Millions of Americans are now eligible for Canadian citizenship by descent, due to a change in Canadian law. And as concerns about President Trump’s second term grow, thousands of Americans are gathering paperwork just in case.
I helped my partner apply earlier this year (as the law is still relatively new). As a warning, since then, the costs associated have skyrocketed due to the number of people applying. You better be ready to dig up all the birth/marriage records to prove it. For us, this also required parsing through old Québécois church logbooks written in liturgical French. Wait times have also gone up across the board, the current wait time once you apply is over a year
That said, I did quite enjoy the research and I’m happy to say que mon français est assez bon pour lire un ancien document écrit à main pendant les années 50
I am in the research process right now. I’m having trouble finding my great - great grandfather’s birth certificate. I’m getting worried because I contacted someone and they said not everyone had a birth certificate in the 1800s. I can find him on census records that list him and both his parents and where they are from. But Im not sure if census records count for this application. Were you able to find actual birth certificates/records for each family member?
Yes we did! Thankfully it was only 4 or 5 generations but it was really difficult. Turns out that Quebec birth records only existed as parish records prior to some date
We had a lawyer help us with the documentation to make sure it’s airtight, but that cost is optional. Other than that we had costs for each record we requested - both in the US and Canada. The cost to request a formal birth record from Quebec alone (via the BANQ) recently went from $30 to over $300
Overall it’s nothing crazy as far as immigration is concerned, but it’s not nothing
Oui c’est ça. J’ai décidé tôt que je voudrais apprendre le français pendant mon séjour. J’adore l’apprentissage culturel et je parle déjà une autre langue, l’espagnol. J’ai plusieurs amis québécois qui m’aident et je prends aussi des cours pour adultes maintenant (j’habite en Ontario). Le français est tellement fascinant, je l’apprend depuis 2024 :)
I helped my partner apply earlier this year (as the law is still relatively new). As a warning, since then, the costs associated have skyrocketed due to the number of people applying. You better be ready to dig up all the birth/marriage records to prove it. For us, this also required parsing through old Québécois church logbooks written in liturgical French. Wait times have also gone up across the board, the current wait time once you apply is over a year
That said, I did quite enjoy the research and I’m happy to say que mon français est assez bon pour lire un ancien document écrit à main pendant les années 50
Edit: we applied since we already live here
I am in the research process right now. I’m having trouble finding my great - great grandfather’s birth certificate. I’m getting worried because I contacted someone and they said not everyone had a birth certificate in the 1800s. I can find him on census records that list him and both his parents and where they are from. But Im not sure if census records count for this application. Were you able to find actual birth certificates/records for each family member?
Yes we did! Thankfully it was only 4 or 5 generations but it was really difficult. Turns out that Quebec birth records only existed as parish records prior to some date
What costs? My biggest expense was the $80US for overnight fedex. Add $20 for citizen photos and 1 barely broke a c note.
We had a lawyer help us with the documentation to make sure it’s airtight, but that cost is optional. Other than that we had costs for each record we requested - both in the US and Canada. The cost to request a formal birth record from Quebec alone (via the BANQ) recently went from $30 to over $300
Overall it’s nothing crazy as far as immigration is concerned, but it’s not nothing
Well shit, glad I got mine in early. I would agree with the sentiment of “costs skyrocketing.”
Pas mal, hein? C’est français.
Oui c’est ça. J’ai décidé tôt que je voudrais apprendre le français pendant mon séjour. J’adore l’apprentissage culturel et je parle déjà une autre langue, l’espagnol. J’ai plusieurs amis québécois qui m’aident et je prends aussi des cours pour adultes maintenant (j’habite en Ontario). Le français est tellement fascinant, je l’apprend depuis 2024 :)
(Veuillez excuser mes
tortsfautes)Ton français est excellent.
La seule chose pas naturelle est “torts”. Ça sonne archaïque ou formel. On dirait plutôt “fautes” dans ce contexte.
Ah bon! Merci :)