New doors will open for thousands of families! Canada made historic changes in citizenship rules, big benefit to Indian immigrants

Canada is going to make major changes in its citizenship law. These changes will be made under Canada’s C-3 Act. Specifically, it aims to simplify the process of granting citizenship on the basis of descent. This step of the Canadian government will benefit thousands of families of Indian origin. Indians constitute a large number of foreign nationals living in Canada, so Indian families may benefit the most from this change.

The Government of Canada has not yet announced the date of implementation of this law. However, it has been approved and will be implemented soon. This change will eliminate the second generation limit. In fact, under current rules, a child of a Canadian citizen born outside Canada does not receive citizenship. This problem has been resolved with the new changes.

What will change? – Canada’s immigration agency, IRCC, has stated that the first-generation threshold for Canadian citizenship based on descent was implemented in 2009. This means that a child born or adopted outside Canada is not a Canadian citizen by descent if his or her Canadian parents were also born outside Canada. On December 19, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that key parts of the citizenship law relating to this limit were unconstitutional.

The Government of Canada did not appeal this decision, arguing that it was unfair to Canadian children born outside the country. The Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association (CILA) supported C-3 in its motion to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship. There was a provision for second-class citizenship for foreign-born Canadians due to the second generation limit. Many women had to come to Canada just to give birth.

There should be rules like the US and UK – CILA says Bill C-3 finally removes this unconstitutional barrier. Bill C-3 restores citizenship to people who lost their citizenship under the old rules. It also establishes a significant nexus test, which allows foreign-born Canadian parents to pass on citizenship to their children born outside Canada.

CILA says the exam is similar to those used in the US, UK and Australia. IRCC stated that this amendment is intended to improve the rules while maintaining the value of Canadian citizenship. Canada’s Immigration Minister, Lena Matlez Diab, said Bill C-3 will address long-standing deficiencies in our citizenship laws and provide justice to families of foreign-born children.