Canadian Dual Citizenship
- Leslie Ryan
- Apr 30
- 2 min read
Have you been wishing for Irish dual citizenship but had ancestors that left before you even had grandparents like me? Well, my fellow Americans, if your people immigrated to Canada first like my people, Canadian dual citizenship may be a good consolation prize!
Americans can claim dual citizenship under Canadian Citizenship Bill C-3 starting this year! If your parent, grandparent or great grandparent (or even further back) was born in Canada, you qualify as the first generation only limit has been removed!
There is a small charge of $55 US, and you don't have to take a test to qualify. If you've got the proof of your Canadian ancestor's birth, you are in! Every generation after the first Anchor generation is in too.
The documents do you need to apply according to Canadian Immigration are:
Birth certificates for every person in the generational chain, from the Canadian ancestor down to you
Marriage certificates where names changed or to establish relationships between generations
Immigration and naturalization records for the Canadian ancestor, if they were not born in Canada
Death certificates, particularly where an ancestor passed away before ever claiming citizenship
Canadian census records or other historical documents to establish that the ancestor was resident in Canada and transitioned into citizenship in 1947
Your valid U.S. passport or other identity documents
But there is a catch. You knew there would be one didn't you? If your Canadian born ancestors were born before the Province began Civil Registration there will be no birth certificate! Here is when those registrations began:
You can submit Baptism Certificates as part of their birth verification, those are easily found on Ancestry or FamilySearch, but you will also have to provide the appropriate Censuses showing they continued to live there.
There are a lot of pros and cons about dual citizenship, especially TAX WISE a few people! The Public Broadcasting Service branch National Public Radio has a great information page that will tell you all about it here: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/dual-citizenship-eh-under-new-law-millions-of-americans-may-now-also-be-considered-canadian
The website for the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada office, which processes applications, says processing times for a certificate is around 10 months, with more 56,000 people awaiting a decision, so you will have time to learn the Canadian National Anthem!
Thanks so much for sharing your time and thoughts with me! Please remember that we will give your Brick Wall a FREE REVIEW with just an email to the address below.
Wishing you best of luck with getting only the best hints,
Leslie Ryan
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