I was born in Canada in the early 1950’s to a Canadian citizen, and adopted by U.S. citizens a year after my birth. I became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1958. Do I have the ability to reclaim my Canadian citizenship and become a dual citizen?
Dual Citizenship
- Thread starter Iccipmij54
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Thank you for your response. I have already visited this site and it doesn’t fully address my questions. That is why I started this thread. More specifically, I was naturalized when I was minor (4y/o) so I could not have legally renounced my Canadian citizenship. Would my parents have done this? Not a subject we ever discussed.
Whether you had lost your Canadian citizenship when you were adopted is no longer an issue; any citizenship lost due to any reason except for formal renunciation or acquisition by fraud was restored by the 2009 Act. As of today, you have Canadian citizenship with your birth certificate being your official proof of citizenship. There is nothing you have to do.
Thank you for taking the time to write this detailed response. I thought the same thing but, I am concerned that the process of being naturalized an American citizen would require renunciation of my Canadian citizenship. However, inasmuch as I was a minor, this would have been done for me. Does this give me wiggle room?
I know that I can simply submit an application, but I would like to be as sure as possible before I go through the process. Thank you again for your time and response.
Canada does not and has never allowed a parent to renounce their child's citizenship; it is a formal and voluntary process that only an adult applicant can go through. Automatic loss due to a parent's action is not renunciation because it is considered involuntary. There is nothing to apply for and nothing else you have to do; 3(1)(f) of the 2009 Act would have automatically and retroactively restored your citizenship, had it been lost because of the adoption.