As an immigrant in Canada, you will now be able to submit a request for proof of citizenship digitally.
You can follow the process by going online to the IRCC official website (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) to submit your application. You will also be required to submit the processing fees and any supporting documents required by the department of Canadian immigration.
The new portal will enable you to do the following things:
- Request a search into the citizenship records;
- Can submit claims for citizenship proof by descent; and
- You can also demand a substitute of the proof of citizenship (also known as the citizenship certificate) that do not call for the changes in the data of the certificate, for instance, date of birth of the applicant.
You will only be eligible to apply for proof of citizenship online considering that your Canadian parent was:
- Acquired citizenship status on April 17th 2009 or after
- Was born in Canada later to February 15th, 1977.
If your parent/s do not meet the above criteria then in that case you will have to submit a paper application.
While applying online on a digital platform you will be able to find out whether you meet the required eligibility criteria or not. In any case, you will be required to create an account and log in through that. If you have an account registered already, only a log-in to the portal is required. For asking for your own record too, you will have to create an online profile first. To request someone else’s records, you will have to make a written request on paper.
According to a media release by IRCC, people who will make requests from outside of Canada and the United States will save a lot of time in the processing of the applications. One will not be required to visit the embassy or reach the high commission in order to submit these documents but they can if they still want to.
The federal government of Canada is still open to collecting these documents offline on paper. However, once you have submitted an application on paper you will not be required to submit an online application regarding the same case.
What is proof of citizenship?
Anyone who is not born within the vicinity of Canada, but any one of their parents was, will be permitted a citizenship status in Canada. This will require Proof of Citizenship.
Proof of citizenship will help you to get the benefits of a citizenship status in Canada which includes- voting rights in the Canadian elections, Passport of Canada, Health benefits, work permit in Canada, and so on.
