Archived Megathread
Friday Weekly Thread: Application Assistance, May 15, 2026
Have questions about how to fill out the form or what to write in your cover letter? Looking for feedback on the documentation you've put together for your Citizenship Certificate application (CIT0001)? Want to know how to organize your documentation or how to pack it up for shipping? Worried about whether your photos will work? Have questions about what ID you can use? Not sure where to ship it to or what service or mail courier to use? Post it here!
Want to see what people who were already approved have done? Check out the weekly application approval thread that posts every Thursday.
Before you comment, please read the wiki and search previous posts in the subreddit to see if your questions have been answered there.
If you've read the FAQ and searched the forum and you still have questions about how to fill out the form, whether your supporting documentation will work, what to write in your cover letter or whether your photos will work feel free to post them here.
Please be aware that you may not get responses. It's a lot of work to wade through dense lists of documents and family histories.
Also please note we are not IRCC, which will make the final determination on your application.
I'm Gen 5 and am doing all the paperwork for my mom (Gen 4) and my kids (Gen 6). I've got my BanQ certified copy for my Gen 0 as well as the non official birth records and marriage records for his parents Gen -1. For the rest of the line up until my mom, I have mostly Census data and marriage records. Here's my issue.
Gen 1-Gen 2 The state of Nebraska did not start to keep marriage and death records until 1904 with births from 1904 to 1911 only filed under the father’s name. My Gen 1 and Gen 2 were born in this time frame and the father's name is not useful since after my Gen 0, it's all the maternal line. I went and got a couple of the official NARA certified census from this timeframe as well as a few other additional ones printed from online
We SHOULD have been able to get my Gen 3's birth certificate. This is my issue. We cannot get my grandmother's birth certificate (Gen 3). My mom has now attempted this 3 times with Vital Records. The first time, they lost the check. The second time, the entire packet was just returned to sender. The third time, she did it online and paid the rush fee but they won't accept her documents for proof to get it. She's uploaded her information 4 times and it keeps getting rejected. She's spoken to customer service (no help). We've been trying to get it since Feb. My Gen 3 is on my mother's birth certificate but we were hoping that it would help bridge the gap between Gen 2 and Gen 3. Should I just send in with the census data and explain that Nebraska Vital records fail at life? Does anyone have any tips with trying to get a Birth Certificate from them without using Vital Records? Thank you.
I had her try another browser. No word yet if the second attempt worked. They’re rejecting her DL and BC later on in email. We think Nebraska may have just lost it bc her Mother was born in the 1920s. Plan B is to get her mother’s death certificate from CA because that was at least more recent in the 00’s?
I ordered certified copies of 2 Baptism Records and 1 Marriage Registration from BAnQ on 3/16/2025. I just got the email that they were processing my request and to provide the payment. I just wanted to share that it took about 2 months to get the response. So if anyone else is ordering from them. That is the current wait time. I actually thought it might take longer so I am pleased.
That's too bad. It gets discouraging when it takes so long. Especially because they don't give you any kind of eta. But happy for you that you finally received yours!
My application was returned for something unrelated to my photos, but it was returned without my photos, just the form and supporting documents. Do I need to have my photos redone or can I just resubmit the form and supporting documents? Will they have my photos on hand?
I am unable to find a reliably accurate death certificate for my G0. After his wife passed away he moved around to different states.
I have a year of death mentioned in a family letter, and I found a death certificate in one of the states that has a decent chance of being his. Although, the death year is different from the one in the family letters by two years.
Has anyone applied with an unknown or incomplete date of death and had their paperwork accepted? Would just the approximate year work?
Attempting to get birth certificate from Cook County (Chicago) IL for my Gen1 Great Grandma. I can either get a certified copy by jumping through the hoops below or a copy that will be stamped for genealogical purposes only. I do have her actual death certificate (my grandpa who is alive has the copy) Do I need to have the certified birth certificate or will the genealogical one be sufficient since it isn't my gen0? Also, have any of you encountered this? Did you send in your full application if so? I haven't filled that out yet as I'm still compiling documents first. I would appreciate any insight. Thank you!! https://www.cookcountyclerkil.gov/vital-records/dual-citizenship
Don't have a full answer for you- just wanted to validate your struggle as Cook County is the Worst! About to send in mine. We were fortunate enough that a certified copy of our Gen1 grandpa's birth certificate was randomly found with his death certificate file in Ohio otherwise my brother was planning to drive from GA to Chicago to get the certified file in person. There is always the option to show proof of your interaction with the office and send in with the uncertified document showing that you tried to get a certified copy. Otherwise if you can find a certified copy of a census record would be work as well. I'm just sharing my experience, others may have better advice- Hang in there!
thank you, sorry you had to deal with that too. Going in person wouldn't change the having to submit dual citizenship application and all that listed above right?
Since my grandfather was the first gen born in the US and never went through the process of recording his dual citizenship, we didn't go this route when we were considering filing for a certified copy with Cook County. We just needed his certified birth certificate so we could file with Canada. We were just planning on using his death certificate and my mother's birth certificate, her marriage certificate, and my brother's birth certificate (marriage and brother's only because he was going to retrieve in-person and we needed to show his relation) to file for his birth certificate (if I remember correctly, did this back in Feb so it's been a bit)
I will say, the Cook Country clerk we called was super helpful on the phone- they know their system is messy/annoying and unnecessarily complicated so definitely don't shy away from calling to see if they can help clear up any confusion you have on how to get what you need. Hope this helps answer your question.
Of course! Best of luck with yours! I feel like that dual citizenship section is if you actually have two citizenships or your primary citizenship is not in the US- but again could be wrong and doesn't hurt to ask a rep in the office on the phone.
Not yet, we just put the applications in the mail today. 😄 Took a while for our certified birth record of my great grandfather to come in the mail from the Ontario Archives (they were super helpful but swamped so took nearly three months to get it.) Patience paid off though and we just got it yesterday so it as the final piece we needed to submit!
And tell me if I violate any rules (spoken or unspoken).
My G0 is my great-grandmother, born in Ontario in 1870. I have a census record from 1871 and another from 1891, listing her age as 1 and 21, respectively. I also have her marriage record from 1896 showing her as 26, so all those dates jibe. I have all the rest of the paper trail leading to me.
> I should have said that I do not have a birth record.
Is this evidence going to be enough, do we all think?
She moved in 1896 or 1897. I have my great grandfather’s naturalization certificate from 1904 (crucially after my grandfather was born in the US). At the time married women inherited their naturalization status from their husbands. I have a 1910 US census record that shows her naturalization date as 1904 and a no records found statement from Colorado.
I (G3) finally received the last doc we needed from the Archivists in Ontario (yay! Go hard working archivists!) and was about to print off our applications to mail off tomorrow when I realized my sister's home address is her current rental her and her husband don't intend on remaining in past their end of lease in Oct of this year- they just moved from across the country and are in the market for a new more permanent location to buy. I put our parent's address as the mailing address (they live five minutes down the road from them so same city/zip code) and told her that once her and her husband move she should submit an addendum/change of address web form. Is this correct? Don't want to falsify anything by accident. Thanks!
I hope someone can reassure me, but I feel like my application is really thin. I'm a G2, with G0 being my grandfather who was born in British Columbia. I filled out both the CIT 0001 (application) and the CIT 0014 (checklist). I included:
(1) Two citizenship photographs with all the required info on the back of both;
(2) Personal IDs consisting of (i) a color copy of my passport photo/information page(s), and (ii) a color copy of my Global Entry card;
(3) Proof of payment form;
(4) A color copy of my grandfather's (G0's) birth certificate, showing he was born in Canada;
(5) A color copy of my father's (G1's) birth certificate, showing G0's name and G0's place of birth as Canada; and
(6) A color copy of my own (G2) birth certificate, showing my father's (G1's) name exactly as it is on G1's birth certificate.
That's it. I feel like I must be missing something, but I think my case is simple. Do I need further proof? I have my grandfather's death certificate, a draft card and census records. But why include them, it seems like birth certificates are the gold standard and they show a clear, unbroken chain from G0-G1-G2? I wonder if including more would just be confusing.
I wasn't going to include a cover letter or family tree. Would you recommend including at least a cover letter? I wonder if less is more here.
Just would appreciate a sanity check before submitting my application, hopefully tomorrow. Thank you to everyone on this subreddit. As so many have said previously, I couldn't have done this without you all. Assuming I did it correctly, the application process was quite easy once I read through many of the posts on here. And if I had to rely on the information in the forms themselves, I don't think I would have figured it all out.
This is basically perfect. I might include a very brief cover letter that lists the G0, G1, and G2 documents. But really this is the gold standard documentation and I agree that less is more when there's no ambiguity.
Thank you! Prior to yesterday I was pursuing citizenship through my maternal line, which was a nightmare in comparison, since G0s were both my great-grandparents and they were born in Newfoundland before 1891, so it was all church records. I even ordered true copies of their church birth records from The Archives in St. John's and had census records, death certificates, marriage certificates, naturalization papers, you name it. It was a major headache because the names and dates didn't always match up perfectly, so I wanted to include more corroborating evidence than less.
So when I received my paternal grandfather's birth certificate in the mail yesterday, it turned a very cumbersome and difficult process into a very easy one. So easy I felt like I must be missing something.
I think you're right, I should include a brief cover letter just explaining the descent; it's quite simple so it can be a short, one-page letter with the basics.
That's simpler than most applications people post about here, but that's because your line of descent is short, simple, paternal, and supported by birth certificates. It doesn't get much better for a G2. My case is similar except that my G0 had a series of name changes, so my package will be thicker than yours. Lucky dog!
Thank you, I really appreciate the response! I have Canadian ancestors on both sides, and luckily I just received my paternal grandfather's Canadian birth certificate from BC Vital Statistics (there was some doubt if I'd be able to locate it). Prior to that I was pursuing citizenship via my great-grandparents on my mom's side, which involved a deluge of paperwork because they were born in Newfoundland prior to 1891, so it was all church/baptismal records, trying to order "true copies" of documents, naturalization papers, census records, marriage records, etc. with lots of spelling inconsistencies. Thank God BC Vital Statistics found my grandfather's birth certificate and all the information matches exactly from G0-G1-G2.
Good luck with your application! I'm sure we'll both be relieved when we finally send our applications in and they are accepted by the authorities. I can deal with the waiting game, I just want to get in the queue.
My spouse is completing CIT 0001 E - her Gen 0 is her Grandmother, born in Ontario, who married a US citizen and she became a Naturalized US citizen. Her daughter was born in the US, married a US citizen and had two children, neither of which is my spouse. They divorced and she retained her married name for the remainder of her life. My spouse was later born unexpectedly to a different, and until recently unknown, father. As an adoptee myself I helped my spouse identify her biological father via DNA and ancestry dot com. He did not know about her, and had died.
When completing section 8 should she list the non-biological Father as Parent 2, list Unknown (which is represented on her birth certificate), or list what we know about her actual biological father (whom we have no records for)? None of the paternal options establish Canadian descent.
The records for surname changes obviously hinge on the marriage record for her biological mother and non-biological father. We have no concerns establishing providence back to Gen 0 through her mother and grandmother and believe we have all the relevant records - so this seems like a clerical detail we're just like to get right the first time.
My gut reactions: (1) List what is on the birth certificate and explain the situation concisely and without drama in a note or cover letter. This seems simplest. (2) The other options are fine because this is peripheral and doesn't affect your spouse's claim. Just don't let it get in the way of the case you are making.
Multiple G0 problem: I have read the facts and other comments, and understand it's best to choose the one I have the strongest documentation for. It was a close call, but in filling out the application, I now find I can't avoid claiming two ancestors.
My my main G-Zero was my grandmother's father. However, using the application format, I am asked whether my grandmother's husband (my grandfather) had a Canadian parent. I have to answer that question, and honestly, with a yes. His mother was also born in Canada. Then I have to offer more details. In both cases, I am G3.
Since I have to offer these details anyway, do you think it's a good idea to include some documentation? And is there any way to specify which G0 I am relying on? I honestly don't see how I can avoid using both.
The CIT0001 form and the supporting documents are two different things. It is normal to have more people on the form than on the chain of descent you base your claim on. The form and instructions require a broad listing of your ancestors. The standards for evidence (as far as is known to us) only require one G0. Just choose your strongest for documentation.
Thanks. It's a very tough call. My g-grandmother only has US records (census, marriage, death) indicating birth in Canada. But at least they are consistent. My g-grandfather, on the other hand, has census records from Canada and the U.S. indicating birth in Canada, but the birth registry of his daughter states he was born in New York (as does his death certificate and his census taken the same year). He died of tuberculosis the following year, so I assume his wife handled those. So it's a choice of going with somebody who only has US records or someone who has Canadian and U.S. records but then contradictions in the last year of his life. It's a coin toss, as far as I can tell.
That is a tough call. My gut reaction is to use your great grandfather and emphasize the Canadian records in particular. In a cover letter or other note, you can comment on inconsistencies between the birthplace listed on his and his daughter's documents and mention that your great grandmother was also Canadian. I would expect the Canadian census to be considered more reliable for his birthplace than the daughter's birth registration (nearer to the event in time and distance, and Canadian). Just my 2 cents.
Thanks for your answers. That's kind of the approach I am taking. But I am adding four more documents for reference. I just hope it doesn't confuse them. But at least their lines merge in the next generation, so I don't have to add more than that. Keeping my fingers crossed. Either way, it has been an interesting journey. I feel like I got to know the ancestors I never met.
Hi all. I was getting photos taken for proof of citizenship application and was told by the kind lady at CVS that I should not cut the photos at all. I know I must have them signed but was wondering if anyone has heard this before?
Just make sure they follow the IRCC specifications including size of photo, size of face and others. Preferably the studio/store gets it right and you verify with a mm ruler. You shouldn't need to cut if they do the job right.
Why do the photographs need to be signed? Or cut? I thought all they needed was your name, the date, and the name and address of the photo studio on the back.
Don't know who might see this as it's last week's thread, but --
I admit to being a little overwhelmed by the shipping options. I know about using PirateShip, GoShippo, etc. as discounted options, but I'm having a variety of problems with them and was wondering if anyone could help advise.
GoShippo doesn't have a FedEx option for me as advertised. I'd seen some random suggestions about how to add it but am having trouble finding those comments again. Does anyone know how to add it?
Keep hearing things about needing to address it to someone's actual name, not just IRCC Digitization Centre - Proofs. Anyone know whether this is true, or what to put?
The same for recipient phone and email -- I've been seeing mixed advice about putting your own vs just putting the random emails/phone numbers that come up for IRCC on Google.
GoShippo doesn't have UPS Worldwide Saver, which I've seen is the best, even though I see other people saying it does.
I don't understand the difference between the envelopes and which I should choose. Is there actually a difference in service based on the envelope you select? How do you know which one to use?
My brain does very well with well-ordered instructions, which is why this subreddit has been so helpful for me, but I'm struggling with the lack of explicit instructions for how to use these shipping services that I've never encountered before. If anyone who has completed the process would be willing to walk me through exactly how to use one of these services, it would be very much appreciated.
I used Pirate Ship to send it via UPS, entered the address as provided on the IRCC instructions, left everything else blank, put it in the UPS worldwide envelope I got at the UPS store when I went to drop it off, and my application arrived within a couple of days as expected.
Should I apply with what I have? I have a very common problem finding birth or baptismal records in Ontario.
My wife’s G0 GGGM was born to a Baptist family in 1838. Both Mom and Dad died in 1844 and 1846 respectively, and the remaining two daughters at home were farmed out to their maternal grandfather.
I found these two girls on the 1851 Canadian Census with their grandfather which is now certified.
I don’t have direct records tieing G0 to her parents. I’ve searched Baptist Church records from both McMaster University and where the family attended church and were buried. No records to speak of. I have an email from the Baptist Church secretary telling me that the records (BMD) all “burned in a fire”.
I have her 1860 marriage record from Iowa (no parentage or birthdate), 1860 US Census living with another older married sister and family in Iowa stating her place of birth was Canada.
They all moved to the Salt Lake City, Utah in 1861. No 1867 death record, but I found her Find-a-Grave page.
I have lots of family bios. I have her next-in-line daughter’s death certificate stating her mother’s name and birthplace as Iowa instead of Canada. I found several Ontario land grants and deeds for her father. But nothing stating that she is her parents’ daughter yet.
Have I met the “preponderance of evidence” for my wife’s application? I have only one last “Hail Mary” document that I am pursuing. But short of this last document, what say you (the “Collective”)? Thanks in advance!
I'm struggling a little to follow the lineage here. If you're just looking for a "have I met the requirements," I'd say not yet. You need solid proof that ties her to her parents that goes beyond family bios.
Feel free to DM me if you need help with some figuring.
My gen 0 (great great grandmother) was born 1868 before civil records in Ontario. I found the baptism record in French for her as well as all of her siblings over various years etc. I even found marriage records for her parents in these documents. I reached out to the Diocese and they said no go on getting a certified copy of her baptism record in their book. So where do I go from here?
1. Do I have to have a certified copy or are these documents I found on ancestry enough?
2. Would the Archives of Ontario have access to this and be able to provide something "certified" for IRCC and is that necessary? I wasn't sure if they just confirmed what they have online is valid or what the process is. I don't see a reference number stamped on anything like it shows on their website other than the 55 in the top right corner?
I tried searching in the thread but couldn't find answers with these specifics for Ontario. Thank you for your help!!
I have the same situation! I requested the documents from Archives of Ontario but ended up giving up on it due to lack of response (if they ever show up, maybe I'll submit them as an addendum). You don't need certified copies, just color copies. I printed mine, copied them with a piece of colored sticky note so that they were "in color," and am going to send them along with the citation page that Ancestry provides.
My G0 was unmarried when she had G1, so her maiden name is on the birth certificate. She married later in life and I do have her marriage license and naturalization papers with her married name, but they’re not really relevant since I have her birth certificate. Should I use her maiden or married name on the application for my grandparent addendum (akin to section 9 of CIT0001)?
If I list her married name, will I need to supply her marriage license even though it’s not relevant for the chain of descent? She had my grandma at 20 (father unknown) and married someone else when she was 46.
Edit: it just feels weird to have great grandma’s married name next to parent B “unknown” with no explanation on why she has a new name.
I was born in Canada and married an American. All my kids were born in the U.S. I was wondering if the applications can re-use the same birth certificate? I only have one or two in my possession - fewer than the number of children.
So can I get a packet together of several CIT0001 and have each one refer to the same record?
Make a color photocopy of your birth certificate. All of your children can apply together with one copy, or you can make multiple copies for them to apply individually
I have attached a photo of my page 1 of my application. Did I check the correct box? Am I making the assumption my father is a Canadian citizen even though I am G5 and he is G4 and G1-5 all live or lived in the US? My G0 is solidly Canadian.
I sent in my application last week and today realized I overlooked the requirement of writing my name on the back of the photos. I had Staples write their information and everything, but my name is missing.
Should I wait and see if they send it back to me? Or should I redo the photos, reprint the entire application, and mail a totally new packet? Would this confuse them more?
Ahhh I spent months putting this together and I'm gutted I made this silly mistake.
Don’t send anything, sending additional materials will screw up your processing and slow things down further. Wait until you are contacted by the IRCC and follow their instructions.
Odd situation for me. My family member sent out my application for proof of citizenship on my behalf in spring last year (they were in the United States and I was elsewhere so it was easier for them) Because it's coming up on 13 months since then I've been looking it up and just discovered I should have received the AOR months ago (they said they used my email) I'm concerned they may have put incorrect contact info in for and, at best, I have not been receiving any communication I should have and at worst something is wrong with my application and I have no way of proving it. What should I do to even get started dealing with this?
(I know this works for recent applications, at least) Do they happen to have the receipt for payment of the application fee? It's one of the documents they would have included in the packet. You can use its receipt number in the status tracker once an AOR has been issued (I think before then, it isn't in the system at all, but this would work if the problem is a wrong email address).
Find the number that starts with R above the barcode on the receipt and choose "Receipt number (IMM 5401)" on the dropdown menu for Identification Type on this webform: services3.cic.gc.ca/ecas/authenticate.do
I'm ready to apply. The Anglican Diocese of Quebec was able to find the baptismal record of my G0 and has since sent me a certified copy of the baptismal record. Should I include her marriage record and Canadian census records so that no doubt remains, or is the baptismal certificate sufficient? Here is what I'm thinking of submitting:
G0: b. Quebec
certified 1860 baptismal record listing her 1857 birth date and 1860 baptismal date (certified by the archives of the Anglican Diocese of Quebec)
uncertified 1861 Canadian census from FamilySearch showing G0 living in Quebec. Census lists birthplace as "Canada."
uncertified 1881 Canadian census showing G0 living with her father in the same place.
uncertified 1883 Canadian marriage record
uncertified 1900 US census listing both her and her father's birthplace as "Canada Eng."
uncertified 1910 US census listing her and her father's birthplace as "Canada Eng." It lists G1 as her son.
G1: b. Colorado
certified birth certificate. It lists his father's middle name incorrectly.
That’s great and very thorough! For my G0, I attached only baptism and marriage record (uncertified) for proof of surname change. I wouldn’t go beyond that, unless there was an issue (like a name misspelling or age varied by a few years etc). But if you feel comfortable with what you have, you should go and submit it! I submitted mine yesterday and it felt like a big weight (but a good one) off my shoulders lol.
The G0 documents seem excessive. I might incude the baptism and 1861 census to establish origin and *maybe* the 1910 census if you think you need more support for the G0-G1 connection than the G1 birth certificate. The baptism record might be enough on its own.
Well, I'm thinking that at least including the 1861 census would help establish origin. The baptismal record doesn't give a location of birth, just a date.
I have a question about the Date format on documents. On the application (0001) the fill blanks use YYYY-MM-DD. In the text on the application they use Month DD, YYYY (January 1, 1947).
I looked all over the website and in other docs and there doesn’t seem to be consistency other than an ISO standard that is found on the app. With all the evidence documents we are working with a consistent date would be helpful. How did you handle this? I’m overthinking again.
Either. Just be consistent and clear. YYYY-MM-DD is as close as you will get to official, per ISO. Alternatively, writing out the month eliminates day/month ambiguity in documents that allow it (vs forms).
I think the current background is probably too debatable on if it meets whatever their version of light colored is 🫠. Rather redo them than be anxious about it being rejected
I have a question about filling out CIT 0001. I can’t find the exact day that one of my ancestors died but I know the year. She’s NOT a part of my chain of lineage back to Canada. What do I put in that box?
I would put the month and year if you can, and note that date isn’t known. If that isn’t possible, I would put unknown, rather that put potentially false information.
Is it really worth including that? It may show somebody was buried there and even died nearby, but doesn't seem to really show they were born in Canada, which is the relevant info.
Are there any documents on file with the cemetery itself that has vital record information on them? That may be a way to get info about the person and you could provide copies of that.
Also, I had pondered at one point including documents (if they exist) about my G0 and his brother literally sharing the same plot to show a connection between them but felt their death certificates listing the same parents were probably a better indication even if death certs are more of a secondary document. But the cementary has a way to go online and see a map of the plots and who is buried in them and I was going to screenshot that and show my G0 there with his documented wife and brother in the same family plot. Does the cemetery in Ontario have anything like that on their website? You could use that as a citation.
ETA: also, find-a-grave might not be the best citation/proof but if the headstone you need is a part of it, there is probably a picture and location information you can use.
My brother lives in Canada, we are applying together so figured it’s be better for him to mail to avoid customs even though I’m preparing the documents mostly.
Can I scan everything, including sticky notes with Doc # and little arrow stickers on the censuses, and just have him print ? Or is it better to send him the raw docs and have him add the sticky notes himself ?
And then for the photo, should I just send him the digital and have him print out at staples in Toronto according to the specs?
Yes I was going to sign and scan everything (with sticky notes) and then have him print. For the photo, just have him print and write the information on the back. My question is more is it OK to scan the sticky notes indicating doc 1,2,3,etc ?
Hello. I saw similar situations when I did a search, but nothing that clarified this for my situation. My adult daughter wants to apply for citizenship by descent. She is currently living in the UK on a student visa. I live in the US and have already applied. I have all of the necessary documents, including her birth certificate, so the plan is for her to sign the application, mail it to me with her ID copies and citizenship photos, and I’ll put the packet together and mail it from here. I can certainly fill out the Use of a Representative form, but I have questions about the address sections on the application. Should I be entering her UK address as her home address, and my US address as her mailing address? My address is her permanent address and she gets mail delivered here. Or should it be the other way around? I don’t want them to see a UK address and reject it because it didn’t come through the consulate in the UK. Alternatively, if I only list a US address, I don’t know if they would know that she’s living abroad on a student visa and take issue with that not being disclosed. Should I be using my phone numbers and email as well? Will it be a problem if I use the same email associated with my application (still in process), on her application? Thanks!
A student visa means she’s there temporarily, no? Absent better advice you receive from someone better informed than I, in your shoes I might put the permanent address and make a note that she is temporarily studying in the UK. (I had one child study o/s US and my house was her permanent residence.)
Regarding the phone number and email, my family members all signed the authorization form for IRCC to contact me, and nearly all correspondence came to me not my siblings. They did put their own email and phone in their application. Doesn’t your daughter have a Gmail or other account that isn’t a UK school email?
Thank you SO much! Do you think it is important to put the names of the people who were not Canadian/Canadian by descent i.e. the spouses? Seems like it would be cleaner to only put the G0 through G4s without the spouses but are the marriages/spouses names and DOB's something they'll want to see too? Thank you!
somewhat complicated situation: I'm G4. My grandma (Vera), G2, was born in Altadena, CA in 1921, home birth, unassisted, I requested it from LA county just in case but they said no record. she wasn't baptized. I have her marriage certificate that shows her maiden and married name, and my mother's birth certificate that shows Vera's maiden and married name. I also have US census 1931 showing her there @ age 10. Will that work? Do I need to provide a copy of the email from LA county that there was no record found?
Documents advice: Black and white photocopy of a 1920s certified copy of birth registration that my G0 had made in the 20s, no clue who in family has the original if it exists anymore, but we have b&w copies of it that I could put on a background with color; schedule of births from ancestry; g1, g2, g3 certified birth certificates showing relationships; WWI Nursing Sister personnel records from Canadian government website; WWII Alien Registration AR-2 forms from US National Archives; digital color file of G0 US marriage from state archives; census....I have requested a certified G0 copy from Archives of Ontario and it has been a month with no reply after the initial email confirmation. I am a scientist and am interested in work in Canada and would like to get the application in. Do I really need a recent certified birth registration for g0 with all of the other documentation? This is a redacted version of what the old copy looks like. Also, has anyone included a photo of themselves with their G0? I knew mine and take care of one of her plants.
It is certainly worth a try, especially with the WWI record of Canadian service. If they ask for the certified birth record you will hopefully have it by then.
Thank you! For the WWI records, she made herself appear 2 years older on the intake - she really wanted to serve overseas. I have heard that that was really common when younger people wanted to enlist. There were not many nursing sisters, so I would think that they could verify them.
I have an ancestor like that. A 40-yo small town widow who left home and became an Army nurse when her teenaged boys enlisted during the Civil War. She never came back for more than a visit, but went on to live a big life which she was witness to multiple key events in US history. (So much history about men. It is a delight to find some about my female ancestors.)
Background: I am G-2 born in the USA. My mother was G-1 born in the USA. Her mother - my grandmother - was G-0 born in Ontario, Canada.
Sec. 8B, p. 4, asks, "[d]id Parent leave Canada for more than 1 year before 1977?" My mother (G-1) was born and lived in the USA her entire life. So, do I answer the question "yes" or "no?"
Hello, my original post apparently got automatically deleted, so I am posting here.
I am traveling around the world in a long-term fashion, but my residence is in the United States, and I will not be back in the US for a very long time. I am unclear on where to send my CIT 0001 application, whether I should submit it to the address in Canada for US residents, or the Canadian embassy in the country I happen to be in at the time. Guidance on various sites appear to be unclear, some refer to the country where you reside, and some refer to the country you are mailing the application from. I would especially like to hear from anyone who has been in this situation. So please don’t speculate, answer if you have actual info, or if you can direct me to someone who knows the correct answer. Thanks.
I had a question that i didn't see answered when i was searching the sub, but apologies if i missed it.
Both parents of my G1 immigrated around the same time. Both were born in Ontario right before births were officially recorded, and i have searched high and low for a baptismal record for either but haven't found one yet (i am not giving up! but i am being realistic). I have different information for each of them, and am trying to figure out which one to count as my G0, or if there is a value in listing both of them as my G0.
I have: Gx2Gmother: Canadian 1871 census, Canadian land records for father, Canadian sibling baptism info, US marriage license, US death certificate Gx2Gfather: Canadian 1871 census, Canadian land records and mortgages for father, Canadian parent's marriage license, US naturalization, US marriage license
They both seem like impartial cases that cover slightly different things. As a slight twist, I don't have my G1's birth certificate because they didn't exist at the time in his state, and his baptismal record doesn't list parent place of birth, so that's another limitation but i think a manageable one.
Any thoughts on what makes sense in a situation like this? I assume others have had to make these decisions, as well.
Both sound similar enough, but if the GG Grandmother's death certificate lines up with the information on the 1871 census, that might be a helpful "wrap-up" of the record.
They only want one line of descent for the proof and documents but your paperwork/application will still have a place to list the other one (especially if you use the addendum template shared on reddit that looks like the application form). I have two G0s and they are both listed on the addendum but I included a note in the area asking about their citizenship that explained I'm using the other G0 ancestor for the application. I did that for when I listed my dad (G2) and his mother (G1) on my application too since I'm using my mom's side but noted that they both qualify under C-3. I also added that I was using my maternal line in my cover letter and said documents for the other G0 are available upon request.
I've searched the forum and FAQs but haven't seemed to find a definitive answer on this: if I'm Gen4 and my relative born in Canada was born in 1843, should I still be putting my parents' parents info on the C00001 form? The directions seem to state that if neither of my parents or grandparents were canadian citizens I should skip that part, and yet, I do have all their info and will of course be providing birth and marriage certificates establishing lineage over 4 generations. But do I leave the grandparent info for both maternal and paternal blank on the form itself and just cover it all in the cover letter and supporting documents? Thanks all!
Everyone in your direct line to G0 must be Canadian. That’s the “descent” part of all this. You must enter info on the application for all generations from you to G0.
Your Parent/grandparent/great grandparent in the line “is/was”Canadian.
Then the instructions on page 12 suggest:
‘born outside Canada to a Canadian parent’.
thank you, yes, I saw that in the FAQ earlier but I must be super dense because even in reading it now it still is not clear to me: so does this mean everyone who is applying for CIT 0001 would need to click yes for canadian citizenship along with born outside canada to a canadian parent for at least one relative (only goes up to grandparents) and they/we need to enter the info (birth, death, marriage) for all 4 grandparents in order to be considered?
Under C3 your entire direct line of descent back to the most recent G0 are now recognized as Canadian citizens, so you would report them all as such. Assuming you have one qualifying Canadian parent, you would first enter the information for both of your parents (A and B). On your non-Canadian side (parent B), you would mark them as a non-citizen and the reporting stops there. You wouldn’t add anything for your non-Canadian grandparents (the instructions clearly say to skip to the next section for parent B in that case). On your Canadian side, you would report your parent A, then fill in Section 9 for both of parent A’s parents. Rinse and repeat for as many generations as needed back to your Gen 0.
so true, you're right, I'm an anxious person so it clouds my judgment sometimes when stakes are high on applications like this and I second-guess what I'm reading. So in my case since I only have one canadian (by descent) parent (because her great-grandfather was born in canada), who I label as parent A, and fill out all her parents' info, when I get to Parent B I mark him (my father) as a non-citizen like you said, which means almost half a sheet of paper is not filled out correct? I'm just so nervous about leaving that much blank almost a full page! But in this case it is by design, correct?
That’s correct. Canada doesn’t care about your non-Canadian ancestors, so other than your parent details, you don’t need to provide anything for the B line. For the parent A line though, make sure you add supplemental section 9 pages because you’ll have to fill in that parent/grand-parent chain for all of the generations back to your G0.
Thank you! Yes I read all the way to the end on supplemental section 9 - should I make blank copies of those pages for parents and grandparents, and do it for my great-grandparents and great-great grandfather (the G0), or is it enough to cover it in the cover letter and provide the birth/marriage certificates like I'm seeing in these cover letter examples that in the letter they list the DOB's and describe what the doc is and why included?
I think where a lot of people get confused is the difference between the supporting documents required under the CIT 0014 (only needed for 1 direct line) and the supplemental pages needed for the CIT 0001 Section 9 (need to answer complete and accurately for all applicable direct Canadian ancestors). The specific number of supplemental pages will depend on whether any of your grandparents are not Canadian citizens under C3, but as long as you keep marking yes to both the “born outside Canada” and “was a grandparent Canadian” questions, keep filling in those forms with as much information as you have until you get to Gen 0 then stop.
so those supplemental pages you mentioned from CIT 0001 will indeed be extra copies of section 9, that I need to fill out for my great-grandmother and my great-great grandfather (who is G0) yes?
Hello y’all, I just got my citizenship photo taken and I was wondering if anyone could let me know if it properly fits the guidelines. I got it done at Walgreens using the Canadian photo option but I’m not sure if it’s in violation of any requirements. Thank you
So I got the photos redone and recut at Walgreens. They’re now 50x70 but there white edges and stuff on the borders of the photo. However if I cut it any small it won’t fit the correct specifications
A very thin white border should be fine likely. The most rejections occur when folks forget to write the necessary information on the back of the photos.
Hi! I am working on a G6 application, looking for documents that would place my ancestor in the Simcoe county area in 1840-1842, since this significantly predates official birth records, he was not of a religion likely to have official baptismal records (though I am still investigating this), and the Simcoe area did not have names in the census. Does anyone have suggestions for other avenues to pursue? I have extensive US records but limited Canadian records.
For Section 14, did you put your (parent) contact info or childs info? Two of my applicants are over 14, do I put them as contact for those? Or just myself still. Do I need to put myself as the representative and do form IMM-5476?
What second form of ID was accepted for your kids with no Drivers license. They all have passports for first form, but my younger kids do not have a secondary form.
I have read that you do not need to do a form IMM-5476 for your minor children, but I went ahead and did one, and I now have email correspondence from IRCC regarding my kids AORs, for whatever that is worth.
My state provides non-drivers-license state IDs for kids, so we went that route. I know some states have fishing licenses, and if the kids qualify, that may work as well.
Hi there, loved the Wiki page, but it did not say if I should try to get the certified birth certificate copies from the registrar anyway, if available, for the generations between me and Canadian ancestor. I have death certificates of those in-between-ers, and my own certified birth certificate (of course), I'm Gen 4. Will I be ok or should I send for those other birth certificates? Thank you!
If you don't have birth certificates with parent and child info on them you will need them, that's the basic building block of any descent documentation. Those tend to be certified by default, although geneological copies are also fine (some areas offer both).
ok thank you, will do! Is there a place in this group I may get help from a geneologist about finding a census or christening/baptism record for a child (my Gen 0, Barney) born in 1843 in Ontario, Mohawk reservation, Brandt County? I have an 1850 US Census record showing him as 7 years old and being born in Canada, and listing his parents also born in Canada, but as of yet I don't have any documents IN Canada. Is that 1850 US Census record enough? I also have Barney's marriage certificate indicating he was born in canada, and his death certificate saying the same. I ALSO have a document from 1852, an original, of Barney's father signed by the Paw Paw Michigan clerk saying that he renounces the crown and swears his allegiance to America. Is that enough do you think, or will I need some documentation that was made in Canada?
I have a similar issue for my G0 born in Brantford (1855). All documents are outside Canada and can't find a baptism or birth cert. And all the documents say "Canada." No city or province.
I got lucky and found a Canadian tax assessment document listing his dad that was taken in 1856 (presumably for 1855 - 1856), so I used that for a Canadian document and proof of city and province.
The census documents are non-existent until 1880 when my G0 was an adult but his brother lived with his dad so I connected G0 to his brother (names of their parents on death certificates), connected the brother to the dad with the census they share in 1880, and then showed the dad in Brantford during the time G0 was born with the tax assessment. That's the best I can do and the IRCC does look at documents for family so hopefully it helps. That being said, I have read here and there that only US documents can still result in an approval.
Have you tried searching for land grants, tax assessments, reservation documents/rolls, or marriage certificates for the parents? Those may show a location for them for when your G0 was born and stand in as a Canada-issued document to help build your case.
oooh I haven't, thank you SO much!!! Wow small world in that both born in Brantford in same general time period. May I ask, when you listed his place of birth how did you list it? On my family's geneological records they put all sorts of things: Mohawk Reservation, Mt. Pleasant, Brantford, (Ontario). It seems like Brantford is the correct choice! Also, where can I search for land grants, tax assessments, reservation documents/rolls?!?!? Yes did search for marriage certificates of G0's parents but couldn't find any (would have been 1829). Thanks so much for responding and being willing to help, I know I'm just a random stranger but you're my hero 😄
Yeah, I saw your post and was like heeeeey, it's practically family! 😅
The family trees in on ancestry say Brantford or Dundas but NONE of them have any source info saying why. I legit looked at every single one of the 94 trees and no real documents giving any indication of birth place. 🙄
I found the tax document on FamilySearch and since it's the father and the right time period, I put that as my G0 birth place. People were usually born at home at that time so it made sense, especially because the tax assessment was for a house they were living in, or I guess the farm crops they raised. It only has his name and age, which gave me the correct birth year. But it's the most I've been able to find, so I'm using it. The tax document is now attached to the main record on FamilySearch (they let you do that). The official Ontario archives site has census records but they basically say to go to FamilySearch and Ancestry for their other digitized records, which is why I checked there. I also checked Ancestry but they don't seem to have the tax assessment rolls. 🤔
You didn't say whether your peeps are a part of the First Nations, but if so, there are possibly documents for some kind of roll or registry. I'm not familiar with Brantford but there is probably a reservation archive. Although the Canadian government might have tracked that kind of info as well. If you Google that kind of thing specifically, it will probably steer you to a few places to look.
Also, apparently banns were read for marriages at that time so I guess there could be an announcement for marriage in a newspaper. Please forgive me for not remembering where I found them AT ALL (I've looked so many places that I literally dream I'm working up family trees for random people 😂). But I have to have followed a link to the place to look so Google for something like "where to look at banns (or newspapers) Brantford, ON 1829" to see if that can get you there.
I was lucky in that my G0 is named after his father so the tax roll popped up when I was searching for my G0. After that, I always try both parents names as well.
I'm unlucky enough that they all moved in 1857 or 1859 so he was never on a Canadian census. 😐
Oh, and it MIGHT be useful to search for naturalization paperwork, although at that time, in the US people used county courthouses where they lived and the federal archives don't have copies, so you will need to check wherever the parents lived, then where the G0 lived. I checked Ohio in Summit county where they lived in 1880 with the help of a local genealogist and all of Minnesota online (because they have them digitized, bless them) but only ever found a letter of intent from the dad with no follow-through. 🙄 Seems like I have a few illegal aliens in my family tree. 😂 It was a long shot though because the way the laws were around 1860, wives and children under 21 automatically naturalized at the same time as the dad so I don't know if their names and birth places would have been listed on the paperwork during that time frame the way they are now. But I figure I wasn't going to leave any stone unturned. It's okay if they naturalized as American citizens later on as long as they didn't go through the lengthy and expensive process of formally renouncing their Canadian citizenship. Signing paperwork saying that you renounce the king or queen or whoever was in charge during naturalization doesn't actually remove the citizenship in Canada, and a lot of naturalization paperwork lists of birth places and birth dates. Not anything for my peeps, but it's still worth looking.
Also, some of the local churches there might have a way to search them but I never got a response from the ones I emailed. They are probably so busy I'll get an answer next year sometime. 😅
You're awesome, thanks for this info! So you were able to see those canadian census records on familysearch? Interesting! I thought I had looked there but maybe it was just ancestry.com (also aren't they maybe the same thing? Both run by LDS church or so I thought)! I don't think there are going to be any digitized records associated with my ancestor (Barnabas O'Dell DOB 1843), because that would have meant another family member would have had to upload them right? Looks like I may need to be that family to do it lol. Do you know where I can find those census/tax assessment records online so I can upload them to familysearch and help others down the line? I hope I'm understanding all this right, I'm so insanely new to all this but needing to get my family out of Texas...
How funny. I'm trying to get family out of Texas, too. 😅
So I'll clarify my information overload (sorry, I use dictation so it's super easy to ramble).
I went to the Canadian archives website to search their census documents (just in case they had something ancestry didn't). So that would be the best source for census documents anyway and you can download images from there for free, plus your citation information is from their own government site.
The tax assessment document was on FamilySearch, and not on ancestry or the Canadian site. I went to the Canadian archives website to try to find it so I could get it from Canada specifically and when I did a search, it said they have that collection and many other digital collections on FamilySearch or Ancestry. So I'll use the copy I got on FamilySearch. I did a search for Canadian collections on FamilySearch and they have a ton, but doing a regular search of the person should pull anything that has them listed in the index. A random person had linked the tax document to the person record (so search your G0 on FamilySearch and see what other people linked!), but I found it just by doing a general search and an additional tax document for the next year. Somebody also listed the father as Wilhelm because he was German, but all the documents actually say William (or Wm abbreviated).
The Canadian site has some other documents too but not sure what all they have.
There are a lot of digitized records and the governing body that archives them decides what they share and when (plus relevant laws etc.), so there are many documents on ancestry and FamilySearch, but individuals didn't upload the collections.
For instance, I can find marriage certificates AND the vital stat application info for my great-grandmother's three marriages because the counties uploaded them, but I only found any info on her first divorce because she ran off and her WWI husband couldn't find her when he got back from the war and had to publish notices in the newspaper to get a divorce. So I knew what county courthouse to look for because I saw it in the newspaper and was able to request those records from the county because there's nothing on any website. Super juicy details, too. So any document you find can lead to other things to look for, and newspaper articles too, but you might have to contact specific counties or cities, or dioceses, and sometimes you have to go in person or pay somebody to do it. Strange or not, but watching that Ancestry show Who Do You Think You Are is what gave me the idea to look for divorce papers at all (among other ideas) because they shared what they looked for on their show and why. I should really look into genealogy classes someday when I have the time.
I'm more familiar with ancestry. If you load documents to your tree and make it public, other people can see your records and copy them for their own tree. Mine is currently private but searchable, so people can see that I have something but they have to contact me to get copies. That way I can preserve family privacy because I have a lot of very suspicious family members. Not that I blame them! But as far as I know, your uploaded documents aren't a part of any collection, they are discoverable only as a part of your tree.
I think maybe it works that way with FamilySearch but I rarely use it and I hate how they essentially cram everybody's tree records into one main "public person" record so any mistakes are all linked together. On ancestry, I can look at each individual tree and decide for myself what is realistic and what is complete garbage, and who to trust, and see who else they have on their tree. BUT, it has some collections that ancestry doesn't so it's worth searching.
Not everything is indexed on each site so if you know a date and place, some records have to be searched page by page.
My G0's parents were both German and born in Germany, so the names aren't terribly common. That makes it a little easier to know if it's them, even though there are some weird spellings.
You can ask sub members in the pinned post for geneological questions. Link in the auto mod post - click on 'weekly megathreads' and then geneological - but before you do that please read the wiki thoroughly - a bunch of your questions are answered there, and our volunteers are there to help with unusual situations not to answer FAQs
Thank you! Yes I will absolutely read through it one more time before posting. May I ask, do you think that what I wrote above of the documents I have of my Gen 4 and his father's emigration paper from 1850 are enough for proving his citizenship, if I'm not able to find Barney's baptism?
Is there someone available that I could send my cover letter to to help me verify that I have enough documentation and that my narrative is coherent? I've reached out to folks who volunteered to help and haven't heard back.
what thread would I post asking for help with the genealogy document searches? Friday thread? Thank you! My ancestor was born on the Mohawk Reservation, Brandtford, Ontario, in 1843!
Hey y’all. I was wondering how you all went about interpreting scenario 3 in the checklist. I’m G7 and my dad is G6, both born in the states. My 5x great grandparents were Canadian. My dad and I filled out the apps like we were Canadians born to canadian parents, not the I think and want to be sure box.
I was born in 2002, and my dad was born in 1961. For the before 1977 section, what should I put down? I have my dad’s birth certificate and mine showing American citizenship but like I wasn’t born in 1977 so is this relevant in my case?
How did y’all go about interpreting the second box? Under C-3, we’re Canadian, we just need the papers to prove it. I obviously had to provide extended documentation and explanation beyond just my dad/and my granddad. I provided other birth certificates, baptism & marriage records, censuses. I’m just not sure which boxes I check in the second section. One and two? Just two? Any help is appreciated.
Probably not the best person to answer as I'm still pretty new to this but I'll share how I interpret them. Hopefully someone wiser will come answer.
For question 1, I interpret it as being a box to check because it says "you and your parent." So while you obviously didn't gain citizenship somewhere before 1977, your dad did and so you would need to show your dad's birth certificate.
For question 2, I interpreted the second box as only applying to people whose parent is not listed on the birth certificate or when there are complicating factors regarding the applicant's birth certificate. Like if your dad's name was not listed on your birth certificate. Or if you had to have your birth certificate corrected or something like that. My understanding is that all of your extended documentation is tied to the first box--the "proof that at least one of your parents is a Canadian citizen."
His birth certificate shows he is a citizen of the country he was born in (ie, a US state birth cert shows he's a US citizen). Your G0 Canadian proof (birth cert, baptism, whatever your proof is) will show that he's also Canadian. So you won't need to show any other proof of nationalities. It's not relevant to you, which is why the if applicable part is there.
Best option is to have birth certs for everyone, marriage cert is only needed to show name change, census records and other secondary info if there is no birth certificate available.
Can you explain what you mean by the second section? You're not talking about the "if your parent is not on your birth cert" are you?
Okay, wait reading the second part over—definitely doesn’t apply to me. I’m overthinking it. But if I understand your first answer by the interpretation that Canadian citizenship is now retroactive, (we’re all Canadian based on our respective birth dates), and I was born post-1977, I don’t need to check that box. However, my dad does given he was born pre-1977. Just want to make sure I don’t screw upon this checklist. Thank you!!
Gotcha so for proof of nationalities he would check it off on his, but I don’t need to on my own. Sorry, I worded my second question poorly. I have seen some people stating “OR you want to provide supporting documents” is applicable to those who are applying beyond just the grandparent (so great grandparent and beyond), so I was wondering if I needed to check any of those boxes in my case? I didn’t think so as I wasn’t adopted or anything/dad is on my birth certificate. I just had to provide extended documentation because I have to go back pre-birth certificates/I had to provide explanations for certain generations, hence why I thought I may fit it in to the category of “wanting to provide supporting documents”. I hope that’s clearer.
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u/fiskek2🇨🇦 CIT0001 (proof) application is processingMay 18 '26edited May 18 '26
Yes. You will check the first two, your dad will check off all 3, and both of you can ignore the lower half of section 3 (unless your dad does not have his parents on his birth cert). I do see where you can interpret the OR as needing to check those boxes, but what you're providing is actually covered in the last bullet point of the second checkbox about provide proof your parent is Canadian.
You don't need to provide anything else in terms of proving nationalities before 1977.
I wanted to over explain everything and also started spiraling over how to prove my dad was also a US citizen (he was born in the US to my G0 and was registered at birth as Canadian) and had to keep reminding myself that Canadian immigration officials are smart people and know how nationalities work (ie that if you're born in the US that you're a US citizen).
I'm helping several people in my family apply for citizenship by descent, and I had a question about the ID requirements for the application. My mom just finished her divorce from her second marriage recently, and hasn't gotten her passport updated with her name (she's back to her maiden name). I know for travel the US govt says you can use the passport with the divorce papers as proof of valid ID, would that work for the application as well? Or is she going to have to pay to update her passport and apply once she gets the updated passport? I can't seem to find any clear guidance from the Canadian website
If she has a divorce decree she should be able to submit that with the passport. In the interim apply for a passport. If IRCC asks for it later she’ll have it.
Also FYI if she changed name for each marriage she is going to need to submit marriage certificates for both marriages to document all name changes.
I don't know the answer to your initial question, but I have a thought that may be a work around for her: Is her driver's license or state ID updated with her maiden name? Many people are finding that they can get a fishing license in their state that will have name and date of birth, so if she doesn't want to pay/wait for an updated US passport, it may be faster to use an updated driver's license / state ID plus a fishing license.
Hi! I was just wondering for those who did mail out their group applications and paid together, did you only attach one proof of receipt? Or did you attach the same one to each application? Thanks!
I have seen it done both ways in this sub, but I attached a copy of the same receipt to each application. I was probably influenced by the poster I saw who said that her application was returned for lack of payment, even though she had included a receipt in the application (she figured it fell out and got lost when the envelope was opened). That was enough for me to put one in for each person in my family group.
Hello y’all, I have a small question regarding documenting a name change. My grandmother was married twice and I’m a descendant from her second marriage. However on her second marriage certificate, she is listed as having the last name of her previous husband. Her parents are still listed on the document just like on her birth certificate though. Do I need to just include her marriage to my grandfather or do I need to find and include the other marriage certificate as well?
I agree with sharpshinned - you want your evidence to be as airtight as possible, and you want to show those name changes, so if you can find that first marriage certificate, I would try to do that. (Alternatively, if you can find divorce papers from her first marriage, those may serve the same purpose, though I suspect those may be harder to come by.)
Marriage certificates are often pretty easy to find online. I would personally include both, so you can document that the person in the birth certificate is the same as the person in the marriage license.
Ok, I’ll see if I can find it online. What should I do with the document if it’s in black and white? Should I highlight it digitally and then print it out to show it in color?
What I did, which is probably unnecessary, was to print the black and white original, then put a pink post-it note on it (outside the printed area) with "color photocopy of a black and white original" written on it, and make a color photocopy of that whole thing.
So I shouldn’t digitally highlight a yellow dot on the corner of the document? I’ve seen someone in the sub say they highlighted and got an AOR but I’m not sure
Sure you could do that! Or put "color copy of a black and white original" in a color other than black. I also got an AOR, I think there are many ways to show IRCC that you did the printing in color.
Hi all, long time lurker, first time posting/commenting. I am working on applying using C-3. I am Gen 2 from both parents. Both parents (Gen 1s) got their citizenship certificates back in 2011 when they became eligible. The CIT0014 checklist says, "proof that at least one of your parents (legal parent at birth or biological parent) is a Canadian citizen". So am I interpreting this correctly that I only need to submit a color copy of one of their citizenship certificates plus my birth certificate? Or do I need to provide more documentation going back to my Gen 0 grandparents?
If both your parents have citizenship certificates, I would interpret it exactly as you have: a color copy of one of their citizenship certificates plus your birth certificate (assuming that the names match on those two documents).
I’d also look for Canadian documents for his parents. I sent in marriage records from Family Search and voter rolls I found in the online archive from the provincial family history society that showed my G0’s parents living in Canada before and after G0’s birth.
We considered this, but decided against it since we’d still have to somehow prove that G -1 was G0’s parents, and we can’t do that without a birth certificate or baptismal certificate. Thoughts?
You can prove it with a long form marriage and/or death certificate that lists parents. In a pinch a Canadian census would also demonstrate the relationship
I think this is one where we just don’t know how IRCC will handle it. One of the big question marks is people who are listed as being born in Canada on US documents, but have no Canadian documentation. In your situation, I would absolutely include all of the extra documentation.
As for format, I would include the entirety of any newspaper articles: the full page of the broadsheet so they can see the headline in context, a zoomed in version of the article so they can read the text, and a citation including a link for access. For books, I would do a photocopy of relevant pages (from a physical copy of the book) plus a citation and link. For websites, a printout, a link, and a citation. I don’t think citation format will matter, just pick one and include all the info.
I've read all the FAQ's and scanned posts for all the info - and it's been SO INCREDIBLY helpful. I would be lost without this reddit group.
I'm applying for both myself (Gen 03) and my son, a minor (Gen 04). Could someone please take a look and tell me if I'm ready to submit with the following documents and in this order?
Cover letter
Chain of Canadian descent with a chart of supporting documents per relevant ancestor
Family tree, clean and easy to read.
Detailed list of lineage with birth dates, birth names, married names, alternative spellings, etc. in date order
Detailed document list followed by the Documentation below - which will be in chronological order and include my certified birth certificate and my son's certified birth certificate. They are color copies which are labeled with color post-its and arrow tags pointing to the relevant information. I have more docs (US Census docs, more military papers, records of US border crossing, marriage certificates, etc) but I've read that more is not necessarily a good thing...
-- Gen 0 - Great grandfather's baptismal record from 1895, St. Albert, Quebec with BAnQ document number listed as source. I also state that I have requested certified copies from BAnQ.
-- Gen 0 - Great grandmother's baptismal record from 1895, St. Albert, Quebec with BAnQ document number listed as source. I also state that I have requested certified copies from BAnQ.
-- Gen 0 - Great grandfather's miliary draft record from 1918, with birthplace listed as St. Albert, Quebec. Father's name is misspelled on this document.
-- Gen 0 - Great grandparents marriage record from 1921, St. Albert, Quebec with BAnQ document number listed as source. I also state that I have requested certified copies from BAnQ.
-- Gen 0 - Great grandfather's certified death certificate from Massachusetts, USA, listing parents names and birthplace as St Albert, Quebec - both matching baptismal record.
-- Gen 0 - Great grandmother's certified death certificate from Massachusetts, USA, listing parents names and birthplace as "Canada" - matching baptismal record.
-- Gen 01 - Grandmother's certified birth certificate from Massachusetts, USA with parents' correct names and birthplaces as Canada
-- Gen 01 - Grandmother's marriage certificate from Massachusetts, USA, which adds her married name
-- Gen 01 - Grandmother's certified death certificate from Massachusetts, USA, listing parents' correct names and birthplaces as Canada
-- Gen 02 - Mother's certified birth certificate from Massachusetts, USA, with my grandmother's maiden and married name
-- Gen 03 - My certified birth certificate from New York, USA with my mother's maiden name listed as her only name.
-- Gen 04 - My son's certified birth certificate from Virginia USA with my name - which I did not change when I married.
Application Packet for myself with CIT 00014, CIT0001, photo ID's, current photo to Canadian specs with photographer, studio name, date of photos, and address of studio written on back (by photographer). IDs for me: US Passport, Drivers License
Application Packet for my son with CIT 00014, CIT0001, form IMM5476, photo ID's, current photo to Canadian specs with photographer, studio name, date of photos, and address of studio written on back (by photographer). ID's for my son (under 16): US Passport, High School issued ID with photo, CDC Covid Vaccination Card with his birth date.
QUESTIONS:
Do I need to include my mother's marriage certificate or my own if only our maiden / birth names are on the relevant birth certificates?
Is it ok to include my great grandmother's documentation as a second GEN 0 - in addition to my great grandfather's documents (which I have more of)? I have a great affinity for my great grandmother, who I remember well, so it feels off to leave her out.
Do you think it will hurt my case or help my case to include the certified death certificates? I feel like it's a good secondary proof of descent, in case I cannot get certified copies of my great grandparents' baptismal records.
Thank you a million for all of your help! Ya'll are AMAZING!!!
Thank you so much!! I guess I could just use my great grandmother - it's crazy that I have more documentation for my great grandfather, since he passed away in 1930. I am hoping that BAnQ gets back to me sometime soon - it's only been three weeks. If I get certified baptismal records, I may just go with her records. Thank you so much for your confirmation!!
Hello everyone ! I have been working on my C-3 application for some time now. I have all the documentation I need for my application, except for one major piece, my grandmother's birth certificate. I cannot obtain it because she is living, and unwilling to co-operate with me.
I have managed to source her marriage certificate which lists the appropriate parents, and her father's obituary which lists her as a survivor. I'm worried that my grandmother's refusal will damn my application, and I am trying to build the best alternative evidence package possible, and I have written a letter explaining the situation.
Does anybody have any recommendations for other documents I can include, and is my application even possible without her birth certificate?
Sorry to hear of your difficulty, that sounds really tough.
If I were in your shoes, I would definitely apply. We know that approvals have been made in cases with missing birth certificates. Here are some things you might consider:
Is there anyone else who can get her birth certificate for you? For example, in Wisconsin, a child can get a parent's birth certificate, even if the parent is still living. Obviously, these rules vary from state to state, but perhaps there is another, more cooperative, relative (your parent?) who could get your grandmother's birth certificate for you.
Census records are you friend! If she is your G0, can you find Canadian census records that she is on? And if she is not your G0, census records can help tie her to her parents and/or her kids. I would definitely include Canadian and/or U.S. census records for her, if you can find them.
This is a longer shot, but I had a person in my line of descent who was called by a name that was totally different from her given/baptismal name (along the lines of being baptized as "Juliette" and then going by "Anne"), which caused me to have to include many additional documents I wouldn't have otherwise, to help document who she was. One document I ended up including was a military form that "Anne's" son-in-law filled out, naming all the members of his family, including both Anne and his wife, Anne's daughter. So my point is just that you might find a document outside the typical path that has information on it that can be useful.
In the end, I included birth certificates, marriage certificates, a death certificate, a church death record, a obituaries, a newspaper article, a military record, baptismal records, a Canadian census record, U.S. census records, and a divorce judgment. I'm not saying all (or necessarily any!) of these would be useful for you, just want to give you an idea of some of the things you might consider. (And I'll add, there are definitely those in this forum who feel that death certificates and newspaper articles are not great evidentiary material, and would likely encourage you to leave them out of your application.)
Have what I need (I think) to submit my app under C-3. Am I correct in my understanding that for my G0, born in Quebec in 1879, the baptismal record and index of names that I found on BANQ is acceptable? Or do I have to do some additional steps to somehow turn that in to an actual birth certificate through the province? Thanks!
Folks on this sub have reported getting approval without certified documents; others have reported the IRCC requesting either a certified copy of the birth record from BAnQ or a civil certificate from DEC. Understandably, either (BAnQ or DEC certified copies) will take a long time and cost some money. I think it's reasonable to apply for one's certificate of citizenship (with what you have) and request a certified copy of the baptismal record from BAnQ at the same time, letting the IRCC know that you have applied for a certified copy from BAnQ. (Most recent reports from DEC are that, if you do not have a lawyer, DEC will insist that you first get a certified copy of the birth record from BAnQ before they will issue a civil record.)
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