IVF babies born in India testing Canada’s citizenship laws – Hindustan Times

2015/01/10 1 Comment

One of the latest complexities in citizenship:

At least two cases of children conceived artificially and born overseas are challenging Canada’s hereditary citizenship laws, which stipulate that a child must be genetically related to at least one parent to be considered Canadian. The cases involve children who were conceived via in-vitro fertilization (IVF) using sperm and egg from anonymous donors and are therefore not genetically related to either parent.

In one case involving a British Columbia couple, the embryo was implanted in the woman who hoped to become the mother. In another, the embryo was implanted in a surrogate. Both children were born in India.

The BC case became the subject of repeated court challenges after an immigration officer ruled the child, a girl born in 2009, was not eligible for citizenship through descent because she had no genetic relationship to her Punjabi-origin Canadian father, Malkiat Kandola. He was applying to sponsor his wife as a permanent resident when the child, Nanakmeet, was born.

“For the purposes of determining citizenship by birth outside Canada to a Canadian parent (derivative citizenship), Canadian law relies on evidence of a blood connection (or genetic link) between parent and child which can be proven by DNA testing,” the immigration officer explained in a letter to Kandola.

“This principle … has deep historical roots both in Canada and internationally, and it is evident from the legislative history of the [Act] that Parliament has always intended the term ‘parent’ to refer to genetic parents for derivative citizenship purposes.”

IVF babies born in India testing Canada’s citizenship laws – Hindustan Times.

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Why Americans should think twice about dual citizenship – LA Times

2015/01/08 Leave a comment

Editorial in the LA Times on dual citizenship:

Yet there’s no question that dual citizenship poses practical problems both for those who possess it and for the government. The U.S. State Department discourages U.S. citizens from retaining or applying for citizenship in another country because “dual nationality may limit U.S. government efforts to assist nationals abroad. The country where a dual national is located generally has a stronger claim to that persons allegiance.” The department also warns that “dual citizenship can present a security issue whether to permit access to classified information which affects recruitment, employment and assignments.” In some cases, dual citizenship could disqualify an applicant for a sensitive position with the CIA or the State Department.

The complexities and complications raised by dual citizenship are not enough to justify amending the Constitution to overrule the Supreme Court. But we agree with the State Department that U.S. citizens should think twice about professing allegiance to another country. Moreover, by reinforcing the doubts that some hold about the loyalty of immigrants — some U.S. citizens, for instance, fume when Mexican Americans display the Mexican flag at Cinco de Mayo rallies — the persistence of dual citizenship may make it politically more difficult to secure a path to citizenship for immigrants who came here illegally.

In questioning dual citizenship, we aren’t saying that immigrants must forget their countries of birth or repudiate their language or culture. In large parts of the southwestern United States, U.S. citizens of Mexican descent frequently travel back and forth between the two countries, enriching the cultures and economies of both countries. Rather, we believe that citizenship in this country should be an expression of allegiance to it, enforced not by a pledge but rather by a desire to be part of this country. Dual citizenship may have a place in American society, but the goal should be the cultivation of undivided Americans, proud of their heritage and committed to this nation.

Why Americans should think twice about dual citizenship – LA Times.

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Meet Toronto’s disenfranchised non-citizens

2015/01/07 Leave a comment

Further to my post on the declining number of immigrants taking up citizenship (Ottawa hiking citizenship fees for second time in a year | various), Myer Siemiatycki and Ratna Omidvar on how it plays out in Toronto and the links to poverty and precariousness:

Imagine a city the size of Halifax and then superimpose it onto the map of Toronto. Now imagine a wall surrounding that city state — a wall that divides its residents from the rest of the metropolis.

That’s perhaps the best way to think of the roughly 380,000 residents who live in Toronto who are without Canadian citizenship, says Myer Siemiatycki, professor of politics and the founding director of Ryerson University’s graduate program in immigration and settlement studies. And that number, from the 2006 Census, could be even higher today.

Some estimates suggest the number could be even higher if you include undocumented migrants, whose exact numbers are unknown. Some are foreign temporary workers; some are here on two-year work permits; some are live-in caregivers; many are permanent residents; others are refugee claimants. Some may one day achieve status or citizenship; others will remain underground eking out a living, always looking over their shoulder, perhaps not even able to speak English.

Critics say it’s a lost opportunity for them and for Toronto.

A deep divide separates non-citizens from most of the city’s residents, says Siemiatycki. They work here; pay property taxes; use the TTC. Their children go to school here; some use recreational facilities, community centres and libraries. But they are detached, disengaged, without a voice or a vote. Some are able to get only precarious or low-paying work. Many stay under the radar by working for cash and not paying taxes. Others live in constant fear of being deported. They pay for health care out of pocket.

“Imagine if you did not have papers,” says Ratna Omidvar, executive director of the Global Diversity Exchange at Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. “Imagine if you could only work for cash. Imagine if you were always in fear that someone would come and get you. Imagine you’re paying a premium for rent … of course they’re disengaged. They can’t not be disengaged.”

Meet Toronto’s disenfranchised non-citizens | Toronto Star.

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Ottawa hiking citizenship fees for second time in a year | various

2015/01/05 1 Comment

Naturalization rateWhenever governments have bad news to convey, they either cloak it up with good news, or try to bury it before a long weekend or holiday.

In this case, raising citizenship fees, the Government has done both: burying the announcement in a press release announce success in addressing the backlog (some 260,000) new Canadian citizens, and issuing the press release just before Christmas.

One has to ask whether this further increase was already planned but, for a political management perspective, the Government decided better to increase fees in a two-step process.

Or was it simply incompetence in that the earlier calculations of citizenship processing costs underestimated the true costs, and over-estimated the savings from the revisions to the Citizenship Act?

My normal preference is to assume incompetence (having seen it in myself) rather than more Machiavellian interpretations.

But in any case, the increase makes Canada significantly more expensive than Australia ($AU 300 or CAD $282). Moreover, comparison to the USA ignores the fact that the US Citizenship and Immigration Service retains any fees for operations (hence the Republican frustration with President Obama’s immigration initiative as they have no funding levers available to counter them), whereas in Canada the $60 million the increase generates would normally go to the consolidated revenue fund and not to CIC to cover additional costs).

More substantively, this and other changes will continue to erode the Canadian model of immigration as a pathway to citizenship. As indicated in the StatsCan chart above, the 85.6 percent naturalization rate trumpeted by many a CIC Minister only applies to previous waves of immigration, with more recent waves having much lower rates (37 percent).

An area of concern and one to monitor, given that it moves us towards more disenfranchised residents who cannot participate in the political and democratic processes:

In February, Citizenship and Immigration Canada already increased the fee from $100 to $300 in order to recover its administrative costs. The upcoming raise means it will now cost applicants five times the money for their citizenship applications within a year. Successful candidates must also pay another $100 rights of citizenship fee to become citizens.

Officials said the fee changes are necessary to pay for the more stringent citizenship process introduced by the government to clear a backlog it created with the “residence questionnaire,” which is used to scrutinize if applicants have physically spent enough time in Canada to qualify for citizenship.

In August, Immigration Minister Chris Alexander also announced a new streamlined decision-making process to cut the backlog, which has since been reduced by 17 per cent. In total, Canada welcomed more than 260,000 new citizens this year.

“With a record number of new Canadians this year, it is clear that our government’s changes to the Citizenship Act are having a real impact,” Alexander said in a statement.

“We are fulfilling our commitment to reducing backlogs and improving processing times.”

Based on citizenship projections from 2014, the fee raise could bring in an additional $60 million to the federal coffers in 2015.

Hard not to think of this as more of a “cash grab,” given that the changes were partially sold on efficiency grounds and that CIC received an influx of $44 million in Budget 2013 to address the backlog.

Ottawa hiking citizenship fees for second time in a year | Toronto Star.

Record number of new citizens welcomed in 2014

Graphic – Changes to Canada’s Citizenship Fees: A Comparative View – Relieving the Burden on Canadian Taxpayers (6 February 2014 press backgrounder).

And the latest article complaining about citizenship processing times:

Want-to-be Canadians frustrated by citizenship processing delays

And the public statement regarding the results of CIC’s analysis of the further increase:

In its analysis, the department said the fee jump may impose additional financial pressures on some people or families.

“While the analysis assumes that there will not be a reduction in overall demand for citizenship as a result of the fee increase, it is acknowledged that some may be required to delay their application as they will need more time to save for the new fee,” the analysis says.

“Overall, in the long-term, this will likely not have a significant impact on the uptake for citizenship.”

No acknowledgement that naturalization rates have dropped from the public – and obsolete – 85.6 percent rate often quoted.

And it would be interesting to see the assumptions behind the analysis that this will not reduce overall demand for citizenship.

Conservatives Hike Citizenship Fees.. Again

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Why 13 new citizens decided to become Canadian

2014/12/12 Leave a comment

Nice profile in the Globe of a number of new citizens at a citizenship ceremony hosted by the Governor General and the Institute for Canadian Citizenship:

‘Canadian citizenship is valued the world over, and with good reason. This is a society that values equality of opportunity and excellence, and that sees diversity as a virtue rather than a weakness. In Canada, inclusiveness is a key value, which means that every Canadian citizen should have the opportunity to help shape this country for the better, regardless of background or ethnicity.’ – Governor-General David Johnston

Why 13 new citizens decided to become Canadian – The Globe and Mail.

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Overseas voters will have to prove citizenship, residency under new rules

2014/12/12 Leave a comment

While I suspect that the extent of “riding shopping” is quite limited, and the Government provided no numbers to indicate that it is, the basic requirements for voting abroad to provide proof of citizenship and last place of residence in Canada are reasonable.

Interesting that both opposition parties have not condemned these measures off the bat:

A government-issued backgrounder accompanying the bill notes that in Canada, voters “cannot pick and choose their riding,” but are required to cast a ballot in the riding in which they live.”

By contrast, Canadians living abroad do not have to prove any past residence in the riding in which they vote,” it notes.

“It is unfair to allow a person who has never lived in a community to vote on who will represent that community.”

The bill was introduced by Minister of State for Democratic Reform Pierre Poilievre Wednesday afternoon. In a written statement, he said the new rules “will help ensure that only citizens vote, that their votes only count in their home ridings and that they show ID to prove both.”

The bill also seems to be a response to a recent Federal Court ruling that upheld the right of Canadians abroad to vote in federal elections even after being out of the country for five years.

Overseas voters will have to prove citizenship, residency under new rules – Politics – CBC News.

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Not a Canadian citizen? Why you should think about applying now

2014/12/11 Leave a comment

After the rules change Before the rules change
If you are 14 to 64 years old, you will have to:
  • show language ability in English or French, and
  • prove your knowledge of Canada in English or French
Only if you are 18 to 54 years old do you have to show language ability and knowledge of Canada.
And you may be able to have an interpreter in your own language to help you prove your knowledge of Canada.
You can apply only after you have lived in Canada as a permanent resident for:
  • at least 4 out of the last 6 years, and
  • at least 183 days each year for at least 4 out of the last 6 years
You can apply after you have lived in Canada for 3 out of the last 4 years.
And you may be able to include time that you lived here before becoming a permanent resident.
Only time when you are in Canada will count as living in Canada. Time when you are outside Canadamay still count if your permanent home is here.
You need to file your income tax returns for 4 out of the last 6 years. You do not have to show that you have filed income tax returns.
You must plan to continue living in Canada. If you leave Canada and live somewhere else, the government may be able to take away your Canadian citizenship. You do not have to plan to live in Canada. If you become a Canadian citizen before the rules change, you cannot lose your citizenship only because you live somewhere else in the future.

 Another example of organizations providing advice re the impact of the changes to the Citizenship Act, and why it is important to get applications in before the coming into force next summer.

 Their table above is particularly clear, although their interpretation of the ‘intent to reside’ provision, while supported by most lawyers, differs from Minister Alexander’s clear statements that the provision only applies during the application process, not once one is a citizen:

Not a Canadian citizen? Why you should think about applying now | CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario / Éducation juridique communautaire Ontario).

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Refugees most likely to become Canadian citizens | Indo-Canadian Voice

2014/12/11 Leave a comment

Under-reported, if at all, by the mainstream media.

The overall naturalization rate, as per the Census and the National Household Survey, is 85 percent and not quite sure of the reasons for the discrepancy (although makes sense citizenship more important for refugees than others):

Refugees are much more likely to become citizens than family class and other immigrants, according to a February 2014 internal report in the Citizenship and Immigration Department.

Lexbase, Canada’s foremost immigration publication and the largest information network for Canadian immigration practitioners, said the report noted: “Citizenship take-up rates differ depending on the admission class (family, economic or refugee) at time of landing. Refugees who arrived between 1991 and 1995 (6 to 10 years in Canada in 2001) recorded a citizenship take-up rate of 85%; those who landed in 1996 or 1997 had a take-up rate of 59% by 2001.“

In contrast, family class immigrants – who tend to be older at the time of landing than other immigrants recorded the lowest citizenship take-up rates: 60% among those who have lived in Canada for 6 to 10 years and 30% among the newly eligible.”

The report noted: “The differences in take-up rates by admission class can be explained in large part by the source countries, the circumstances leading to immigration, and age at admission. For instance, the vast majority of refugees come from developing countries, and are most likely to become naturalized Canadians.

“As well, immigrants who enter as refugees are likely to leave their source country under adverse conditions and hence are more likely to migrate on a permanent basis. Becoming Canadian could be seen as the final step of their migration.”

Refugees most likely to become Canadian citizens | Indo-Canadian Voice.

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UK: Theresa May cancels family’s British citizenship

2014/12/09 Leave a comment

Revocation for dual nationals, born in Britain:

A British-born man and his three grown-up sons have been stripped of their citizenship by Theresa May, the Home Secretary over alleged terrorism links.

The 51-year-old man, who was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and his London-born sons, who are all in their twenties, had their British nationality rescinded two years ago while they were out of the country.

Mrs May’s decision was upheld by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) but now the father, who can only be identified as ‘S1’, has claimed they are “innocent of all the allegations”.

They are now living in Pakistan, where S1s parents were born.

S1 admitted his daughter had travelled to Syria with a jihadist but he told the Sunday Times newspaper that she did so without his knowledge.

The father said he and his sons had been unfairly accused of supporting terrorism because of his daughter’s actions.

In a ruling from 2012, Siac heard S1 and his sons – known as T1, U1 and V1 – were linked with al-Qaeda.

Theresa May cancels family’s British citizenship – Telegraph.

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Chris Alexander’s rocky journey from Kabul to cabinet | Toronto Star

2014/12/02 Leave a comment

A largely sympathetic portrait of Minister Alexander, balanced with supporters and critics (Konrad Yakabuski’s earlier portrait was sharper in tone Chris Alexander balances his portfolio and power):

But even the brightest and most independent minds must work within the party system in Parliament. “The best ministers are always independent of spirit,” says [ Former PM Joe] Clark. “That doesn’t mean they take on their party or their leader regularly in public debate. I think it’s a characteristic of really any strong minister I’ve encountered and I think Chris brings that capacity to the table.”

Alexander’s response to the question about whether his independent spirit chafes under the parliamentary and party system is deliberate. “We go into caucus, into cabinet, and not everyone agrees. And no one who has been part of a team expects their vision or their priorities to prevail. But this is a strong team because we do work together; we do support each other and we have moved a huge number of issues forward, especially in the area of immigration.

“I have to say there is nothing more satisfying than to be part of Canada’s democracy . . . I think this is the best government we’ve had in Canadian history. And I’m proud to be part of it.

”So does Alexander think he’s reached political superstardom?

“I will leave it to others . . . Voters get the chance to do that every four years.”

Listening to his more inclusive language at the recent Canadian Race Relations Foundation symposium was an interesting contrast to some of his more churlish language when defending government positions (e.g., refugee claimant healthcare coverage, Syrian refugees).

Chris Alexander’s rocky journey from Kabul to cabinet | Toronto Star.

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