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. 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. Sunrise provides detailed instructions. - 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. 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 prospective 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. Are the fees the same whether I use the permanent residence
(immigration) or citizenship process for an adopted child?
A. Click Here for CIC website. - Q. I have applied to sponsor my adopted child for permanent
residence (immigration) and I want to apply for citizenship instead. Can I
switch my application?
A. Click Here for CIC website and Here for part 2 of the answer. - Q. Can I do both processes at the same time and get a refund on one
of them?
A. The question is answered in detail on the Immigration Canada website at Question 13 and 14 (see links in question above). In short, you cannot switch your application from one to the other, but you can file (and pay for) two separate applications. CIC will decide the citizenship application before the Permanent Resident Visa application. If successful, you might get a refund on the Permanent Resident application. - 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. We are both permanent residents of Canada and are going to
adopt overseas. Can our child obtain Canadian citizenship under either process?
A. Not immediately. You should use the Permanent Resident process and then when you (the adults) apply for Canadian citizenship, your child can apply at the same time. - Q. Is the criteria for a grant of citizenship for an adopted child
different from the criteria for a permanent residence?
A. Immigration Canada has set out an extensive answer to this question on its FAQ's site. It is important to understand the distinctions between the two. It also answers the question of what happens if the child has already become 18 years old when the adoption happens. - 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. We have applied for Direct Citizenship for our child.
Should we send the Part 2 Application or present it in person at the
Overseas Visa Office?
A. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) does not advise parents to submit the Part 2 Application in person at the Visa Office as this will not speed up processing. To avoid unnecessary expense and disappointment, parents should not plan to return to Canada with their adopted child until they know with certainty that all citizenship requirements have been met. - 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.Remember that the child's citizenship and the passport will be issued in the name given the child in the foreign adoption order. It may be necessary, therefore, to complete a legal name change when back in Canada and reapply for a passport in the child's new name. That name change process may not be necessary if the child comes home on a permanent resident visa.
- Q. If I apply for direct Canadian citizenship and my application
is refused, can I appeal the decision?
A. No. There is no appeal process from a refusal for direct citizenship. The Canada Immigration website, however, points out that you can apply instead for a judicial review of the decision in the Federal Court of Canada. If you do that however, you will be fighting the Government of Canada lawyers in Court with their unlimited resources (an intimidating prospect). Depending on what happens, your legal fees may cost over $20,000 (the Permanent Resident Visa process, on the other hand, has a built-in appeal process). - Q. I've read on a chat line that if our child's application for
Direct Citizenship is turned down, that we can apply again under the Permanent
Resident Visa Process (that way we can get a right of appeal). Is that correct?
A. Yes, although it doesn't say that anywhere on the CIC website. The CIC Call Centre confirms that this is possible, but points out that the same issues will be considered in the Permanent Resident application. You will however, have a right to appeal a refusal of a Permanent Resident Visa (and then have the same issues considered at an appeal level). - Q.Will the Citizenship Certificate for my child have the child's
birth name or the name we give to the child on it? If it is the birth
name, what happens?
A. The name to appear on the adopted child's Citizenship Certificate will be the child's legal name at the time Citizenship is granted. If the adopted child's name is legally changed during the adoption process, the Citizenship Certificate can be issued with the new name. If the adopted child's name is legally changed after the adoption process is complete and after Canadian Citizenship is granted, the adoptive parents will need to apply for a replacement of the Citizenship Certificate in order to have the Certificate issued in the child's new name.In general, if the child's name is changed before being granted Citizenship, CIC will accept the following supporting documents in order to issue the Citizenship Certificate in the new name:- The Adoption Order showing the new name;
- A Provincial legal change of name document; or
- A legal name change document issued by the appropriate
authority of the country of residence.
If the adopted child's name is changed after being granted Citizenship, CIC will accept a provincial legal change of name document when processing an application for the replacement of the child's citizenship certificate.
- Q.What if the Citizenship Certificate has the wrong birth date for
the child?
A. This is not so easy and the answer may vary from province to province. In most provinces however, the Supreme Court Rules will allow applicants to ask the court for a Declaratory Judgment on an issue.The date of birth, which appears on the adopted child's Citizenship Certificate, is based on the child's identity documents, such as the adoption order, available at the time Citizenship is granted. CIC cannot issue the Citizenship Certificate with a different date of birth.If the parent is issued a provincial or territorial court order that legally changes the child's date of birth, the parent can apply for a replacement of the child's Citizenship Certificate and use this provincial or territorial document as a supporting document for the change of birth date. - 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 web page 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 not lived in that country since birth.