What kind of professional will help this Canadian get new ID?
August 17, 2017 12:38 PM Subscribe
Asking for a friend of a friend, a Canadian citizen (living in British Columbia, if that's applicable), who is wondering what kind of professional (legal or otherwise) might help him sort out a complicated situation regarding proof of citizenship.
Back story:
He lost all of his ID decades ago and never did anything about it, happy to just live off the grid etc. But now things are getting complicated as the death of his last parent looms. He realizes he's going to need proper ID in order to sort out estate and other issues. But here's the catch. He wasn't born in Canada. His family were in Western Europe at the time (over fifty years ago). He had his Canadian citizenship established while still very young and never had dual citizenship, but nevertheless, he has never had a Canadian birth certificate.
He's recently pursued some options on his own and collided with bureaucratic walls (specifically regarding proof of citizenship). And bluntly, he's just not the kind of person who has much patience for process. So he's wondering what kind of professional he could hire to just sort it all out for him, get him proper Canadian ID again. He does have some money. He has a Social Insurance Number. Is this something an immigration lawyer would do? Some other kind of lawyer? Some other professional?
Back story:
He lost all of his ID decades ago and never did anything about it, happy to just live off the grid etc. But now things are getting complicated as the death of his last parent looms. He realizes he's going to need proper ID in order to sort out estate and other issues. But here's the catch. He wasn't born in Canada. His family were in Western Europe at the time (over fifty years ago). He had his Canadian citizenship established while still very young and never had dual citizenship, but nevertheless, he has never had a Canadian birth certificate.
He's recently pursued some options on his own and collided with bureaucratic walls (specifically regarding proof of citizenship). And bluntly, he's just not the kind of person who has much patience for process. So he's wondering what kind of professional he could hire to just sort it all out for him, get him proper Canadian ID again. He does have some money. He has a Social Insurance Number. Is this something an immigration lawyer would do? Some other kind of lawyer? Some other professional?
Otherwise - does he know where he was born? It may be possible to get a new copy of his birth certificate, which would be a huge help.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 1:09 PM on August 17, 2017
posted by the agents of KAOS at 1:09 PM on August 17, 2017
Best answer: (I used to work for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)
Has he looked into and pursued all the options found here?
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/proof.asp
An immigration lawyer is the right kind of professional to help but he is essentially paying for someone to sort through and pursue the options listed on the aforementioned page. Which might be worth it if he doesn't want to deal directly with process or wants legal advice on completing and filing the application correctly. Or if he applied for proof of citizenship, had his application rejected, and now needs help challenging the original decision. Or if he wants to pursue faster processing and wants legal advice on making the strongest possible case to qualify for expedited processing http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/urgent-proof.asp
Citizenship documents are government documents which inherently means one will have to go through government process and deal with government bureaucracy. There's really no way around it. It looks like processing time to obtain a citizenship certificate is currently 5 months.
posted by kitkatcathy at 1:24 PM on August 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Has he looked into and pursued all the options found here?
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/proof.asp
An immigration lawyer is the right kind of professional to help but he is essentially paying for someone to sort through and pursue the options listed on the aforementioned page. Which might be worth it if he doesn't want to deal directly with process or wants legal advice on completing and filing the application correctly. Or if he applied for proof of citizenship, had his application rejected, and now needs help challenging the original decision. Or if he wants to pursue faster processing and wants legal advice on making the strongest possible case to qualify for expedited processing http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/urgent-proof.asp
Citizenship documents are government documents which inherently means one will have to go through government process and deal with government bureaucracy. There's really no way around it. It looks like processing time to obtain a citizenship certificate is currently 5 months.
posted by kitkatcathy at 1:24 PM on August 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: thanks, so far. This is looking like what I was hoping for when I suggested putting his problem to AskMeFi.
posted by philip-random at 1:50 PM on August 17, 2017
posted by philip-random at 1:50 PM on August 17, 2017
Best answer: Send him to see his local Member of Parliament. Their constituency assistant will help him work through the paperwork free of charge; they are also helpful in interceding with the sometimes opaque requirements of bureaucracy.
posted by NorthernAutumn at 4:17 PM on August 17, 2017
posted by NorthernAutumn at 4:17 PM on August 17, 2017
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posted by the agents of KAOS at 1:08 PM on August 17, 2017