Application for proof of citizenship certificate on an urgent basis

[Sarzii]

Hello, I’m a Canadian citizen and my son was born in Bangladesh as I couldn’t travel back to Canada due to health reasons. I want to apply for his citizenship certificate on an urgent basis. He’s an infant and needs access to Canadian healthcare. He’s in distress. healthcare system here is extremely poor and due to political strikes it’s even tougher to take him to hospitals for even for regular checkups and vaccinations.
1. What supporting documents should I provide to prove the urgency ?
2. Should I translate his prescriptions by doctors?
I also really need to go back ASAP for
school and job . Is that a good reason for for his citizenship urgency ? Should I mention about it in the explanation letter as well?

 

[steaky]

Hello, I’m a Canadian citizen and my son was born in Bangladesh as I couldn’t travel back to Canada due to health reasons. I want to apply for his citizenship certificate on an urgent basis. He’s an infant and needs access to Canadian healthcare. He’s in distress. healthcare system here is extremely poor and due to political strikes it’s even tougher to take him to hospitals for even for regular checkups and vaccinations.
1. What supporting documents should I provide to prove the urgency ?
2. Should I translate his prescriptions by doctors?
I also really need to go back ASAP for
school and job . Is that a good reason for for his citizenship urgency ? Should I mention about it in the explanation letter as well?

Here's what it says if you need to apply urgently in paper:

We can process applications faster than our normal processing times in special cases, such as for

accessing benefits like:
a pension
health care
a Social Insurance Number
proving you’re a Canadian citizen to get a job
travelling to or from Canada because of a death or serious illness in your family

How to apply on paper urgently

In your application

include a letter explaining why you need urgent processing
provide documents to support your explanation, for example:
plane ticket or itinerary, with proof of payment
letter from employer
letter from school
doctor’s note

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/proof-citizenship/apply.html
death certificate
Write “Urgent – Citizenship certificate (Proof)” in large, dark letters on the envelope when you submit your application.

 

[Sarzii]

Here's what it says if you need to apply urgently in paper:

We can process applications faster than our normal processing times in special cases, such as for

accessing benefits like:
a pension
health care
a Social Insurance Number
proving you’re a Canadian citizen to get a job
travelling to or from Canada because of a death or serious illness in your family

How to apply on paper urgently

In your application

include a letter explaining why you need urgent processing
provide documents to support your explanation, for example:
plane ticket or itinerary, with proof of payment
letter from employer
letter from school
doctor’s note

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/proof-citizenship/apply.html
death certificate
Write “Urgent – Citizenship certificate (Proof)” in large, dark letters on the envelope when you submit your application.

I got my citizenship after 2009 April so the website says I can apply online.Embassy also said applying online is faster than paper based. If I want to apply on urgent basis,do I have to apply on paper only ?

 

[armoured]

I got my citizenship after 2009 April so the website says I can apply online.Embassy also said applying online is faster than paper based. If I want to apply on urgent basis,do I have to apply on paper only ?

I'd go with what the embassy says.

Keep in mind: there are two separate issues, getting the citizenship certificate and getting a temporary passport. You don't / shouldn't usually care much about the speed of the citizenship certificate if you get the temporary passport quickly.

My understanding is embassies will USUALLY issue temporary passport (for children of citizens where there's no doubt about parent citizenship and parentage) on basis of the common docs and a copy of the application for certificate of citizenship. You will have to emphasize this is needed for child to return to Canada.

I don't know exactly how long this will/can take. But should be possible in 4-6 weeks, possibly less (main limit is you getting apps in).

Now note: you MUST check carefully what will be needed for health care/insurance in Canada for the child. I believe shouldn't be impossible in most provinces on basis of the temp passport and child of Cdn citizen.

It's also VERY difficult time for healthcare in Canada in general - getting in to see a doctor. Cost of living is high and ancillary costs of healthcare (drugs, therapy, other, travel, etc) are not always covered although more usually covered for children. Housing is by far the biggest issue.

So getting to Canada doesn't automatically make things easy.

 

[Sarzii]

I'd go with what the embassy says.

Keep in mind: there are two separate issues, getting the citizenship certificate and getting a temporary passport. You don't / shouldn't usually care much about the speed of the citizenship certificate if you get the temporary passport quickly.

My understanding is embassies will USUALLY issue temporary passport (for children of citizens where there's no doubt about parent citizenship and parentage) on basis of the common docs and a copy of the application for certificate of citizenship. You will have to emphasize this is needed for child to return to Canada.

I don't know exactly how long this will/can take. But should be possible in 4-6 weeks, possibly less (main limit is you getting apps in).

Now note: you MUST check carefully what will be needed for health care/insurance in Canada for the child. I believe shouldn't be impossible in most provinces on basis of the temp passport and child of Cdn citizen.

It's also VERY difficult time for healthcare in Canada in general - getting in to see a doctor. Cost of living is high and ancillary costs of healthcare (drugs, therapy, other, travel, etc) are not always covered although more usually covered for children. Housing is by far the biggest issue.

So getting to Canada doesn't automatically make things easy.

Yes that is my concern also that temporary passport will not give him access to free healthcare.

So, if i want apply for the citizenship certificate on an urgent basis, can I mention in the letter of explanation about the urgency of my return , for example, I need to attend classes from January, start working or should I only mention about MY urgency when I apply for his temporary passport?

Also, is temporary passport and Limited Validity Travel document same thing?

 

[steaky]

Yes that is my concern also that temporary passport will not give him access to free healthcare.

So, if i want apply for the citizenship certificate on an urgent basis, can I mention in the letter of explanation about the urgency of my return , for example, I need to attend classes from January, start working or should I only mention about MY urgency when I apply for his temporary passport?

Also, is temporary passport and Limited Validity Travel document same thing?

Once he has his citizenship certificate, he will get access to free provincial healthcare. It is used to be apply both citizenship certificate and limited validity passport together but I'm not sure when it became apply separately.

 

[steaky]

Furthermore...get a paper certificate. There had been issues reported in this forum with Electronic citizenship certificate (e-certificate) that some provincial agencies does not recognize this type of document.

 

[armoured]

Yes that is my concern also that temporary passport will not give him access to free healthcare.

Check the website of the provincial agency for what they require. If in doubt, write or call them directly.

Some will automatically give coverage to children of PRs/citizens. Some may do it on basis of your citizenship and the birth certificate (although when inquiring, make sure you specify it is a foreign birth certificate). Some may do it on basis of the temporary passport (which will probably show your kid as a citizen even if you haven't yet received the certificate). Some agencies might give coverage with a condition you show the final citizenship document later (and if you don't, they might claw back the money later).

Some provinces might just want to see parentage and not care about the kid's citizenship.

You must READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. And contact them if in doubt.

Short form: everyone incl government will PRESUME your child is a citizen if you were / became a citizen before the child was born (and you can show it). You still need the certificate.

But repeat: it's your responsibility to find out.

So, if i want apply for the citizenship certificate on an urgent basis, can I mention in the letter of explanation about the urgency of my return , for example, I need to attend classes from January, start working or should I only mention about MY urgency when I apply for his temporary passport?

I think they're going to agree that a newborn should travel with the parent and that is a good reason.

Also, is temporary passport and Limited Validity Travel document same thing?

A temporary passport is a temporary passport. But ask the embassy what they will issue (answer is a temporary passport, but you should check - becuase you will be applying for a passport.)

Note: they might issue a 'limited validity passport', i.e. for one or two years, but not titled a 'temporary passport' with the weird white cover.

Infants often get short-validity passports anyway (because photos not much use at under six months).

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-passports/document-types.html

 

[canuck78]

Yes that is my concern also that temporary passport will not give him access to free healthcare.

So, if i want apply for the citizenship certificate on an urgent basis, can I mention in the letter of explanation about the urgency of my return , for example, I need to attend classes from January, start working or should I only mention about MY urgency when I apply for his temporary passport?

Also, is temporary passport and Limited Validity Travel document same thing?

What province do you live in and how long have you been out of Canada? How long has you lived in the province and qualified for provincial healthcare before you left? All these things impact whether you and your baby will qualify for healthcare on return, whether there will be a waiting period of up to 3 months, etc. Do you have proof the you had a change in your pregnancy that lead you to becoming high risk and unable to fly home to Canada after flying to Bangladesh for a vacation? If so you should include proof to reinforce that you had not planned to be in Bangladesh for your delivery. Proof of your original return ticket that you had to cancel or were unable to use would also provide additional proof that you had intended to return to Canada before the birth. Things like accessing basic check-ups would not be reason for urgent processing and should be available in Bangladesh even if slightly delayed. For more severe health issues you should provide proof from the hospital and doctors of additional stays in the NICU, your child’s diagnosis and what they have received for treatment. If the health issues are severe your doctor should also provide a letter indicating that the health issues are not severe enough that they prevent flying. The airline may also require this proof that you baby is safe to fly. You seem to be anxious to return to Canada for you own reasons and be planning on going back to school and work so it’s unclear how sick your infant actually is. If the baby had serious health issues then you wouldn’t be able to return to work or school in January you may be in the hospital or have lots of doctors appointments, therapies, medication regimens and other potential devices like oxygen, feeding tubes, etc. Does your child have a diagnosis of you don’t mind sharing to understand whether the medical issue is likely to be considered for urgent processing? Do they need surgery? Returning to attend classes would not be a reason for urgent processing.

Would also suggest speaking to your doctor about the risk of Covid exposure. Infections rates are very high at the moment. Had 2 family members finally catch Covid after 3 years of avoiding it and one ended up in hospital. Depending on the type of health issue exposure to Covid or any other form of communicable disease needs to be considered especially if the baby has certain health issues that would put them at much higher risk if they got sick. It always comes to pros and cons when deciding whether flying with a newborn or sick individual is a good option especially for a very young baby.

 

[Sarzii]

What province do you live in and how long have you been out of Canada? How long has you lived in the province and qualified for provincial healthcare before you left? All these things impact whether you and your baby will qualify for healthcare on return, whether there will be a waiting period of up to 3 months, etc. Do you have proof the you had a change in your pregnancy that lead you to becoming high risk and unable to fly home to Canada after flying to Bangladesh for a vacation? If so you should include proof to reinforce that you had not planned to be in Bangladesh for your delivery. Proof of your original return ticket that you had to cancel or were unable to use would also provide additional proof that you had intended to return to Canada before the birth. Things like accessing basic check-ups would not be reason for urgent processing and should be available in Bangladesh even if slightly delayed. For more severe health issues you should provide proof from the hospital and doctors of additional stays in the NICU, your child’s diagnosis and what they have received for treatment. If the health issues are severe your doctor should also provide a letter indicating that the health issues are not severe enough that they prevent flying. The airline may also require this proof that you baby is safe to fly. You seem to be anxious to return to Canada for you own reasons and be planning on going back to school and work so it’s unclear how sick your infant actually is. If the baby had serious health issues then you wouldn’t be able to return to work or school in January you may be in the hospital or have lots of doctors appointments, therapies, medication regimens and other potential devices like oxygen, feeding tubes, etc. Does your child have a diagnosis of you don’t mind sharing to understand whether the medical issue is likely to be considered for urgent processing? Do they need surgery? Returning to attend classes would not be a reason for urgent processing.

Would also suggest speaking to your doctor about the risk of Covid exposure. Infections rates are very high at the moment. Had 2 family members finally catch Covid after 3 years of avoiding it and one ended up in hospital. Depending on the type of health issue exposure to Covid or any other form of communicable disease needs to be considered especially if the baby has certain health issues that would put them at much higher risk if they got sick. It always comes to pros and cons when deciding whether flying with a newborn or sick individual is a good option especially for a very young baby.

I live in Ontario and have been living for 15 years. Came in Bangladesh in 2021 to take care of some family’s legal documents. I didn't know how long it would take so I didnt book a return ticket. Yes I have medical documents of my health issues of pregnancy and also emergency c section.

as for the baby, he’s in distress. Consistently crying days and nights. Doctors here suspected he has colic pain but suggested meds but nothing seems to be working and getting worse day by day. So he needs proper diagnosis and treatments. I have several doctor’s prescriptions with me as a proof thatwe have been changing doctors to figure out the reason. That’s why a doctors note in this case won’t make any sensecausethey are not being able to diagnosis the issue. So what should I mention in the explanation letter ?

I have to finish my degree in order to get a job and and provide for him so I have to somehow manage both him and school/ job. But yes I get your point. obviously I have to see first how he’s doing there first.

 

[Sarzii]

What province do you live in and how long have you been out of Canada? How long has you lived in the province and qualified for provincial healthcare before you left? All these things impact whether you and your baby will qualify for healthcare on return, whether there will be a waiting period of up to 3 months, etc. Do you have proof the you had a change in your pregnancy that lead you to becoming high risk and unable to fly home to Canada after flying to Bangladesh for a vacation? If so you should include proof to reinforce that you had not planned to be in Bangladesh for your delivery. Proof of your original return ticket that you had to cancel or were unable to use would also provide additional proof that you had intended to return to Canada before the birth. Things like accessing basic check-ups would not be reason for urgent processing and should be available in Bangladesh even if slightly delayed. For more severe health issues you should provide proof from the hospital and doctors of additional stays in the NICU, your child’s diagnosis and what they have received for treatment. If the health issues are severe your doctor should also provide a letter indicating that the health issues are not severe enough that they prevent flying. The airline may also require this proof that you baby is safe to fly. You seem to be anxious to return to Canada for you own reasons and be planning on going back to school and work so it’s unclear how sick your infant actually is. If the baby had serious health issues then you wouldn’t be able to return to work or school in January you may be in the hospital or have lots of doctors appointments, therapies, medication regimens and other potential devices like oxygen, feeding tubes, etc. Does your child have a diagnosis of you don’t mind sharing to understand whether the medical issue is likely to be considered for urgent processing? Do they need surgery? Returning to attend classes would not be a reason for urgent processing.

Would also suggest speaking to your doctor about the risk of Covid exposure. Infections rates are very high at the moment. Had 2 family members finally catch Covid after 3 years of avoiding it and one ended up in hospital. Depending on the type of health issue exposure to Covid or any other form of communicable disease needs to be considered especially if the baby has certain health issues that would put them at much higher risk if they got sick. It always comes to pros and cons when deciding whether flying with a newborn or sick individual is a good option especially for a very young baby.

I have to and want to return to Canada ASAP as I’m stuck here with no job, families etc. I can’t leave my infant behind so what are my options?

 

[steaky]

I have to and want to return to Canada ASAP as I’m stuck here with no job, families etc. I can’t leave my infant behind so what are my options?

Get the canadian certificate and canadian passport for your baby.

I think canuck78 is overthinking. Airlines don't require proof that baby safe to fly. There are many babies in the flight. People caught covid after 3 years of avoiding it don't end up in the hospital. They recover after couple of weeks.

 

[canuck78]

Get the canadian certificate and canadian passport for your baby.

I think canuck78 is overthinking. Airlines don't require proof that baby safe to fly. There are many babies in the flight. People caught covid after 3 years of avoiding it don't end up in the hospital. They recover after couple of weeks.

If anyone has a severe medical issue yes they do have to provide proof that they are safe to fly but this doesn’t seem like there is proof of severe illness in this case

 

[canuck78]

I live in Ontario and have been living for 15 years. Came in Bangladesh in 2021 to take care of some family’s legal documents. I didn't know how long it would take so I didnt book a return ticket. Yes I have medical documents of my health issues of pregnancy and also emergency c section.

as for the baby, he’s in distress. Consistently crying days and nights. Doctors here suspected he has colic pain but suggested meds but nothing seems to be working and getting worse day by day. So he needs proper diagnosis and treatments. I have several doctor’s prescriptions with me as a proof thatwe have been changing doctors to figure out the reason. That’s why a doctors note in this case won’t make any sensecausethey are not being able to diagnosis the issue. So what should I mention in the explanation letter ?

I have to finish my degree in order to get a job and and provide for him so I have to somehow manage both him and school/ job. But yes I get your point. obviously I have to see first how he’s doing there first.

the scenario seems quite a lot different than you originally presented. You have been out of Canada for around 2-3years. If you have been out of Ontario for over 2 years you have to reapply for OHIP even if you have a valid card. Did you inform OHIP and CRA that you left the country in 2021 which is required? If I’m correct it appears that you got pregnant while in Bangladesh so you didn’t come to Bangladesh while pregnant and get stuck there when your pregnancy became high risk. Needing urgent processing after 2-3 years of being abroad versus needing urgent processing because you went on vacation while pregnant and became high risk and couldn’t fly home are viewed very differently. Do you have a home to return to in Ontario? A baby having colic doesn‘t necessarily mean that there is anything wrong with them and there is no true treatment for colic other than perhaps changing their diet and reflux medications that may help a bit. The babies cry for 3-6 months (9 months if really unlucky), make you feel like you are going to lose your mind and then eventually grow out of it. Things like the inability to put on any weight with crying would be concerning, vomiting a large portion of their food after every meal especially projectile vomiting would be concerning, etc. So would difficulty breathing, turning blue, high/low heart rates, murmurs, etc. all of which can be easily detected without fancy technology. If breastfeeding have you tried changing your diet to see if that impacts the crying, trying formula after that and then trying different types of formula if that doesn’t work. Those tend to be the first suggestions with a baby who may be colicky. When asking for urgent processing based on medical needs there typically needs to be a medical need identified by a doctor or what they are worried about that can’t be examined in Bangladesh. The embassy aren’t doctors or pharmacists so telling them what the baby’s current medications doesn’t mean anything without a diagnosis or a letter from the doctors about what they are concerned about and why the baby needs to be examined in Canada urgently. You can say that you would like to come back to Canada as soon as possible so that you have better access to healthcare for your child but there isn’t an severe medical or a baby in distress (which means life threatening urgent medical need) where you would have contacted sick kids in advance and go straight to the hospital from the airplane perhaps in an ambulance. You can also be honest and say that now that you are a mother and have a child to support you are anxious/need to return to school and work because I assume you are unable to support your child by working in Bangladesh. That you came to Bangladesh to help with a family matter in 2021 and fell pregnant and assume you hadn’t planned on remaining for 2-3 years. I would personally mention if you have a home and childcare to return to so there is no concern that you will be returning to Canada after multiple years with a baby and no home or funds.

Would also suggest joining a group online for mom’s with colicky babies to provide some support especially since it sounds like you may be a single parent. If you are needing daycare and especially subsidized daycare put you name on waitlists now in the hopes that you will eventually get a spot. There is high demand for limited spots.

 

[steaky]

If anyone has a severe medical issue yes they do have to provide proof that they are safe to fly but this doesn’t seem like there is proof of severe illness in this case

Exactly, the baby doesn't seem to have severe illness in this case, which I'm not sure why you bring up the matter.