HELP! Does my (step) son need a Canadian passport to enter Canada?

[Rob_TO]

Incorrect. It does make a person automatically a citizen from birth, hence the reason they only need to apply for PROOF of citizenship whereas those eligible for citizenship (such as a PR meeting the requirements) must apply for a GRANT of citizenship. They may not desire to assert their Canadian citizenship but it doesn't change the fact that they are a citizen.

Yes you are correct, it does legally make one a citizen in Canada's eyes. But what I'm saying is that there are some grey areas when it comes to recognition of Canadian citizenship and where it's enforced. For all intents and purposes, if one is unaware of or never bothers to recognize their citizenship, they can effectively live their entire life as a non-citizen.

Typically citizenship would be enforced in PR apps. When IRCC sees someone's parent was born in Canada so that person is a citizen by decent, they should be ineligible to apply for PR in any form.

In another scenario, some countries do not allow dual citizenship. So if a child is born in one of these countries to a Canadian parent and other parent is citizen of that country, the child would initially be a citizen also of that country. If someone in this case wanted to travel to Canada, they would not be able to get a Canadian passport since that could cause their birth citizenship to be revoked. So when applying for eTA, they would not be able to state they are Canadian citizens. I highly doubt IRCC/CBSA would accuse someone of misrepresentation in this case, and I'm sure there are many cases of this where people simply don't know they're Canadian since they didn't know 1 parent, or don't understand citizenship rules. I suspect that they would be fine applying for eTAs their entire life to travel to Canada (though would be curious if there were any cases of people getting in trouble for this).

If someone was born to a Canadian parent outside Canada, I suppose they would need to legally renounce their Canadian citizenship through a formal process even though they never applied for proof or recognition of that status in the first place, to be declared officially NOT Canadian.

 

[Rob_TO]

Actually this whole scenario reminds me of a similar situation read on this forum a while back. Someone was applying for PR, and when the visa officer read their father was born in Canada, demanded the applicant apply for proof of citizenship instead. However the applicant had absolutely no proof of their fathers birth, no contact with the father, and no way to prove they were Canadian. So they were stuck in that they couldn't apply for PR, and couldn't apply for proof of citizenship. I don't know how they ended up resolving the issue.

So while one may be an automatic citizen upon birth to a Canadian born parent, that fact alone would be useless if the citizenship is not recognized by Canada. With no proof and Canada denying the citizenship claim, one would need to answer "no" to any question on if they were a citizen, even if technically they were.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Yes you are correct, it does legally make one a citizen in Canada's eyes. But what I'm saying is that there are some grey areas when it comes to recognition of Canadian citizenship and where it's enforced. For all intents and purposes, if one is unaware of or never bothers to recognize their citizenship, they can effectively live their entire life as a non-citizen.

Typically citizenship would be enforced in PR apps. When IRCC sees someone's parent was born in Canada so that person is a citizen by decent, they should be ineligible to apply for PR in any form.

In another scenario, some countries do not allow dual citizenship. So if a child is born in one of these countries to a Canadian parent and other parent is citizen of that country, the child would initially be a citizen also of that country. They would technically also be Canadian, however if they never have their Canadian citizenship formally recognized then I believe it would not be an issue with their birth country of citizenship. When they reach a certain age, proceeding to recognize their Canadian citizenship may then force them to give up the other citizenship, but if they do nothing it may never be an issue.

And if someone in this case wanted to travel to Canada, they would not be able to get a Canadian passport since that could even moreso cause their birth citizenship to be revoked. So when applying for eTA, they would not be able to state they are Canadian citizens. I highly doubt IRCC/CBSA would accuse someone of misrepresentation in this case, and I'm sure there are many cases of this where people simply don't know they're Canadian since they didn't know 1 parent, or don't understand citizenship rules. I suspect that they would be fine applying for eTAs their entire life to travel to Canada (though would be curious if there were any cases of people getting in trouble for this).

If someone was born to a Canadian parent outside Canada, I suppose they would need to legally renounce their Canadian citizenship through a formal process even though they never applied for proof or recognition of that status in the first place, to be declared officially NOT Canadian.

If they choose not to assert it, then yes, they can effectively live as a non-Canadian. However, they remain a citizen and in terms of travelling to Canada, subject to the same rules as those who do assert their citizenship: Canadian passport is required to travel. Yes, many likely come in under the radar on eTAs because IRCC has no record of their citizenship; I recall a few on the forum who did this with their foreign-born Canadian children after the eTA requirement became effective. It is understandable for those who are genuinely unaware that they are Canadian but for those who do know but don't declare it in the eTA app, it is misrepresentation. I agree that IRCC/CBSA is not likely to take action but it is still lying in an official application.

While the laws on dual citizenship in other countries can put people in difficult positions, it doesn't change the rules for Canada. There was a thread not too long ago from a Canadian with a child born abroad who was trying to find a way to not acknowledge his child's citizenship and sponsor the child instead because of the dual citizenship laws in his country. When informed he couldn't do that, I think he then asked about renouncing his child's citizenship.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Actually this whole scenario reminds me of a similar situation read on this forum a while back. Someone was applying for PR, and when the visa officer read their father was born in Canada, demanded the applicant apply for proof of citizenship instead. However the applicant had absolutely no proof of their fathers birth, no contact with the father, and no way to prove they were Canadian. So they were stuck in that they couldn't apply for PR, and couldn't apply for proof of citizenship. I don't know how they ended up resolving the issue.

So while one may be an automatic citizen upon birth to a Canadian born parent, that fact alone would be useless if the citizenship is not recognized by Canada. With no proof and Canada denying the citizenship claim, one would need to answer "no" to any question on if they were a citizen, even if technically they were.

I remember that one. Certain proofs are required and it is unfortunate that he doesn't have a relationship with his father and is therefore unable to get the necessary documents. I don't really see it as Canada not recognizing his citizenship or denying his claim. I wonder if it is possible in that situation to renounce citizenship when a person doesn't actually have proof of citizenship.