As of April 17, 2009 new citizenship rules have been put in place. This was done to correct some problems that were found in the previous citizenship rules. The new rules are designed to make the citizenship rules easier to understand and enforce. The three main changes in the Canadian citizenship rules are:
Restoring or granting Canadian citizenship to citizens who either never had citizenship or had lost their citizenship due to previous citizenship laws.
The new rules limit Canadian citizenship to the first generation of children born to Canadian parents outside the boundaries of Canada.
It allows people who were adopted outside of Canada, by Canadian parents between the dates of January 1, 1947 and February 14, 1977 to file an application of citizenship without having to go through an immigration process.
The previous citizenship rules were more confusing and led to many people being unsure of their citizenship standing in Canada. Before the new rules went into effect, people living outside of Canada who were born to Canadian parents, or had Canadian grandparents had to submit an application to retain or keep their Canadian citizenship, to live in Canada for one year, or to prove that they had a solid connection to Canada before their 28th birthday. This led to confusion because many of these people did not realize that they had Canadian citizenship in the first place.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The Concept of Dual Citizenship
Dual citizenship simply means a person is a citizen of two countries at the same time. Every country has its own laws for citizenship based on its own policy. Persons may acquire dual nationality by operation of different laws in countries rather than by choice. For example, a child born in a foreign country to US citizen parents can become both a US citizen and a citizen of the country of birth.
As a US citizen, you can acquire foreign citizenship through marriage, or if you are naturalized as a US citizen, you may not lose the citizenship of the country of birth. The immigration law in US does not mention dual citizenship or require a person to choose one citizenship or another. Additionally, if you are automatically granted another citizenship, you do not risk losing your US citizenship. However, if you acquire a foreign citizenship by applying for it, you may lose your US citizenship. In order to lose/renounce your US citizenship, per the law, you have to apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily with the intention to give up US citizenship.
The US government recognizes that the concept of dual citizenship does exist but does not encourage it as a policy due to the problems that may rise. Claims of other countries on dual citizenship may conflict with US law. It may also limit US government efforts to assist citizens abroad. Although a naturalizing citizen has to undertake an oath renouncing previous allegiances to other countries, the oath has never been enforced for the actual termination of original citizenship.
As a US citizen, you can acquire foreign citizenship through marriage, or if you are naturalized as a US citizen, you may not lose the citizenship of the country of birth. The immigration law in US does not mention dual citizenship or require a person to choose one citizenship or another. Additionally, if you are automatically granted another citizenship, you do not risk losing your US citizenship. However, if you acquire a foreign citizenship by applying for it, you may lose your US citizenship. In order to lose/renounce your US citizenship, per the law, you have to apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily with the intention to give up US citizenship.
The US government recognizes that the concept of dual citizenship does exist but does not encourage it as a policy due to the problems that may rise. Claims of other countries on dual citizenship may conflict with US law. It may also limit US government efforts to assist citizens abroad. Although a naturalizing citizen has to undertake an oath renouncing previous allegiances to other countries, the oath has never been enforced for the actual termination of original citizenship.
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