Recent applicants under Canada expanded citizenship laws dey face new scrutiny from government, even after dia citizenship application don already approve. Di most recent amendment to di country Citizenship Act enable wave of applications for citizenship by descent, some of which now dey face pushback from federal government.
On afternoon of June 13, Canada citizenship department send emails to recent recipients of Canadian citizenship certificate across United States. Dis na people wey already hold Canadian citizenship certificate. Some even get passport and Social Insurance Number, dey expect make dem move to Canada soon. Di letter tell dem say dia citizenship claim, once approved, now dey under review.
Di letters cite subsection 26(1) of di Citizenship Regulations. Dis na di rule wey let Registrar of Canadian Citizenship ask person to surrender citizenship certificate—one of di few documents wey enable new Canadian citizen to obtain passport—when there be reason to believe dem maybe no get right to am. Dis process no be revocation of citizenship, though e fit lead to one, but na review. Di letter ask for di paper certificate back while dia application file dey re-examined. E also say di recipient of di letter fit respond with more documentary evidence to support dia application. If entitlement dey confirmed, di certificate go come back.
Di letters from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada give two reasons why dem flag dis applications for review. First, di documents submitted no come from source authority: civil registry, vital statistics office, provincial archive, or another official body wey create and hold di record wey dey needed to support citizenship application. Second, when applicant no fit get source document, dem no include written explanation and proof say dem try to obtain said documents.
Based on information wey dem submit to citizenship forums, di people wey receive dis surrender request letters dey fall into few groups. Some use printouts from Ancestry or FamilySearch as dia main proof for ancestor. Some get certified records but from archive rather than vital statistics office, and now dey wonder whether archive count. Some get real gap; no birth record dey for ancestor wey born for 1850s, but dem never formally document di gap to IRCC for dia application.
Individuals wey don receive surrender letter dey usually told explicitly what factors don raise immigration officer suspicions, and dem still fit submit further documentary evidence to support dia application. For di referenced round of issued letters, di two reasons cited—documents no come from source authority, and missing explanation for gap—don cause confusion among applicants.
Shawn Davis Mooney, wey recently relocate permanently from California to Victoria, British Columbia, with im husband, alarm when e receive im letter. E apply for Canadian citizenship after di so-called Lost Canadians law come into effect late last year. With help of lawyer, e say e submit 114 pages of documents wey show great-great-grandparent born for New Brunswick. Dem approve am for urgent processing and grant am citizenship certificate for February. Now, e no sure of im status for Canada. E say di letter leave am and im lawyers confused. E maintain say im application na exhaustive.
Rana Charron, wey live for Cleveland, Ohio, say she apply for Canadian citizenship using census records wey prove her great-great-grandmother na French-Canadian and come from Quebec, as no birth certificate or baptismal records dey available from dat time. Dem approve her application, and she receive physical copy of her Canadian citizenship certificate earlier dis month. Now, she dey prepare to send am back. She say di letter na one of di largest disappointments she don get for her life.
Lisa Middlemiss, Montreal immigration lawyer, say di letters shock her. She note say only for very rare circumstances fit government revoke citizenship, and di people wey dey receive surrender letters don already go through appropriate process as set out by Canada immigration laws. E send bad message for Canada, she add.
Canada receive more than 12,000 applications for di first month-and-half after di Lost Canadians law don enacted. Most citizenship applications dem grant for people born for US, according to government data wey CBC report. Di next most likely to be approved na applicants born for Mexico and UK. Information about denied applications no dey publicly available currently.
For im statement, Canada immigration ministry say each application dem review by trained officers before certificates dem grant. However, e add say dem dey review dis affected files to ensure dem assess am fairly, consistently, and in accordance with di law.
