Citizenship - waiting for certificate

[cmsamo]

Hi all. I have a claim to citizenship via my mother, who was born in Halifax. I am a British Citizen, living in the UK. I have a job opportunity in Canada, and as such I applied last month for my citizenship certificate. It has now been sent from Britain to Canada for processing. I was advised to send a cover letter and flight itinerary, since I need to be in the country in mid September. The consulate in the UK has advised that I *may* get my citizenship in time, but they cannot guarantee it. I'm aware that I'll need a Canadian passport once my citizenship certificate is granted, in order to enter Canada with no problems.

My question is this:

If my citizenship and/or passport cannot be granted in time for my deadline - Can I enter Canada as a British visitor for a month or two, and start to look for work etc - then have my documents sent over from the UK at a later date? I suppose I would need to leave Canada and re-enter once I held all relevant documents, then I could start work as a Canadian citizen?

 

[Leon]

You can arrive as a British visitor and look for work but I do not believe you would need to leave and re-enter when you get your papers. When you enter, bring copies of what you have, proof that you have applied for a citizenship certificate, copy of your mothers birth certificate and anything else you think may be useful. Tell the immigration officer that you are still waiting for your citizenship certificate but would like to visit while you wait. They will probably make a note of that.

 

[Canooknic]

You will also need to get a Social Insurance Number before you start work....which I had a problem with because I stupidly (very very stupidly) packed my citizenship in my shipping so had to wait for 6 weeks before I could get the number!!
I thought I'd be ok because I had my Canadian passport but it had to be my citizenship card apparently

 

[cmsamo]

Thanks for the advice. I assume that if I enter as a visitor - they will want to see proof of funds in my bank account and things like that - so I can prove I can be self-sufficient for a few months?

Also I don't have a return flight booked - because at the moment I am hoping to get my paperwork in time for the deadline. I guess they would need to see proof of that as well, if I was entering as a visitor?

 

[Leon]

I have never had to show proof of anything when travelling. If you are unlucky and they pick you out and start asking you questions, then yes, they might want to see that you can support yourself but if you have your paperwork with you, I don't think they will deny you entry because you are actually a citizen, you just don't have the card yet.

 

[cmsamo]

But I would be entering as a British Citizen, because I can't tick "Canadian" on the Immigration Card unless I've actually got a Canadian Passport. You aren't allowed to travel as a Canadian without it. Usually if you ticked "holiday" and said 2 months stay, they would want to see proof that you can support yourself and proof that you were going home. I guess if I showed up, declared myself as British, and said "but I am just waiting for my citizenship certificate" they might take a different view on me, and let me in, as long as I have funds?

 

[Canooknic]

Do you have a letter/email from the consulate ? That might work better than anything else...just a thought

 

[cmsamo]

I have a letter from the Consulate which says they returned the certified copies of my documents, and tells me that they have passed on my application for processing - it states that it may take 12-15 months - but on my letter, this part is crossed out and a yellow highlighted URGENT is written on the letter. So - I do have a consulate letter, a letter showing I paid my fee, and certified copies of my mothers birth certificate, and my own birth certificate, which both show her birthplace as Canada...

However - I have been told that I CANNOT enter Canada as a Canadian without a Canadian passport. If you try and go in without the passport, the customs people get very upset.

 

[essex0227]

Who told you that you can't enter with out a canadian passport?
I'm waiting formy 3 childrens certificate to come threw.
Does that mean i have to get them canadian passports before we go too?
Thats just a pain whats the point in the citizenship card then?

 

[cmsamo]

Well, it states on the CIC website - A Citizenship Certificate is not a travel document.

I have an email from the Canadian Consulate in London which says - "Once you receive your certificate, you will be eligible for a Canadian passport. If you are moving to Canada, you should enter the country on a Canadian passport."

Therefore, I am assuming that Customs and Immigration will not accept a Certificate because it's not a valid travel document.

 

[Canooknic]

I had to get Canadian passports for my boys before we came to Canada. I spoke to a woman at the airport about which one we should use (Canadian or UK) and she said Canadian because it will flag the UK passport if we leave the country and don't return after a certain amount of time. I don't know if that's true or not, or what the implications would have been, but it's what I was told.
When we arrived in Edmonton they did something different with our canadian passports than they did to my fiancé's UK one too

 

[cmsamo]

Yep that's what I was told too - but not by anyone official... If you enter on a UK passport and then 'become' Canadian while in Canada, your UK passport eventually gets flagged and they send Immigration to find you? That's why the Consulate told me to enter Canada on a Canadian passport only, if I was never intending to leave - hence why I posted my original question about having to make a meaningful departure from Canada and re-enter once I have my paperwork in place...

I could really do with speaking to an actual customs officer to find out what's true and what isn't.

 

[Alabaman]

and she said Canadian because it will flag the UK passport if we leave the country and don't return after a certain amount of time. I don't know if that's true or not, or what the implications would have been, but it's what I was told.

Who flags the passport and where? How do they know if you have left Canada or not? I don't think it's true.

 

[Canooknic]

I don't know. They scan the bar code when you go through passport control so maybe that has something to do with it? Maybe?

 

[Leon]

They don't have exit controls but you should still say when you enter that you are actually a Canadian citizen and are waiting for your citizenship card. They may not let you enter as a Canadian citizen but they will know and they can make a note of it for future references.