moving back to Canada from US with my 11 year old daughter

[liamoliver]

I'm a Canadian citizen residing in the US with my 11 year old daughter who is a Us citizen. Can I apply for a permanent resident card for my daughter to live in Canada so she can maintain her US citizenship? What must I do?

 

[OhCanadiana]

I'm a Canadian citizen residing in the US with my 11 year old daughter who is a Us citizen. Can I apply for a permanent resident card for my daughter to live in Canada so she can maintain her US citizenship? What must I do?

If you were born in Canada or are a naturalized Canadian citizen, then your daughter is in all likelihood a Canadian citizen already and you would need to apply for her Canadian citizenship certificate and then her Canadian passport. Take the quiz at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/rules/tool_04.asp (from your daughter's perspectives) to confirm and get details on the application you need to complete.

On the other hand, if you were born outside Canada and got the citizenship through your parents, you would need to sponsor your daughter so she becomes a PR and then a citizen.

She can be a dual citizen of the US and Canada, retaining all rights and responsibilities of each.

 

[muksi]

I'm a Canadian citizen residing in the US with my 11 year old daughter who is a Us citizen. Can I apply for a permanent resident card for my daughter to live in Canada so she can maintain her US citizenship? What must I do?

She already is a Canadian citizen since you are a Canadian. You can directly apply for Proof of Canadian citizenship certificate. She can hold dual citizenship. Please check out the details with CIC.

 

[liamoliver]

I left out some details to make this less complicated . My daughter was adopted from China and became a US citizen through my husband who was a US citizen at the time(now deceased). I think I may have to sponsor her.

 

[PMM]

Hi

I left out some details to make this less complicated . My daughter was adopted from China and became a US citizen through my husband who was a US citizen at the time(now deceased). I think I may have to sponsor her.

Actually it still appears that she is a Canadian citizen. You would have to apply for proof of citizenship for her

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=405&t=2

Do the criteria for permanent residence and for a grant of citizenship differ for adopted children?

Yes. For instance, for an adopted person to be eligible for a grant of citizenship under the Citizenship Act, at least one of the adoptive parents must be a Canadian citizen by birth in Canada or through naturalization at the time of the adoption. Other types of custody arrangements and adoption-like situations (for example, guardianships) are not eligible to apply for a grant of citizenship for the adopted child.

If you choose the adoption grant route to citizenship, your child will be affected by the first-generation limit. That means he or she will not be able to:

pass on their citizenship to any children he or she later has outside Canada; or
apply for a direct grant for any children he or she later adopts outside Canada, unless the co-sponsor for the adoption is a Canadian citizen by birth in Canada or through naturalization.

Both Canadian citizens and permanent residents can use the immigration process for their adopted children if the adopted person is going to live in Canada right after the adoption.

Another difference between the two processes is the adopted child does not have to undergo a medical exam or background checks when applying for a grant of citizenship. This is a requirement when applying for permanent residence.

 

[OhCanadiana]

I left out some details to make this less complicated . My daughter was adopted from China and became a US citizen through my husband who was a US citizen at the time(now deceased). I think I may have to sponsor her.

In that case, you have either option: direct citizenship through you (yes, even if she'd adopted) or sponsorship for PR followed by immediate naturalization. There's a very good discussion of the options with examples and a table of consequences for your grandchildren under different scenarios on CIC's website at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/rules_2009/adoption.asp.

Bottom line is: under the 2009 law, since your daughter was born outside of Canada she cannot pass her citizenship on to her children unless she is a naturalized Canadian. In the cases of adoption, the government therefore gives you the option to:

1. Get her citizenship through you directly, in which case she cannot do the same for her (natural or adopted) children born abroad
2. Get her citizenship through naturalization, in which case you would sponsor her and then she would be immediately eligible to naturalize since you, her mother, is Canadian.
Thus, you don't have to sponsor her, but it would give her additional options (under current law) if you do sponsor her.

Since you are in the US, the timing for both options is likely similar.* To sponsor her, you would need a medical exam and you would need to complete the application at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp. Since you are in the US, select CPP-O as the visa office and list her US passport info first. You can get her medical exam performed by any Panel Physician listed at http://www.cic.gc.ca/dmp-md/medical.aspx.



~~~
* Timing for citizenship certificate timing is available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/EnGlish/information/times/canada/certif-processing.asp. It takes 5 months + either 3-4 months if you apply at an Embassy or High commission (feasibility depends on where you are: Buffalo, Detroit and Seattle have been closed within the last year) or the same 5 months + 6-8 months if you mail in the application yourself). So, you'd be looking at 8-13 months.
* Timing for family class applications is available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm/fc-spouses.asp. Step 1 is taking 21 days. Step 2 is a bit harder to predict and evaluate from the data in that link because CPP-O is relatively new (they've been restructuring the US Consulate and visa network, closing several offices and transferring the sponsorship evaluation to Ottawa in CPP-O so there was a bit of a slow down last year with files being transferred and CPP-O not being granted authority to actually issue the CoPRs until late November). Buffalo's timing (the US regional processing HQ per-closure) was 5 months for the fastest 20% of applications, with 30% of applications completed in 5 mo., 50% in 7 mo., 70% in 9 mo., 80% in 11 mo (see http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/case-processing-speed-at-visa-offices-step-2-t102206.0.html). Your case should be faster than average since your daughter is a minor.

 

[Dasha]

Hello , this thread is very old but curious which route should I go to for an adopted child ? I'm done with both the Part 1 of citizenship grant route and Family sponsorship Part 1 for adopted child.
However, the adoption finality, adoption order or however it is called , will take place after the child is here in Canada and several approve home study visits. Does that mean that the Family sponsorship route makes sense? As citizenship grant requires the Adoption order. I tried to call Immigration cic agent a few times and each time i called, i get different answers and it makes me more confused.

Appreciate any help

thanks!

Hi




Actually it still appears that she is a Canadian citizen. You would have to apply for proof of citizenship for her

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=405&t=2

Do the criteria for permanent residence and for a grant of citizenship differ for adopted children?

Yes. For instance, for an adopted person to be eligible for a grant of citizenship under the Citizenship Act, at least one of the adoptive parents must be a Canadian citizen by birth in Canada or through naturalization at the time of the adoption. Other types of custody arrangements and adoption-like situations (for example, guardianships) are not eligible to apply for a grant of citizenship for the adopted child.

If you choose the adoption grant route to citizenship, your child will be affected by the first-generation limit. That means he or she will not be able to:

pass on their citizenship to any children he or she later has outside Canada; or
apply for a direct grant for any children he or she later adopts outside Canada, unless the co-sponsor for the adoption is a Canadian citizen by birth in Canada or through naturalization.

Both Canadian citizens and permanent residents can use the immigration process for their adopted children if the adopted person is going to live in Canada right after the adoption.

Another difference between the two processes is the adopted child does not have to undergo a medical exam or background checks when applying for a grant of citizenship. This is a requirement when applying for permanent residence.

Hi




Actually it still appears that she is a Canadian citizen. You would have to apply for proof of citizenship for her

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=405&t=2

Do the criteria for permanent residence and for a grant of citizenship differ for adopted children?

Yes. For instance, for an adopted person to be eligible for a grant of citizenship under the Citizenship Act, at least one of the adoptive parents must be a Canadian citizen by birth in Canada or through naturalization at the time of the adoption. Other types of custody arrangements and adoption-like situations (for example, guardianships) are not eligible to apply for a grant of citizenship for the adopted child.

If you choose the adoption grant route to citizenship, your child will be affected by the first-generation limit. That means he or she will not be able to:

pass on their citizenship to any children he or she later has outside Canada; or
apply for a direct grant for any children he or she later adopts outside Canada, unless the co-sponsor for the adoption is a Canadian citizen by birth in Canada or through naturalization.

Both Canadian citizens and permanent residents can use the immigration process for their adopted children if the adopted person is going to live in Canada right after the adoption.

Another difference between the two processes is the adopted child does not have to undergo a medical exam or background checks when applying for a grant of citizenship. This is a requirement when applying for permanent residence.

 

[armoured]

Hello , this thread is very old but curious which route should I go to for an adopted child ? I'm done with both the Part 1 of citizenship grant route and Family sponsorship Part 1 for adopted child.
However, the adoption finality, adoption order or however it is called , will take place after the child is here in Canada and several approve home study visits. Does that mean that the Family sponsorship route makes sense? As citizenship grant requires the Adoption order. I tried to call Immigration cic agent a few times and each time i called, i get different answers and it makes me more confused.

Appreciate any help

thanks!

I think it is worth it in your case to speak to a lawyer (especially if you already have a lawyer in Canada helping with adoption issues), but my understanding is that you would be able to apply for citizenship for the child as soon as you have the adoption order. It would take some time to process but would likely make the family sponsorship process null and void.

But don't know anything about your own citizenship or details of how you are bringing the child to Canada, etc.