Canada’s immigration department says only a small share of citizenship by descent certificates issued under Bill C-3 were affected by its recent review, after it flagged 100 certificates for possible eligibility issues and automatically reinstated 33 of them.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said the 100 flagged certificates had potential issues with supporting documentation. Of those, 33 have already been reinstated after the department confirmed they met legal requirements. The remaining 67 cases are still outstanding.
IRCC describes the 67 outstanding cases as roughly one per cent of all certificates issued under C-3 so far. The department says those applicants will either have their certificates reinstated or be contacted directly for more information within “a matter of days.”
IRCC also says its additional review of roughly 6,500 applications received to date under the broadened citizenship by descent eligibility criteria is now complete.
Why certificates were suspended
According to IRCC, a routine review in early June identified 100 certificates issued under C-3 where the supporting documentation may have been insufficient. In some cases, the evidence included documentation from “open sources.”
The department then began a closer review of those files to confirm whether the evidence was enough to establish entitlement to citizenship by descent. While that verification took place, the certificates were temporarily suspended.
The 33 reinstated certificates were “unsuspended” automatically after IRCC determined that the documentation already in the files was enough to confirm entitlement.
IRCC says unclear guidance contributed to the issue
IRCC says the problem was partly linked to its own guidance.
During the June review, the department found that guidance on acceptable documentation was unclear for both officers and applicants. IRCC says this may have contributed to certificates being issued without sufficient evidence.
The department says it has since reinforced guidance for officers and provided clearer information to applicants about the documents they need to submit.
How the review developed
The review followed several weeks of escalating action by IRCC.
The department first asked some recent recipients of citizenship certificates to surrender their documents for review. It then paused processing of some applications and later froze new approvals while reviewing certificates that had already been granted.
As the review continued, IRCC began returning some certificates it had requested from applicants.
The episode also drew legal criticism. Some lawyers argued that IRCC had changed the documentary standard after approval, while others raised concerns that forcing people to surrender citizenship certificates could be unconstitutional.
What applicants should expect now
IRCC’s updated instructions for citizenship by descent applications will continue to apply to new applicants.
The updated standard calls for certified supporting documents of Canadian lineage from verified source authorities. It also places more emphasis on explaining efforts to locate supporting documents when the required document is unavailable.
The completion of the review may allow finalization of citizenship certificates to resume after a freeze on final processing referenced by Immigration Minister Lena Diab on June 23. Diab had linked the pause on finalizations to the review of “all applications,” but IRCC has not officially confirmed that processing will resume.
Source article: www.cicnews.com
