AAhmad said:
Thanks Leon for prompt reply. He is not a born or naturalised Canadian. He is Pakistani and has become Canadian some 5-6 years ago. The time I spent in Pakistan was without my husband. My son was born here in Islamabad and now like I said I want to come back to Canada with him of course but am wondering how long will the whole process take.
If he became a Canadian 5 or 6 years ago, then he is a naturalised Canadian. There are 3 types of Canadians, 1) Canadian born (in Canada), 2) naturalised, that means by immigration and 3) born outside Canada and gained citizenship based on parents citizenship. Your husband is 2) and your child is 3). Type 3) can not pass citizenship to their children, only sponsor them for PR so for your child, this can become an issue if he marries a foreigner and they have a baby outside Canada.
The process of getting a citizenship certificate can take up to a year but like I said, if you want to travel sooner and you buy the tickets, you can apply for a temporary passport or a facilitation visa for your child.
AAhmad said:
Also, just as a confirmation, if I don't enter Canada for 23 months i.e. 730 days, it will not effect my PR status or will cause me any problems in entering Canada? Again, I am a Pakistani citizen with PR and my husband is Pakistani-Canadian (i.e. hold dual citizenships), if you can guide me for my son's paperwork I will very much appreciate that. I believe the starting point will be applying for a passport for him and then?
You must spend 730 days in Canada which means you can be outside Canada for up to 1095 days in that 5 year period. So far you were outside Canada for about 8 months in 2009 and 2010 and again now for 9 months. That's 17 months total when 36 are allowed. If you exceed your allowed time outside Canada, you can still return with a valid PR card but it is possible as you enter if immigration realizes that you have been outside Canada too long that they will report you on entry. It is not very common to get reported but if it happens, you will have to appeal for your PR. If you say you were outside Canada waiting for your childs paperwork to come through, they will probably let you keep your PR but worst case if you lose it, your husband can always sponsor you again.
As per my earlier reply to you, I gave you the link to apply for the forms for the citizenship certificate for your child. You can not get a passport for your child until you have the citizenship certificate unless you need to travel urgently and you have already applied for the citizenship certificate, then you can show proof of travel and apply for a temporary passport or facilitation visa.
AAhmad said:
Also, would we have to apply for Pakistan or Canada. Is one faster than the other?
According to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/certif-processing.asp the fastest processing time for a citizenship certificate is 1) applying in Canada for a child in Canada, 2) applying through an embassy for a child outside Canada and the longest processing times are 3) if you apply in Canada for a child who is outside Canada. Since you are unable to get the child to Canada without applying for a citizenship certificate first, 1) is not an option and therefore I suggest 2) because it is faster than 3). That means you should apply through the visa office and not in Canada.
