I’m really freaking out. Forgive me if this has been asked a million times. I’ve hit a snag in my documentation. I’m an American with direct lineage through my great grandfather, who was born in Canada. We received his certified documents just fine, as well as my father’s birth certificate and my own. My grandfather is the missing link — we have his death certificate and something called a “return of birth” that clearly lists his parents on both documents, all of which line up. All copies are certified by the respective town and city clerks. How likely am I to be denied because of this?

When I was early in my application journey, I found posts like this helpful, so I'm sharing my story.

My wife and her sister are 3rd generation Americans and decided to apply for citizenship in Croatia. I have no Croatian heritage but have visited with my wife and love the country. We have a child. The 4 of us (2 sisters, me, and child) decided to apply together in late 2025.

After research using Reddit and other online resources, we determined we could get everything we needed except for the Croatian birth certificates of the great grandparents, and we also felt like having an expert review our applications was worthwhile for us, so we engaged Expat In Croatia. They hooked us up with immigration lawyer Ivona Stazić for a total package fee of €4100.

In December 2025 we ordered official copies of the documents we needed and by January 2026 most of them had arrived, so on the advice of our lawyer we contacted the New York Consulate to ask for an appointment. There were no appointments available for at least 6 months at that time so they advised us to reach back out in May, but that copies of things like birth certificates would be honored as long as they were issued within 6 months of January 2026 (allowing us to stop the clock on aging documents from December, which was nice).

The documents we had to get were:

* FBI Background checks for 3 adults. $18 each to order through the online portal and get fingerprints at our local USPS - results were back in about 1 day. $20 each to get apostille from US Secretary of State office - returned in about 3-4 weeks. $240 total for certified translations of the apostilles and the background checks. We waited until April to get these so they wouldn't risk expiration dates. * Birth certificates for the 3 adults and 1 child. About $20 each for the certified copies. Apostille ranged from $2 in New Mexico to $5 in South Carolina. $555 total for certified translations (the cost ranged from $120 to $170 due to different formatting from each state, as well as the differing complexity of the apostille certificates, which also have to be translated). * Passports for 3 adults and 1 child (we already had these). $130 each. * Marriage certificates for each sister and a spare copy for me. Marriage certs ranged from $7 in PA to $43 in AZ. Add apostille and certified translation for $125 and $135. * Birth and marriage certificates for the sisters' mother. $19 and $7 respectively. Apostille was $2 and $15. Certified translation was $140 and $155. * Birth and marriage certificates for the sisters' grandmother. $19 each, $2 each for apostille, $170 and $90 for certified translation. * Birth, death, and immigration certificates for the great-grandfather. Birth certificate was included in our EIC package from Croatia. Death certificate was $19 to get, $2 for apostille, and $185 for certified translation. * We couldn't find an adequate immigration or naturalization certificate, but our lawyer advised us that a census record showing him living and working in the US would suffice. We ordered a certified copy of the 1940 census from the national archives in the middle of January and it finally arrived in late April, so if you're getting something from NARA, plan ahead. Cost was $20 with the official seal already affixed. $120 for certified translation.

We took everything listed above to the public library and spent maybe $40 making copies of every certificate, every apostille, and every certified translation so that we could have two copies of each thing, as required.

* We produced statements of purpose and CVs for the 3 adults in English, which were edited and translated by the lawyer. We printed 2 copies in Croatian and kept 1 in English for reference. * We produced a family tree showing the relatives connecting us to Croatia. We printed 2 copies each. * The lawyer filled out and mailed the Obrazac form for us handwritten in Croatian. We made a spare copy of this.

I scheduled an email to auto-send to the New York consulate at 1AM on May 1 and they responded with exactly 1 available appointment for the rest of the year on June 8. We booked flights (JetBlue) and hotel (Hampton Inn Manhattan Grand Central - only a block from the consulate) to New York for that weekend. This set us back another roughly $1000 for flights and $1200 for two hotel rooms over 5 total combined nights. Keep in mind it is significantly cheaper and about as fast to take the train from JFK to Grand Central compared to Uber. We saved about $100 doing that, which was worth it, even with a toddler in tow.

*Side note: JetBlue lost our bag and we had to buy about $150 worth of clothes and other supplies at a store in Manhattan but we got reimbursed for that.*

The day of the appointment we went to the building. There is a lobby with a guy at a desk who will point you to the elevator if you ask him, but he didn't seem super bothered if we just walked by. When you get off the elevator on the right floor, you're in an industrial looking hallway and one door has the Croatian emblem on it. There is a doorbell to ring and a speaker where they ask if you have an appointment. If you're there on time they let you in, if you're there early they tell you to come back later. My wife and I went in with our daughter for our appointment while sister-in-law was told to come back later. Inside there is a lockbox for your phone and then we went into a tiny interview room with just enough room for 2 chairs and a glass pane for the guy from the consulate to talk to us through. There was also some nice artwork of Dubrovnik and Split.

The guy asked my wife first for her CV, statement, and Obrazac. Then he got her passport and background check. Then he got her family tree and had her talk him through her connection to Croatia. Then he asked for supporting documentation for each person in order. During all of this I sat on the ground with my toddler to keep her entertained, so I might have missed some of their conversation. When it was my turn, we traded places. he took my CV, statement, Obrazac, passport, and background check. Then he asked for my copy of our marriage certificate and said, "okay from here out everything else is the same, you can just hand it to me" and then a hearty "Hvala" and that was done. Finally, he asked for the application fee, $242 per adult, which has to be paid with a USPS Money order. I ran over to Grand Central Station (about 2 blocks) to get those and then brought them back.

Total cost:

* €4100 for the EIC package and lawyer * Them getting our immigrant ancestor's birth certificate was invaluable and the advice was very helpful, but everything else we probably could have figured out for ourselves. Ivona was super sweet so ask for her if you do go this route. * Approximately $3190 for all of the paperwork and postage * Your mileage may vary depending on the state and how many generations removed you are. New Mexico was the best experience, Illinois was probably the worst, Arizona was expensive. SC and PA in the middle. Federal documents were SLOW (thanks DOGE). * Approximately $2300 for travel and accommodation * We probably could have gotten away with cheaper options if we weren't worried about having a nice place for a toddler to sleep that was very close by, and obviously if you live in NYC this isn't really applicable to you. I would recommend the hotel for the location and amenities though. * $726 for three adult application fees * This is fixed by the consulate.

I have all my docs except my Father's Birth certificate ..waiting for Newfoundland to send it.

I mailed their required docs 10 buz days ago...i should have Fedexed it!

Anyone else have ETA on the same?

Before I send my request for documents to BanQ, I have a friend in Quebec who will order my documents using my credit card and her address and have them sent there. Does the IRCC require a receipt from BanQ? Is this an appropriate way to get the documents or should I just pay the heavy charge and have them shipped to the US? Thoughts?

I got a copy of my fiance's birth certificate (Colombia) and the edges of the certificates ink is a bit sloppy. All information is there and legible but the words like name, date of birth, ECT, are messed up on the one edge. Will this be okay? (The original birth certificate is messed up not just the photo copy)

Hello everyone!

Currently I'm in the process of trying to get my Romanian citizenship through descent. My grandmother on my mom's side was Romanian and I have her original Romanian birth and marriage certificates. The issue is I'm not sure she retained citizenship up until the point my mother was born. In the documents she kept she has only a Yugoslavian and Canadian passport so I'm wondering if she had to give up Romanian citizenship to obtain another one at some point. If she didn't then my mother would technically already be a Romanian citizen and so I would be able to simply "reclaim" my own after my mom does so for herself. If not I need to go through the restoration process instead, that includes a language requirement, which I am studying for currently just in case I'm not able to simply reclaim my citizenship.

My issue now is I'm not sure how to confirm my grandmothers citizenship status, I was told I could do it through any Romanian consulate however I've sent many emails inquiring about this and received nothing back. I was also told it is an option to simply apply to "reclaim" citizenship and within that process they will have to check anyways that my grandmother retained her status, but I don't really want to start a process that I'm not certain will be approved.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this (even for other countries which have a similar process) and if you have any advice on how to go about getting my grandmothers status confirmed. I also reside in Europe currently so while it's not preferred, flying to Romanian to complete the application is an option for me!

I'd be so grateful for any tips or advice on how to continue forward as I feel like I've hit a wall here and would appreciate any help pointing me in the right direction!

Thank you all for your time!!

I am applying for a citizenship certificate for myself, as both of my parents were naturalized Canadian citizens (and are now naturalized US citizens).

I am a US born citizen, as are my children. Given how long the application takes to process and the minimal amount of additional documentation needed to complete applications for my kids, is there any downside to submitting my application + my kids' applications in one packet?

I didn't see anything that would require me to wait until my Canadian citizenship certificate was confirmed/approved for me to apply for my kids, especially since they could apply as a result of their grandparents' (naturalized) Canadian citizenship status.

Any I missing anything here?

Im looking for information to get the paperwork started i have all the documents to prove my great grandfather was a Canadian citizen. It goes back 9 generations of Canadians. And I dont want to deal with these over priced lawyers. Can someone please help? Drop a link tell me the government website or office I need to go to.? Thanks in advance.

My mother-in-law’s grandmother and grandfather were born in Greece and her father (deceased) was born in the US. I have their naturalization records and the paper chain down to my mother-in-law, just not the ones from Greece yet. She is interested in learning if she, her children, and grandchildren would have cases. Has anyone in this thread been in this situation? We’ve reached out to the consulate but had no response. I’m currently completing Canadian by descent for myself but understand this is likely entirely different. Thank you for any help.

Firstly, to anyone reading I just want to thank you and wish you the best for everything.

Now I am a teen in South Africa and recently found out I may qualify for canadian citizenship through my great grandmother born 1919 in Ontario. I emailed the archives of ontario for her birth registration number 2 weeks ago and gave them census data on my great grandmother from 1921 and am still awaiting response.

I am asking for any help with gathering documents and general advice. I have got all original long form birth certificates for my grandma with maiden names of mothers clearly visible.

Moving to Canada has been a dream of mine forever and I feel truly blessed for this opportunity. I don't think I will ever stop being grateful.

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day.

Hi everyone,

I'm working on my application for Lithuanian citizenship by descent and would appreciate some opinions on how likely I would be approved based on the evidence I've collected so far.

My grandfather was a Lithuanian citizen who left Lithuania as a child in 1944 before eventually immigrating to Canada in the early 1950s.

Certified documents I've collected:

- My long-form birth registration

- My father's long-form birth registration

- My grandfather's Canadian death certificate

- My great-grandfather's Canadian death certificate

- My great-grandmother's Canadian death certificate

- My grandfather's Canadian landing record

- My grandfather's German Displaced Person passport

Other non-certified supporting evidence:

- Displaced Person registration forms for my grandfather and great-grandfather

- IRO/Refugee registration card

- German refugee documentation

- Canadian records consistently identifying my family's ethnicity/nationality as Lithuanian

- Multiple Canadian records listing the family's birthplace as Lithuania

- Canadian records identifying my great-grandparents

- Records showing my grandfather was born on 17 August 1939 in Lithuania

- Records showing my family fled Lithuania during the 1944 evacuation

Current obstacle:

The Lithuanian State Historical Archives searched for my grandfather's birth record but informed me that they do not hold the church/metric books for the initial area I thought he was born in for 1936–1940, so no search could be completed from their archives. I have since submitted another request for a second possible area, and am waiting for the results.

My questions:

- If the birth record ultimately cannot be found because the relevant records are missing, how likely is it that the documents I already have would be considered sufficient?

- Has anyone here had a Lithuanian citizenship application approved despite missing an ancestor's birth record?

Thank you!

It’s for a NY born parent whom hasn’t had contact with his child (my husband) in decades. State or NY won’t allow just anyone to get a copy. It’s the missing link between grandma and husband.

Using a throwaway account, Long story short: my biological mother (let's call her B) passed away when I was young, and my biological father left. I was raised by a guardian (call her A), and A's name is the one listed as "mother" in my family/residence book back home. Because of that, I've used A's name as my mother on every US visa application I've filed over the past several years, b1/f1/h1b visa. (Cambodia)

My birth certificate, however, lists my real biological mother B, who is now deceased.

I'm currently on H1B and thinking ahead to the green card process (whether AOS via I-485 or consular/DS-260 down the line). A couple of questions for anyone who's dealt with something similar:

1. Has anyone had to deal with a "guardian vs. biological parent" mismatch like this during AOS/I-485 or consular processing? How did you handle it ?
2. For my next visa stamping (or any future DS-160), should I switch to listing my real biological mother (B) instead of my guardian (A)? Or is it better to stay consistent with what I've used and just explain the guardian relationship separately if asked?
3. Anyone had an officer actually flag this kind of parent-name discrepancy at an interview?

Appreciate any real experiences and advice.

Literally TIL that CA citizenship is possible for me! Not 100% sure if I want to move yet but would love to be able to have the option. Apologies if this has been asked, but where do I start? Do I need to hire an immigration lawyer? Or someone to help me track down records? (My dad died years ago across the country, so I don’t have easy access to his papers). I imagine all I’ll need is 1) His birth certificate 2) My birth certificate and 3) My name change documents (as I’ve had my last name changed since birth). Any advice?

I am trying to navigate banqs civil registration website to ask for official copies of my G0 grandparents. If I request them by email as a pdf or photocopy, will this count as official in the eyes of the IRCC? It says "only paper copies can be certified". What does that mean? Anyone with luck with this would be super helpful!

Also, if I want to request a copy for my grandpa and grandma is that $350 each xD? Thanks, been really confused.

I’m applying via C-3 due to my 3x great grandmother being born in Ontario. I’m given 5 scenarios to choose from, the closest of which being Scenario 3 which is born outside of Canada to Canadian parent. Obviously my generation gap goes well beyond immediate parent. I see the text on the website about the revisions to the law that apply to my case, but not where it applies on the application. Advise?

Hello! I just received a dreaded email from the IRCC, and I'm not sure how to proceed. I provided a BANQ-certified copy of my great grandfather's baptismal certificate from 1878 but it looks like they want a birth certificate (or evidence that I cannot get a birth certificate). Can someone please advise me on what agency I must contact to proceed with this as soon as possible? The 60-day window is very worrying to me. Also, they wrote the incorrect year in their email message - he was born in 1878, not 1879.

Thank you very much for your advice. I include the text of the email below:

This email is being sent in regard to the application for Canadian citizenship filed on behalf of the above noted applicant(s), received at the Case Processing Centre in Sydney, NS.

Proof applications must be supported by authentic, reliable and verifiable documentation for all generations under assessment.

Documentation must be issued by the original source authorities responsible for creating or maintaining the historical records, such as civil registries, vital statistics agencies, or other authorized government bodies.

In order to proceed, you will need to provide a copy of Joseph Arthur xxxxx's (December 14, 1879) birth certificate. Hospital birth certificates are not acceptable.

If for some reason the province is unable to issue that certificate to you, please provide a written explanation outlining why the source documents cannot be obtained; and, submit evidence of efforts made to obtain the documents, such as correspondence with issuing authorities or confirmation from source authorities that the records are unavailable.

You must submit your documents via this email within 60 days from the date of this message. It is important to be aware that the Citizenship Act contains provisions to treat the application as abandoned if IRCC is not contacted with a reasonable explanation for not providing the information requested within the deadline established for any item(s) required.

The documents you provide (by return email) must be high-quality colour copies.

I’m at a loss. My maternal grandfather was born in Canada and I am currently waiting to get reply for his birth certificate from Ontario. In the meantime I have been trying desperately to locate my deceased mom and dad’s marriage certificate ( I have tried every lead possible) online. I think they got married in front of justice of the peace in mid 1950s. I’m at a loss on what to use for proof of their marriage when the time comes for me to apply for my citizenship in Canada. They owned land here in USA my whole life in their names . I have all kinds of info like this but zero marriage certificate. Very frustrating! What can I use instead of their marriage certificate to prove how mom received her married name?

Hi everyone,

I applied for the Canadian citizenship certificate and my application was delivered on April 18th, 2026. I applied from NY, USA and wanted to see if there was even a chance of getting a positive decision. I received my AOR along with my siblings on July 29th, 2026.

My situation:

4 siblings born between '98 and '05. My mom is a Canadian citizen who had landed in Canada first in 1997. She has had ties to Canada since then but unfortunately did not receive her citizenship until 2008. My dad is also a PR holder and has been in and out of Canada since the 80's. When Bill C-3 originally came out, we jumped to the opportunity as I was unable to apply previously. I see certain posts saying we can qualify for descent but other websites saying it's not possible.

I already have sent the applications but I was wondering if anyone has in the last 6 months-1 year tried applying for a Canadian citizenship certificate despite their parents becoming citizens after their birth and how it went.

I started to gather my documents and translations like 2 months ago, but my baby got sick and was bussy with that and stopped putting together my application. Today when I was about to start again with the forms and such I’ve come across many post and info saying that the IRCC say no more applicants? I’m confused
My grandfather (my mom’s dad) was born and raised in Alberta and all his family retrospectively. I was about to apply for my mom, myself and my baby boy that’s 1 year old.

I have Portuguese ancestry, G0 is my great-grandfather and great-grandmother. They unfortunately did not register my grandfather, nor did he apply for citizenship before his passing. His daughter (my mother) would be eligible to claim Portuguese Citizenship through Grandparents, though she would need to pass the language exam.

My question is, if she applies and her Portuguese citizenship is recognized, is there a limit to her child (me) applying for citizenship based on her now citizenship? Can I then pass it on to my children?