Operational Bulletin 502 (expired) - February 21, 2013

Amendment to the Return of Incomplete Citizenship Applications Submitted by Minors who Became Permanent Residents Under the Refugee Category

Issue

Certain applications for a grant of citizenship submitted to Case Processing Centre-Sydney (CPC-Sydney) by minors who became permanent residents under the refugee category are currently being submitted without birth or adoption certificate.

When assessing a minor grant application, the birth or adoption certificate is used to establish the parentage between the parent and the child, as described in the citizenship policy manual chapter CP 4, Grants, Section 2.14.

The purpose of this Operational Bulletin (OB) is to provide guidance on how to manage these applications given that some minor refugees do not have birth or adoption certificates or alternate documents to establish the parentage between themselves and their parent(s).

For more information on the return of incomplete citizenship applications, please refer to OB 300b, which was published on November 8, 2011.

Background

The document checklist for a minor grant application states that failure to provide a birth or adoption certificate will result in the return of their application.

In order to become a Canadian citizen, a minor child who is a permanent resident must have a living biological or adoptive parent who is already a Canadian citizen or will become a Canadian citizen at the same time as the minor.

The current citizenship policy manual chapter CP 4, Section 2.13 states that if no documents can be provided by the applicant to establish parentage between the parent and the child and parentage has been assessed for immigration purposes, parentage will be presumed to be established for citizenship purposes as well. Where possible, citizenship processes will not duplicate work previously conducted during an immigration process.

New Procedures

Presently (and since November 26, 2012), when a minor grant application of citizenship is received at CPC-Sydney without a birth or adoption certificate, and the immigration document (record of Landing, confirmation of permanent residence or permanent resident card) indicates that the child’s immigrant category falls under one of the refugee categories, CPC-Sydney does not return the application to the minor. Instead, the fee is not allocated and the application, along with the proof of payment, is referred to a Level 1 decision-maker to establish the parentage between the parent and the minor.

The Level 1 decision-maker will establish parentage in the following manner:

• If the parentage between the parent and the minor can be established by the immigration document, the fee is allocated and processing continues.
• If the parentage between the parent and the minor cannot be established by the immigration document, but can be established through the Global Case Management System (GCMS) or Field Operations Support System (FOSS), the fee is allocated and processing continues.
• The Level 1 decision-maker will complete Part A of the File Requirements Checklist (CIT 0508) to confirm that parentage was established through the immigration document, or GCMS or FOSS.
• In the event that the Level 1 decision-maker is unable to establish parentage because of a lack of information or complex notes in GMCS or FOSS, the fee is allocated and the application and proof of payment are referred to a Level 2 decision-maker for further assessment.

It is expected that the parentage issue for the vast majority of these cases will be resolved at Level 1, and therefore, the application will not need to be escalated to Level 2.

Exception

If the application is incomplete for a reason other than the absence of a birth or adoption certificate, parentage will not be assessed and the application along with proof of payment will be returned to the applicant, as per the current process on the return of incomplete citizenship applications.

Assessment of parentage by the Level 2 decision-maker

The Level 2 decision-maker will access the Computer-Assisted Immigration Processing System (CAIPS) to try and establish parentage. In the event that the system notes in CAIPS do not provide conclusive results to establish parentage, CPC-Sydney will refer the file to the relevant local office to assess, through alternate documents (school records, medical records, photographs, etc.), whether a parent-child relationship exists, and to obtain a statutory declaration by the parent, as per current policy described in CP 4, Sections 2.15 and 2.16.

Minor children who are not eligible for citizenship

If the notes in GCMS, FOSS or CAIPS clearly indicate that the minor was included as a dependant in the permanent resident application, but is not the natural or adopted child of the principal applicant or their spouse (for example: an orphan accompanying relatives or extended-family members), the application will not be processed, the fee will be refunded and the application returned to the applicant, as these children are not eligible to be granted Canadian citizenship under subsection 5(2) of the Citizenship Act, because they do not have a parent who is already a Canadian citizen or will become a Canadian citizen at the same time as the minor.

CPC-Sydney will send a letter informing the minor child of the following options, if they still wish to become a Canadian citizen:

• The child may wait until the age of 18 and submit an adult grant application under subsection 5(1);
• A minor grant application under subsection 5(2) may be resubmitted if the child was subsequently adopted by a person who is a Canadian citizen or will become a Canadian citizen at the same time as the minor;
• The child may submit a citizenship application as an adopted person pursuant to section 5.1, provided that at the time of the adoption, the adoptive parent was a Canadian citizen;
• The minor child may submit a grant application for adult under subsection 5(1), requesting a ministerial waiver for certain adult requirements, based on compassionate grounds pursuant to subsection 5(3) of the Act (the age, length of residence in Canada and knowledge of Canada and its official languages), if the family feels that the case warrants it. For more information on the processing of an adult application submitted by a minor, please refer to the citizenship policy manual chapter CP 4, Section 3.

If two or more applications were submitted concurrently, only the application of the minor child who is not eligible for citizenship will be returned, and the processing fee will be refunded to the applicant.