neighbours (many of which are on TUG) and do continue to travel there.

I see many Canadians on all of our winter trips. I took this picture in Palm Springs the other day. There are plenty of Canadians enjoying the weather in Palm Springs.

Bill

 

[Patri]

Congratulations. Never thought about this issue. Why do Brits tend to move to Canada, and then to change citizenship? Or are you dual now?

 

[marmite]

Congratulations. Never thought about this issue. Why do Brits tend to move to Canada, and then to change citizenship? Or are you dual now?

I can't speak on behalf of all British people, but my Dad was British and my mum Canadian. Canada being a Commonwealth country may have made it easier to move to for a Brit... I don't really know what the rules were back then. My parents had to make a choice of where to live and chose to be near my Mum's family in BC. I was a British citizen with Canadian Permanent Resident status... I am now a dual citizen. At present both countries allow dual citizenship so I don't have to make a choice between the two.

 

[marmite]

I see many Canadians on all of our winter trips. I took this picture in Palm Springs the other day. There are plenty of Canadians enjoying the weather in Palm Springs.

Bill

View attachment 122551

Nice photo. I will be visiting later this year. Palm Desert has always been in our regular rotation of timeshare trips.

 

[dioxide45]

I am curious what made this all possible? Was there a new law passed that allowed you to obtain Canadian citizenship based on your birth to a Canadian citizen? I would have thought that you would have long been able to obtain Canadian citizenship based on your mother's citizenship? Could your parents have sought Canadian citizenship for you via a consular report of birth abroad back when you were born in the UK? Was there something else that prevented you from applying previously?

 

[marmite]

I am curious what made this all possible? Was there a new law passed that allowed you to obtain Canadian citizenship based on your birth to a Canadian citizen? I would have thought that you would have long been able to obtain Canadian citizenship based on your mother's citizenship? Could your parents have sought Canadian citizenship for you via a consular report of birth abroad back when you were born in the UK? Was there something else that prevented you from applying previously?

My parents could have applied for me when I was a child, and it would have been fairly straightforward process to apply. Unfortunately they did nothing and left it to me. As a young adult I did not really care about having citizenship or not, I had only really ever known having a UK passport and being (what they called back then) "a Landed Immigrant". My Dad was one too, and it never really occurred to me that being a citizen was important.

It was really my husband who was on my case to get citizenship, primarily to make it easier for us to travel. The first time I started filling in an application for citizenship, was just prior to 9/11. Then of course the world changed drastically in the blink of an eye. Screening immigration applications became much more thorough, and there was a huge backlog in Canada. I never sent in my application. I think 9/11 was just so shocking, and applying for citizenship just did not seem important compared to what was going on. The application process back then, was that I would have to apply for citizenship and then take the test (like any other immigrant). The only thing preventing me from applying was me. 100% my fault.

So lots of time has passed, and this time around, the catalyst was me wanting to be able to vote here and really feeling the need to be a citizen. I'm not talking specifically about the situation in the US, but worldwide I can see that it is getting harder to immigrate and the rules are changing constantly. I wanted my second passport (heck, I may even want a third one). I want to know that I will not be deported. I want to be able to go to the Canadian embassy if I have issues abroad, etc. My travel documentation was getting annoying too (as I mentioned). Plenty of reasons for me to want citizenship and have a Canadian passport now.

You're right though, in the meantime there was something that did change, where I could just apply for "Confirmation of Citizenship". That option was something I had learned about just in the last couple of years (there were some changes in 2015 that may have made this an option). It seemed like it would be a more straightforward process, cheaper to apply for and faster to be processed (though it wasn't faster in my case). I did not have to take the test and will not have a swearing in ceremony. From what I've read, the really big changes have happened in December 2025, and will allow "Lost Canadians" to claim citizenship by descent.

 

[zentraveler]

How long did it take. I need to get my Act together and apply for Canadian Citizenship. My Dad was born in Canada and lived there until he was 18. Once I get it done my Kids can apply. My middle Son is also looking to apply to several European Countries.

Geist1223, Would advise getting to that sooner rather than later. I looked into getting an Irish/EU passport (my grandfather was Patrick O'Byran and he and my grandmother are 100% Irish) but by the time I got around to it I was a generation too late. My mother could have gotten one and then me and the sibs could have, but she was gone by then and I missed my chance. Was too busy to even think of it when it would have been easy.

 

[dioxide45]

My parents could have applied for me when I was a child, and it would have been fairly straightforward process to apply. Unfortunately they did nothing and left it to me. As a young adult I did not really care about having citizenship or not, I had only really ever known having a UK passport and being (what they called back then) "a Landed Immigrant". My Dad was one too, and it never really occurred to me that being a citizen was important.

It was really my husband who was on my case to get citizenship, primarily to make it easier for us to travel. The first time I started filling in an application for citizenship, was just prior to 9/11. Then of course the world changed drastically in the blink of an eye. Screening immigration applications became much more thorough, and there was a huge backlog in Canada. I never sent in my application. I think 9/11 was just so shocking, and applying for citizenship just did not seem important compared to what was going on. The application process back then, was that I would have to apply for citizenship and then take the test (like any other immigrant). The only thing preventing me from applying was me. 100% my fault.

So lots of time has passed, and this time around, the catalyst was me wanting to be able to vote here and really feeling the need to be a citizen. I'm not talking specifically about the situation in the US, but worldwide I can see that it is getting harder to immigrate and the rules are changing constantly. I wanted my second passport (heck, I may even want a third one). I want to know that I will not be deported. I want to be able to go to the Canadian embassy if I have issues abroad, etc. My travel documentation was getting annoying too (as I mentioned). Plenty of reasons for me to want citizenship and have a Canadian passport now.

You're right though, in the meantime there was something that did change, where I could just apply for "Confirmation of Citizenship". That option was something I had learned about just in the last couple of years (there were some changes in 2015 that may have made this an option). It seemed like it would be a more straightforward process, cheaper to apply for and faster to be processed (though it wasn't faster in my case). I did not have to take the test and will not have a swearing in ceremony. From what I've read, the really big changes have happened in December 2025, and will allow "Lost Canadians" to claim citizenship by descent.

Thanks for the explanation. I was curious about the mechanics of it all. I just read the other day where the UK will start requiring UK citizens to enter the UK with their British passport. I am surprised they didn't already require this. I am a US/CAN dual citizen living in the US and already enter Canada with my Canadian passport and on the way back to the US I show my American passport. It means I have to carry both passports around all the time now, even when not traveling to Canada. You never know when you might be traveling and have to go back home. That may not apply to everyone, but my I still have family in Canada. Now that the UK is no longer part of the EU, if you ever go to Europe I suppose you can choose which passport to use.