Lawyers ‘shocked’ by lack of answers on ‘Lost Canadian’ citizenship recalls
Earlier this month, the immigration department began sending letters to an unknown number of people ordering them to surrender recently issued Canadian citizenship certificates.
Canadian immigration lawyers say they are in “disbelief” over how the federal government has dealt with a wave of citizenship certificate suspensions involving so-called “Lost Canadians,” and the lack of answers about why the recalls occurred.
“We certainly think that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) could have handled this better,” said Barbara Jo Caruso, a member of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association.
“It creates a lot of uncertainty and anxiety for the individuals concerned. Uncertainty also leads to a lack of trust in the system.”
Earlier this month, the immigration department began sending letters to an unknown number of people ordering them to surrender recently issued Canadian citizenship certificates.
IRCC will only say a “few dozen” are affected.
One of those individuals is American Tom Maher.
“Playing fast and loose with citizenship rules is not the sort of thing I imagined from IRCC,” he told Global News.
Maher has an ancestor from Quebec and applied for Canadian citizenship under legislation passed last year. He also prepared applications for his mother and sibling.
The law allows people living abroad who can trace their lineage to a Canadian to qualify for citizenship.
The bill was tabled after an Ontario court ruling found the previous “first-generation limit” on citizenship by descent was unconstitutional.
“The main motivation for me doing this is I have a younger sibling who is trans,” said Maher.
Maher and his two family members received their citizenship certificates in April.
But last week, Maher was emailed a suspension letter. Days later, the department reversed course again, informing him his certificate had been revalidated.
“The whole thing’s been a bit of a roller-coaster,” he said.
“I have no problem providing exhaustive proof. I have no problem being investigated, but once a decision has been made it seems to me there should be some consistency.”
After receiving his surrender letter, Maher consulted Montreal immigration lawyer Lisa Middlemiss who told Global News he provided a “well-documented chain of lineage.”
Middlemiss added she has never seen anything like these recalls and is shocked and in disbelief the department would repeatedly “flip-flop” on such an important document.
“It’s highly disruptive. People have either moved their lives to Canada or are in the midst of selling their homes,” said Middlemiss.
“How is it possible that the immigration minister does not know or cannot state exactly what happened?”
Immigration Minister Lena Diab said Tuesday she ordered a review after “something” was brought to her attention, but wouldn’t say what that “something” was.
Asked Thursday whether affected individuals deserve a timely explanation, Prime Minister Mark Carney responded, “The simple answer is yes,” pledging to follow up.
IRCC has since paused approvals for new citizenship-by-descent applications while it reviews the process.
More than 82,000 applications are currently backlogged, with processing times of at least 15 months, according to the department’s website.
Caruso called the confusion “unfortunate” adding it raises questions about how prepared the department was for the legislative change.
“Thei initial guidelines on acceptable documentation should have been clearer, and more or better training of officers and staff would likely have mitigated this situation,” she said.
Middlemiss said the government needs to provide answers.
“How many of these letters were sent? Why?” she asked.
“It would be nice to know before Canada Day, quite frankly.”