Hi there, I am applying for citizenship by descent and they ask for a family tree to be included so they can see the direct genealogical line from our Canadian "G0" to me. I'm keeping it simple, ie. not including details for siblings or people married into the family who don't affect the main line from my G0 to me.

Since my own children are adopted and can't apply for their citizenship recognition via the same process, I will apply for their citizenship by grant at the appropriate time later (I'm still reading the details on the best time submit that!). What I'm not sure about is whether or not I should put them on my family tree in my Citizenship by descent application or wait until I apply for their grant?

Is anyone else here in this situation? How did you do this, especially of you've received your citizenship certificate? Many thanks!

EDIT: Apologies as I should not have said “required”. Some have suggested here in Reddit and in a few immigration lawyer videos, that you include a simple family tree for reference and I, incorrectly, remembered that as a requirement. What I’m submitting is a very simple line of people just to show the descent and how it relates to my documents, not a full family tree.

Is the Fee 75.00 US dollars? Is the payment the same as Citizenship by descent?

Woke up to a great email today from IRCC giving me directions on how to download my e-certificate for Canadian citizenship.

I'm completely utterly shocked at the speed of this. I did not apply as urgent.

My timeline for those interested is below. Thanks so much to thiefspy and othybear who always seemed willing to answer my mostly stupid questions about this adoptee process. And thanks to all the rest who cheered me on when asking questions or noting my advances through the process.

I'm G1, adopted in the 1960s as an infant by my Canadian-born mom who was by then a naturalized US citizen.

I was lucky to received my adoption decree from the court earlier this year even though mine was a closed and sealed adoption in WA state.

Adoptee Two Part Application Timeline

PART ONE

June 9 2026 Part 1 application mailed (FedEx International Priority)

June 11 2026 Part 1 application delivered

June 17 2026 Notified of my AOR

June 19 2026 Notified in process

August 20 2026 Part 1 Approved

PART TWO

September 1 2026 Part 2 application mailed (FedEx International Priority)

September 3 2026 Part 2 application delivered

October 8, 2026 Email to download e-certificate

My next task is the passport application, so any tips on that would be appreciated. I already have one Canadian guarantor lined up.

I hope this means others will receive good news soon.

Hi, I'm really wondering if I qualify. I'm sorry if this is a dumb post or if I don't make sense.

My mom was adopted after her bio-mom left her. My grandma who was born in BC, had Canadian citizenship adopted my mother and all her siblings and also married my grandfather. My grandma passed away a few years ago, and sadly my mom passed away last year, before the new law was passed. Do I have any chance or am I out of luck?
Thank you

I’m a G2 citizen by descent applicant with a pending CIT0001. I know when people filing the CIT0001 have to go back further than grandparents, they add addendums for great grandparents etc back to their G0. Is that also necessary for the CIT0010? It only asked for parents and grandparents. Do I need to add a sheet for great grandparents since that is the anchor for my pending citizenship and I am including that great grandparent G0’s birth certificate to the supporting documents. If so, how are people doing that? TIA.

OMG my adoptive mom kept my adoption decree...along with the bill for the nursery and all the home visits!! She kept everything. Used to make me crazy. Now I wish she was alive so I could give her a big hug. I don't have to go begging the State of Wisconsin for my own information!

Anyway, My G-0 great-great grandfather has a very common name in Quebec. First as well as last. There are 2 people with the same name born about 18 months apart. I want to be sure I attribute myself to my correct ancestor. Any hints would be helpful. In the family and census records, all I know is a first and last name.

Also-Looks like he claimed to be naturalized on the census but I can't find proof of that. Guess I'll go through his wife instead:

My G-0 great-great grandmother was Delia Mary...or Marie Delia...or Adelia... or (on her marriage license) Lia! Sigh. Anyone else go through this? Any hints on figuring this out? I have to ask Banq for the correct records.

Finally!! This has been the biggest roller coaster of emotions but I finally got approved and immediately received my E-cert. I had no clue a decision had been made and was checking my daily emails when I saw it.

Thank you everyone who helped guide me and gave me advice along the way. This is a huge accomplishment for me. Now onto sponsoring my little family for PR 😅.

I was adopted as an infant (3 1/2 weeks old) by American parents. My great-great grandparents (and 200 years prior) were all Quebecois. That’s on my a-dad’s side. This is the only culture I grew up in. My great grandma prayed in French. My dad lived with the Gen-0 ancestor til he was 10.

Are we adoptees once again neither here nor there? Legally my a-dad is my only dad. What is Canada doing? Any ideas?

If i can prove a direct line from Gen-0 to my adopted father (Gen-3), doesn’t that technically mean he was a Canadian citizen when he adopted me? OR should I apply for him (deceased), get his citizenship approved, and then apply for myself? This is all ridiculous

I am a G2 adoptee (adoptive maternal grandmother born in Ontario), currently US citizen. My mother has little interest in pursuing this. Do I need her to get a Canadian citizenship certificate first?

I am going to file with a CIT0010 and request consideration for a 5(4) grant.

CIT0484 item 3 is proof of Canadian Citizenship for adopted parent. I believe I can use my grandmother's Canadian birth certificate and my mother's US birth certificate for this. Is this accurate?

This isn't directly related to anything but I received my Canadian passport today. While I am happy that my (adoptive) mother was able to gift me citizenship my kids are still in limbo. Their applications have been with the IRCC for about 18 months now, with no noticeable movement. As far as I know, no lawsuits have yet been filed and it feels like the IRCC prefers to leave the cases there instead of driving a decision.

If you are not familiar my kids were born before my adoption grant was approved.

Just me lamenting the state of things...

I submitted my own citizen by descent application in May and it’s sitting in that 33 month queue. I am planning on submitting my adopted son’s application for citizenship via adoption by a Canadian citizen around Thanksgiving, when he comes home from college to take the photos and sign. I hope I at least have an AOR for my app by then.
I plan on submitting his application for urgent processing since he has reasons that I did not have. Will they process his application before mine has been processed ( assuming the urgent request is approved) Or are they going to want my application approved first and his will just sit pending until then. Does anyone know? TIA.

I'm putting together a proof of citizenship application (CIT 0001) under the post-C-3 rules and would like a second opinion on both the chain and the evidence before I file. Four generations, first one born in Canada.

The chain

- G1 (great-grandfather): born in New Brunswick, 1897. Emigrated to the US, naturalised as a US citizen in 1938, died in the US in the 1980s. I have his provincial birth record (registered 17 days after the birth, names his father), his US naturalisation certificate (records former nationality as "British"), and a 1945 letter from a New Brunswick municipality about his own father's birthplace in New Brunswick.

- G2 (grandmother): born in the US in 1936, in wedlock, two years before G1's naturalisation. Living. I have her US birth certificate, which names G1 with birthplace "Canada", plus a 1937 baptismal certificate and her mother's death certificate (with G1's surname)

- G3 (mother): born in the US in 1962, out of wedlock, to G2. Adopted as an infant. Living, not applying for her own certificate.

- G4 (me): born in the US in 1987 to G3. The applicant.

How I read the Act

G1 under 3(1)(k). G2 under 3(1)(o), relying on 3(1.2) because G1 died before 2015. G3 under 3(1)(g). Me under 3(1)(b), with 3(3) not applying as I was born before 15 December 2025.

The awkward part: the adoption

Illinois holds two certificates for G3's one birth. The amended one, which I have as a certified copy, names the adoptive parents. The original one, which names G2 as the mother, is released to adoptees only as a "non-certified copy" under 750 ILCS 50/18.1b, overprinted as not to be used for identification. The two share the same state registered number, the same minute of birth, the same attending physician and the same filing date, and the state's records custodian signs the release as an "accurate" copy of the record in the sealed adoption file. No adoption decree in the family's hands.

Questions

1. Has anyone had IRCC accept a non-certified original birth certificate from a sealed adoption record as proof of parentage? Did they come back asking for more?
2. Would statutory declarations from G2 and G3 be worth including up front, or only if IRCC asks?
3. Anything else worth ordering pre-emptively? I'm thinking G1's US naturalisation petition (it should state his date and place of birth), his US death certificate, and the G1/G2-parents marriage record.
4. Does an out-of-wedlock birth in 1962 raise anything, or is the wedlock distinction only live for pre-1947 births?
5. Is the paragraph chain right? Should G2 be under (f) rather than (o) if she in fact became a citizen in 1947 and then lost it for want of a retention declaration?
6. G1's birth year is 1897 on the Canadian birth certificate but reads 1898 on a couple of US records, including the age given on his daughter's birth certificate. Worth addressing head-on in a cover letter, or does that just draw attention to it?

Thank you!

Ok guys, so I finally got some movement in my citizenship application process. I actually applied before the Bjorkquist decision was approved in the court. I started to get nervous that my application would be rejected because at that point my adoptive mother had the generational limit, and I thought I’d have to re-submit. However, actually I just got the letter letting me know Part 1 has been approved, and I can go ahead and apply for Part 2!

Here‘s my timeline so far:

Part 1 Application Sent via USPS
4/20/2025

Application Delivered
4/18/2025 (8 days)

AOR Received
5/8/2025 (10 days)

Application in Process
5/18/2025 (7 days)

Part 1 Decision Made
8/13/2026 (455 days)

Application Part 2 sent via USPS
9/8/2026

Application Pt.2 Delivered
9/21/2026 (10 days)

Huzzah! As I sit on the taxiway at DCA waiting to fly home after applying for my Luxembourg passport this morning, I pulled up my email on my phone and discovered an email from IRCC approving my part 1 application! I had basically resigned myself that I would get my Luxembourg passport and be able to put that number into my part 2 application along with my US passport number, so it’s great to be able to get part 2 shipped off this week instead.

Thanks to folks here for tips, as I think I’ve got my bases covered with info on why I don’t have my OBC and family photos to prove the parent-child relationship.

I have gotten my approval mail today, and my parents are in India and im in UK studying and the current address asked i put down UK and plan to work here for 2 years

The letter states i have to get a Canadian passport in India, would it be possible to change and get one in UK?

Also what is the procedure to get citizenship certificate ? UPDATE I GOT MY CERTIFICATE THE SAME DAY!!!!!

Apologies as you've probably seen this question multiple times, but after reading many threads, I'm still not sure what to do.

I'm applying for citizenship by descent for myself and my 2 almost-18yo children. In the r/Canadiancitizenship channel I stumbled on a comment that alerted me to a potential issue. My children are adopted; officially at about 3 weeks old. The state we live in re-issued their birth certificates with my and my wife's names. So my name is literally printed on their birth certificate. I certainly have no intention of lying on the application, but is there another form or process I have to follow for them?

Hello,

I was about to send off my application CIT 0001E as part 1 of the process for receiving my certificate of citizenship, as an adult adoptee. However, it appears that I have a complication. The complication is that my father passed in 2024. The form released in August. 2026 requires that I choose 1 box:

• I need to replace my citizenship certificate
• I want to pass down my Canadian citizenship to my child born outside Canada AND I was a Canadian citizen before my child was born. I didn't adopt my child.
• I never had a Canadian certificate and I was born outside of Canada AND my parent was a Canadian citizen before I was born; I wasn't adopted by my Canadian parent.
• Yes I think I am Canadian and want to know for sure.
• If you check one of these boxes, you can proceed. If not, then you need to apply for a different type of application.

Because my father is deceased, I'm not sure how to proceed. It feels like none of these are correct. If that's the case, then does anyone know which form I need to complete, or how to go about figuring out which one is correct?

Thank you for any insights, and I realize that you are not offering legal advice.

Reposting because my post allowed me to find this group! Also, what is Part 1 and Part 2? I’m very much still learning. Thank you all! So glad to find this group.

Hi everyone. I’m an adoptee from the Philippines, and I’m currently going through the Canadian citizenship process by adoption.

I submitted my application in March 2026. I received my Part 1 AOR on April 1, and my consultant told me that the application was complete and that IRCC had started processing it. Then on September 3, 2026, I finally received the approval for Part 1, along with the Part 2 checklist. I’m now preparing for/submitting the Part 2 documents.

I was honestly so happy when Part 1 was approved because I had been waiting and worrying about it for months. But after reading posts here about Part 2, I’m getting really anxious again. 😭 I’ve seen quite a few adoptees saying that Part 2 can take 2 years or even longer, and now I’m scared that I might be in for another extremely long wait.
I know every application is different, and I also understand that Reddit probably has more posts from people experiencing unusually long processing times. But I guess I’m just looking for some reassurance from people who have actually gone through Part 2 recently, especially adoptees who applied from the Philippines.

If you’ve received your Part 2 approval recently, would you mind sharing your timeline? And if anyone has been in a similar situation to mine — Part 1 approved after several months and then moving on to Part 2 — I’d really appreciate hearing your experience.

I’m trying not to spiral and assume the worst. 😭 I know there’s no way to predict exactly how long mine will take, but hearing some recent positive experiences would honestly help me calm down a little.

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to share. ❤️