If you have a question that isn't addressed here, please contact us. We will add to the FAQs as we get new information.
Q. What date is the new citizenship process coming in force?
A. Bill C-14 was given Royal Assent by parliament on June 22, 2007. On December 23, 2007, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration announced that the new law is in force.
Q. Will the law provide "Automatic Citizenship" for children adopted abroad?
A. No, it will not. Adopting Parents will have to apply for citizenship and submit evidence to meet the tests required by the immigration officer.
Q. Will all children be able to get citizenship before returning home?
A. No, it only applies if there is an order for an adoption before coming home. For details see the article Citizenship for Adopted Children.
Q. How do I decide whether to use the new overseas citizenship procedure or the old immigration procedure?
A. You should do 3 things:
-
Read the helpful Citizenship and Immigration Canada webpages:
Choosing the citizenship process or the immigration process
and
What are the differences between the processes? - Read the article on the Sunrise website Citizenship for Adopted Children. This article will be updated as information on the new system becomes available.
- If you are working with an adoption agency you should ask their advice. They will likely have prior experience with adoptions from specific countries.
Q. Can I opt out of the new citizenship process?
A. Yes the new system is optional. You can opt out and obtain a Permanent Resident Visa first and then citizenship later.
Q. Do we do this through Sunrise or on our own?
A. Adoptive parents complete the process, dealing directly with the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
A. Essentially they're all the same process. A permanent resident visa is the new name for what used to be called landed immigrant visa. On the current Canada Immigration website, the term used is Immigration Process. For consistency, we are using the term Permanent Resident Visa. To keep it simple, there are basically two processes now. The direct citizenship process and the permanent resident visa process. If the applicant is successful, both of these processes ultimately lead to Canadian citizenship.
Q. Citizenship Process.
I decided to apply for direct Canadian citizenship. What do I do?
A. It's a two-part process. First, you have to apply to the Canada Immigration Office in
Sydney, Nova Scotia and prove that you are eligible for this option. Download the form and mail it in with the
fee ($100). You have to prove that one of the propective parent applicants is a Canadian citizen. You do this by submitting evidence of that. You will then receive in
the mail the forms that you must take to the Canadian Embassy overseas. At the Embassy you will also have to produce
the final adoption order and the child's identity documents. You will also have to supply the provincial
Letter of No Objection (or Notification of Approval in Hague countries), as
well as any other proof that the citizenship officer requires in order to be
sure that the adoption complies with international adoption agreements. (For
more information about these, read our article Citizenship for Adopted
Children.
Q. Conflicting
Advice. I have been calling the
immigration officers and receiving conflicting advice. Other people I know are receiving different
advice than what I received.
A. International adoption laws and procedures are
complex, and there are many versions of how the new Canadian citizenship law
for adopted children will apply to a particular situation. It will take some time for everyone to fully
understand how it applies, or how it will be used, in each country in the
world. As a result, there will be some
confusion until the interplay between international adoption law and the new
citizenship law for adopted children is worked out
To add to the confusion, one agency is reporting that all
the overseas visa officers they have spoken with do not recommend applying
under the direct citizenship legislation while the child is living abroad (see Canadian Citizenship Process For Adopted Children by Deborah Northcott).
Immigration officials on the
hotline here in Canada are recommending widely that parents go the direct
citizenship route, while visa officers overseas are apparently saying don't do
it. No wonder there's confusion.
Q. The new
regulations require "a Competent Authority of the province in which the
adopting parent resides to state in writing that it does not object to the
adoption". How will this happen?
A. The procedures will be the same as they are now
with the permanent resident visa process.
Canada Immigration will use the Letter of No Objection from the province
(or Notification of Agreement in Hague countries) as part of their criteria in
deciding whether to grant a child Canadian citizenship.
Q. Canadian Passports. If my child is granted Canadian citizenship
overseas, will I get a Canadian passport at our Embassy?
A. You will be issued one of the following three
documents:
- A temporary passport valid for a short period of time;
- A Canadian passport that has limited validity, good for 3 years; or
- A facilitation visa (which will be stamped into the child's foreign country passport). This facilitation visa will cost $75.
Q. China. We are
adopting from China and have obtained an immigration ID number for the Permanent Visa process. The immigration
official has urged us to abandon this process and apply directly for
citizenship. Should we do this?
A. The Canadian Embassy in Beijing is likely the most efficient
Embassy in the world for issuing permanent resident visas for children. It is almost machine-like in its
process. Parents go for the immigration
medical on Monday, and fly home on Friday.
Parents are invariably part of a group, and the group receives their
visas and travel home together. If the
Canadian citizenship can be issued within the same 3-day
period in Beijing, then it will likely be a useful process for adopting
parents.
Q. Haiti. The Canada
Immigration Official has advised me that I should go straight to direct
citizenship for the child I am adopting from Haiti. Apparently, I can do that with the final adoption order and a
birth certificate. He says I do not need the
child's Haitian passport. It takes
about 2 ½ weeks to obtain the Haitian passport, so theoretically I could save
this amount of time. I have already
applied to sponsor the child and have my immigration ID number. Should I abandon the sponsorship process and
go direct to citizenship?
A. It is currently taking about two years to complete an
adoption from Haiti, so the answer depends on how close you are to the final
step. If you have some time until you
go to Haiti, I would take the cautious approach and wait and see what happens
in the Canadian Embassy in Haiti over the next little while. If it turns out that the Embassy issues the
citizenship and Canadian passport within a few days, then you can consider
changing to the direct citizenship process.
Many countries however, will not let their children leave the country without a passport of that country. It helps to control child-trafficking. So, even if the child does not need a country of origin passport to enter Canada, a Haitian passport may be needed to leave Haiti. You should check this our before making a decision. Please let us know the answer.
Q. Ukraine. I have an
immigration ID number. My immigration
lawyer told me not to complete the permanent resident visa process and to
change to the citizenship process. I am
adopting from Ukraine.
A. You are early in the adoption process, and at this point can
take a "wait and see" approach. If you
wish to go directly to citizenship application, you will need to apply for
approval to the CIC office in Sydney, Nova Scotia based on the fact that at
least one adoptive applicant is a Canadian citizen (that process will take some
time so don't wait until the last minute to do it). I wonder if your lawyer realizes that there is no appeal process
in the direct citizenship route. If the citizenship officer denies Canadian citizenship to your child, then it's over. On the other hand, if you remain in the
permanent resident visa pathway, there is an appeal process available to you if
the request for a visa is denied.
Lawyers usually prefer routes that have an appeal process in the event
of an arbitrary or unfair decision.
Q. India. I would like
to adopt an identified 2-year old child from India. The immigration officer has said I can use the new citizenship
process and go right to citizenship by applying at the Embassy when I am in New
Delhi. Can I do this?
A. The new direct citizenship process is not available unless
there is a final order for adoption in the foreign country. Many adoption orders in India (actually most
orders) are guardianship orders, and not final adoption orders. As a result, the new process would not be
available to you in India (unless you can obtain a final adoption order there).
Q. India Can adopting
parents who have completed HAMA adoptions in India proceed directly to
citizenship (Canada Immigration takes the position that HAMA adoption orders
are legal, provided there are not other indications that it is a sham).
A. No, if the adoption order is after October 1,
2003, the Hague Adoption Convention applies and the province will not issue a
Notification of Agreement unless, and until, CARA, in India, issues its own
Letter of No Objection. As a result,
adopting parents should continue with the permanent resident visa process at
this time.
Q. USA. I am adopting a child from the USA. The immigration officer is advising me to
abandon the immigration process and go straight to citizenship ("Why go through
all that extra paper?"). Should I do
this?
A. The answer is
complex. In the USA, some states permit
or require the finalization of the adoption to be done in their state. If your final order of adoption is going to
be a "foreign adoption order" from a US state, then you can use the new
law. (This represents a small minority
of adoptions from the USA.) On the other hand, if your
adoption will be completed in Canada, then you cannot use the new
procedures. You must continue with the
immigration process. (This represents the majority of adoptions from the USA.)
Q. USA. The immigration
official advised me to abandon my immigration process and go to direct
citizenship process. Are there risks if
we do this?
A. Several adopting parents have told us they have received this
advice. Whether the direct citizenship process is available depends on
whether the final adoption order takes place the USA. If you proceed with the direct citizenship
approach, you will save the cost of the immigration medical for the child. The most important thing for most
parents adopting from the USA is taking the route which protects and maintains the child's
Canadian provincial health insurance until the child obtains Canadian citizenship.
Q. USA Changing Citizenship Process. I have come back from Florida with my child and the adoption will happen there in 2 months. Can I convert my application to the new citizenship process?
A. Yes, if your child is here on a permanent resident visa, you can convert to the direct citizenship route (because you will have a foreign adoption order). This answer also applies to adoptions from any other state or country where the adoption order is granted in the foreign country after the child is living in Canada.
Q. USA Okay, I have read all the
materials and I'm still confused. Is the USA a Hague country, and should I use
the permanent resident visa process or the direct citizenship
process?
A. Until April 1, 2008 the US is not a
Hague country. After that date it is a Hague country, although some people will
be able to grandfather their files under the old rules (and have a non-Hague
adoption). Most people adopting from the United States will use the permanent
resident visa process, although for some adoptions they will be able to use the
direct citizenship process. If you are just starting out and don't know where
in the US you are going to adopt from, then use the permanent resident visa
process.
Q. Mexico. We have
applied under the old system to adopt a child from Mexico. Does that mean that we will not require a
medical for the child?
A. In Mexico, the adoption order is a final order and you can
use the new citizenship process. If you
do not have to obtain an immigration medical for the child, it will likely reduce your time in Mexico
(if the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City is efficient in issuing both the
citizenship and the Canadian passport to your child). You will, however, have to obtain a Mexican passport for the child.
Q. Philippines. I am
a Canadian resident living in the Philippines for many years. While here, I adopted a child. I want to come home to visit my family in
Canada and bring my daughter with me. I
applied for direct Canadian citizenship for my daughter at the Canadian Embassy
in Manila. I was refused and told that
I had to come home to Canada, complete a homestudy and obtain a Letter of
Approval pursuant to the Hague Adoption Convention from the British Columbia government
prior to applying for citizenship under the new law. I am prepared to do this and spend four months in Canada, but I
will have to leave my daughter behind.
A. If this is the interpretation that the citizenship
officers are putting on the new law, then it represents a giant step backwards
for expatriate adopting parents. Since
the McKenna Charter of Rights case, Canadians living abroad have been able to
obtain citizenship for their adopted children at Canadian Embassies abroad, on
presentation of an Adoption Certificate.
To now require adopting parents under the new law to leave their child
in a foreign country and come to Canada for a homestudy and Hague authority
approval seems an absurd step to take.
In the process, many applicants will possibly lose their jobs in the
foreign country. Unfortunately under
the new law, there is no appeal from a decision to deny an application for
citizenship.
Q. Dual Citizenship. When my child is granted Canadian
citizenship, can he keep the citizenship of the country he was born in?
A. The answer is yes for most countries. Canada Immigration permits dual citizenship
and has posted an information webpage at Dual Citizenship. Some countries (China, for example) require that children
forfeit their original citizenship if they take out Canadian citizenship. Parents should be aware,
however, of whether their child's country of birth has a military draft or
compulsory call-up or required military training times. Children with dual citizenship living in
Canada may be subject to foreign military drafts, even though they have never lived in
that country since birth.
Q. Canadians Living in
USA. We are Canadians living in the
USA. Can we use the new citizenship
process to help us adopt there?
A. Yes, if you adopt a child born in the USA. It's much more complex, however, if you
intend to adopt a child born elsewhere.
US Immigration does not normally allow a couple living in the US to
adopt a child overseas and bring that child to the United States, unless one of
the parents is a US citizen. If, as Canadians,
you adopt a child in a third country and obtain Canadian citizenship, the
question is whether the US will permit you to bring that child (now a Canadian
citizen) into the USA. Before embarking
on this course, you should obtain some expert US immigration legal advice from
a US attorney specializing in this area of law.
Q. AIDS . Can a child who is HIV positive or a child who has AIDS be granted citizenship?
A. Children with HIV/AIDS are not considered to present a
threat to public health or safety in British Columbia. If all other
requirements are met a child with HIV/AIDS will be issued a Permanent
Resident visa or citizenship. (Note: Provinces other than British
Columbia may have a different opinion)
Q. Down's Syndrome. Will Canada Immigration allow us to adopt a
child with Down's Syndrome internationally?
A. Yes. The
question is whether the province you live in will issue a Letter of No
Objection to Canada Immigration. The
answer is identical to the HIV (AIDS) question immediately above. Since you live in British Columbia, the
answer is yes.