New Citizenship Rules for Canadians

As of April 17, 2009 new citizenship rules have been put in place. This was done to correct some problems that were found in the previous citizenship rules. The new rules are designed to make the citizenship rules easier to understand and enforce. The three main changes in the Canadian citizenship rules are:Restoring or granting Canadian citizenship to citizens who either never had citizenship or had lost their citizenship due to previous citizenship laws. investment visa canada The new rules limit Canadian citizenship to the first generation of children born to Canadian parents outside the boundaries of Canada.It allows people who were adopted outside of Canada, by Canadian parents between the dates of January 1, 1947 and February 14, 1977 to file an application of citizenship without having to go through an immigration process.

The previous citizenship rules were more confusing and led to many people being unsure of their citizenship standing in Canada. Before the new rules went into effect, people living outside of Canada who were born to Canadian parents, or had Canadian grandparents had to submit an application to retain or keep their Canadian citizenship, to live in Canada for one year, or to prove that they had a solid connection to Canada before their 28th birthday. This led to confusion because many of these people did not realize that they had Canadian citizenship in the first place.

The new law simplifies this because only the first generation born outside of Canada is now granted citizenship without a citizenship application. It was believed that the first generation born outside of Canada would at least be aware of their parent's citizenship status. By limiting the inherent right of citizenship to the first generation born outside of Canada, Canada is able to better protect the value of citizenship for future generations. The old rules allowed the inheritance of Canadian citizenship to an unlimited number of generations.

The new law does not force the first generation of children born to Canadian parents outside of Canada to become citizens. They are granted that privilege at birth but are free to renounce it if they so choose. There is a free, streamlined renunciation process available to adults that were affected by the changes in the citizenship law that went into effect in 2009. This is generally used if the person in question was already a citizen of another country before the law went into effect, and wishes to remain a citizen of that country. However, if the country they are a citizen of allows dual citizenship, they may wish to retain both citizenships.If you are unsure whether you were affected by the changes to the citizenship rules of Canada, you may want to consult a Canadian lawyer. They understand the changes and can clearly define your citizenship status. If you wish to change your status a Canadian lawyer can also help you file the paperwork needed to rescind your newly awarded citizenship.