I’ve discovered recently that I am a dual citizen! I was born in the states in the 60s. My father was born in Quebec in the 20s, came to the US in the 50s and became a US citizen sometime before 1964.
Under the old rules I was not a Canadian because my father had become an American citizen by the time I was born. Apparently, under the new rules put in place in 2015, it only matters that one parent was born in Canada and lived there in 1947.
How do I prove where my father lived in 1947? He would have been in his early 20s then and was working on the family farm, where if they kept employment records, they are long gone. I know he collected a small pension (Old Age pension, I believe) from Canada for about 10 years before he died based on the ~10 years he worked there before coming to the US. I don’t know how he proved his employment to get that pension.
My question is this… can I request records from whatever agency administers the Old Age Pension to prove that he had enough residency to collect the pension? I have no idea if this would be sufficient to CIS but it’s worth a shot. I don’t even know how to begin working on that.
Any other suggestions for proving my dad’s residency in 1947?
Unfortunately, it does not state any other documents that can be used to try and prove Canadian Citizenship.
You may want to try and contact the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) directly for some information.
We have had some of our users previously state that they have been able to contact Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) from abroad by dialing 1 613 944 4000. Listen to the options to get to IRCC. Then you should be transferred to the IRCC Call Centre.
Please note though that some have reported that it did not work for them or that it is no longer working.
You may want to give it a try.
Long distance charges will apply.
We will continue to research and look into this.
We hope to post any information we find.
Hopefully there are other users with similar experiences and situations who can share their suggestions.
I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.
As you may not have a lot of information on hand, they suggested that you should try and fill out the proof of citizenship form to the best of your abilities and specify which information is not available to you at this time, as well as the reasons for which you do not know or have that information.
They also suggested that you should refer back to your application for search of citizenship records where applicable to explain any major gaps. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Call Centre representatives stressed that these applications should be submitted at the same time and in the same envelope.
By going down this process and submitting the applications for both of these at the same time, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will search for relevant documentation where needed, such as the proof of pension payments or anything else that can help verify parental lineage in Canada.
Ultimately, if both documents are filled out and the documents are recoverable, the application will go through at the same time and, according to them, you should be able to proceed with obtaining citizenship.
It may also be helpful to review the checklist of items needed for proof of citizenship.
Thank you so much! This is the most promising information I’ve gotten so far. I was not aware that one could request a search of citizenship records. I will be working on this in the coming weeks and will let you know how it goes!
Many thanks to Anna and the researchers who tracked this down!
Just wanted to let you know that my Canadian citizenship certificate arrived this week! A few months after I sent in the application, I got an email from them explaining that I did not need to submit the CIT 0058 form (search of citizenship records). They said all I needed was my father’s birth certificate. That form is for people who were not born there but became citizens later. They didn’t seem to care that I could not prove that he lived there in 1947 either. Or at least they assumed that he did based on the records I sent.
In any case, it all worked. I’m officially a Canadian!