{"id":91827,"date":"2026-06-17T05:42:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/91827\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T05:42:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:42:04","slug":"thousands-sought-canadian-citizenship-some-are-now-under-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/91827\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands sought Canadian citizenship. Some are now under review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadians by descent who recently received citizenship certificates under the country’s expanded citizenship law<\/a> are now being asked to hand them back<\/a>, according to multiple reports, as the federal government reviews whether some applicants provided enough documentation to prove their family ties<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The notices, sent by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on June 13, have left some new citizens stunned. In letters obtained by CIC News<\/a> and CBC<\/a>, the agency told recipients that information in their files suggests they “may not be entitled<\/a>” to hold a Canadian citizenship certificate and ordered them to surrender the document while their applications are reviewed.<\/p>\n

The move affects some people who successfully obtained citizenship under Bill C-3, a law that took effect in December 2025 and expanded access to Canadian citizenship by descent<\/a>. The law was designed to address long-standing issues affecting so-called “Lost Canadians” and their descendants, allowing some people born abroad to claim citizenship through Canadian ancestors beyond the first generation.<\/p>\n

The government says<\/a> the reviews are not citizenship revocations, but rather a re-examination of applications that may lack sufficient proof of lineage. Applicants are being given an opportunity to submit additional evidence before a final decision is made.<\/p>\n

In a statement to USA TODAY, IRCC said it is aware that “a limited number of people” who obtained citizenship certificates under Bill C-3 have been notified that their files are under review. The agency said the reviews are intended to determine “whether the certificate was properly issued based on the evidence required by law” and that affected individuals will have an opportunity to provide additional documentation.<\/p>\n

“If the review confirms that the individual is entitled to the certificate, it will be returned,” IRCC said.<\/p>\n

Canada citizenship: New Canadian citizenship rules in effect. Do you qualify?<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Canada<\/p>\n

Canada fans wave flags before the International Friendly between Canada and Iceland at BMO Field on March 28, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.<\/p>\n

Why are citizenship certificates being reviewed?<\/p>\n

According to the letters, applications were flagged for two primary reasons<\/a>: supporting documents were not obtained directly from official record-holding authorities, or applicants failed to explain why official records could not be obtained.<\/p>\n

IRCC said individuals seeking proof of citizenship through a Canadian ancestor must establish “the chain of parent-child relationships through each generation” and provide evidence supporting their claim.<\/p>\n

“From the beginning, we have been clear: having Canadian ancestry does not automatically mean entitlement to citizenship,” the agency said.<\/p>\n

According to CIC News<\/a>, the reviews appear to focus on whether applicants adequately documented an unbroken line of descent from a Canadian citizen using records accepted by the government.<\/p>\n

Some applicants reportedly relied on genealogy websites such as Ancestry or FamilySearch, while others submitted archival records rather than documents issued by provincial vital statistics offices or civil registries, CIC News reported<\/a>. In other cases, applicants were unable to locate records but did not include documentation showing they had attempted to obtain them.<\/p>\n

The letters instruct recipients to return any paper citizenship certificates while the review is underway. Electronic certificates do not need to be surrendered.<\/p>\n

A shock for some with plans to move to Canada<\/p>\n

The reviews have created uncertainty for some people who had already begun making plans based on their newly-recognized citizenship.<\/p>\n

Among them is Valerie Campbell of Maine, who told CBC<\/a> she had put her home up for sale and was preparing for a move to Canada after receiving her citizenship certificate earlier this year. She said the notice arrived without warning and left her scrambling to gather additional documentation.<\/p>\n

Immigration lawyers told CBC<\/a> that it is unusual for citizenship certificates to be suspended after they have already been issued, particularly on such a large scale. The number of affected applicants has not been disclosed.<\/p>\n

What can applicants do?<\/p>\n

Applicants who receive a review notice can submit additional evidence supporting their claim to citizenship.<\/p>\n

CIC News<\/a> reported that applicants are generally advised to obtain records directly from the government agencies that created them, such as vital statistics offices or civil registries. When records cannot be located, IRCC guidance<\/a> recommends providing a written explanation and documentation, including “no record” letters, showing efforts made to obtain them.<\/p>\n

IRCC said trained officers review the evidence submitted with each application before approving a citizenship certificate and maintained that Bill C-3 “continues to operate as intended.”<\/p>\n

The agency also emphasized that the current reviews are not tied to Canada’s recent citizenship reforms.<\/p>\n

“This situation concerns the processing of individual cases and is not directly related to recent legislative changes,” IRCC said.<\/p>\n

The scrutiny comes as demand for Canadian citizenship by descent continues to grow. IRCC previously told USA TODAY<\/a> it received more than 12,000 proof-of-citizenship applications in the weeks following the law’s implementation, with thousands of applicants confirmed as Canadian citizens under the new rules.<\/p>\n

For many Americans hoping to claim a Canadian passport through family ties, the expanded law has opened the door, but proving eligibility remains a paperwork-intensive process.<\/p>\n

Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@usatodayco.com, or on X @athompsonUSAT<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New Canadian citizens reportedly face review after approval<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canadians by descent who recently received citizenship certificates under the country’s expanded citizenship law are now being asked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13408,17,311,34648,10328,34649,1425,17231],"class_list":["post-91827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-applications","tag-canada","tag-canadian-citizenship","tag-cic-news","tag-citizenship","tag-documentation","tag-ircc","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}