When my US citizen mother married my Canadian father in 1937, did this make her a Canadian or British citizen? She thought she was a dual citizen, and never gave that up.
Canadian people before the commencement of the 1947 Canadian Citizenship Act were British subjects. British nationality regarding the status of married women at that time is described under Part III, section 10 of the
British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914. So under subsection (1), it says that 'your mother became a British subject upon marrying your father'. There is no mention of a requirement for the wife to renounce her previous citizenship, so in the US, she would be regarded as a dual citizen. However in Canada or any other part of the British Dominion at that time, her American citizenship would not have been recognized because dual citizenship under British law was not allowed.
Whether she continued to be a British subject after your father naturalized in the US is the tricky part. Under subsection (3), it says that 'your mother would not cease to be a British subject unless your father acquired another citizenship, and she also became a citizen because of his acquisition'. Semantically, it could be argued that she did not lose her British citizenship because she did not acquire American citizenship when your father naturalized himself; under US law, a spouse would acquire citizenship by applying for it. But because she already had US citizenship by birth, it could also be seen as already acquiring it, and she could have lost her British subject status when your father naturalized. This would be up to legal scholars or the court to decide.
My father became a US citizen in 1940. I do not know if he voluntarily gave up his Canadian citizenship (where do I find that record, if it exists?).
If he had officially renounced his British subject status, he would have made a "declaration of alienage" under section 14. More than likely, he did not do this, as the US did not require naturalizing applicants to renounce their previous citizenships. If you want to find out if he did, then you will probably have to inquire with the British government.
I was born in 1943 in the US. Am I a Canadian citizen because of my father's perhaps dual citizenship, or would I be because of my mother, if she were a still a Canadian citizen by virtue of being married to my father while he was a Canadian citizen,?
Provided that your father did not make a "declaration of alienage" and that he was born in Canada, the good news is that he was granted Canadian citizenship by birth under the 2015 Act, and you are eligible for Canadian citizenship by descent as the first generation born abroad through him.
Your mother never had Canadian citizenship because under Part II, paragraph 9(c) of the
1947 Act, a British subject woman only became Canadian if her husband also became Canadian in 1947, and if she was residing in Canada at that time. Under section 13 of the British act, by naturalizing in the US, your father lost his British subject status, and did not become Canadian under the 1947 Act.
