This site recounts my personal journey to apply for proof of Canadian citizenship. It is not legal advice. For official info check out the Government of Canada’s IRCC

My Journey From Idea to Submission For c-3 Canadian Citizenship

My Journey

At first, the idea of claiming Canadian Citizenship seemed completely overwhelming. But then I broke it down into steps. On this blog, I’ve documented my approach to each task, the lessons that I learned, and what I would do differently if I had to do it all again. Check out all the posts to follow my journey from idea to submission (and maybe a little beyond).

A person with their back to the camera is holding a Canadian flag. They have long dark blonde hair and the sky behind them is dark blue with wispy clouds

A colorful stack of papers with worn edges

A stack of white papers with colorful paperclips sits on a desk. A pair of glasses sits in front of the stack and a keyboard is partially visible

A bronze statue of Lady Justice holds a sword in one hand and scales in the other. She is blindfolded and represents an unbiased justice system

A silver laptop with scattered blue post-it notes. One post-it says "Help" in orange letters

I’M A CANADIAN CITIZEN NOW?!?

The history behind Canadian citizenship and how I determined that I was eligible to claim C-3 citizenship

Collecting Records

It wasn’t easy to find the records that I needed to prove that I was the descendent of a Canadian citizen, but it actually turned out to be a fun puzzle

My Complete Package

I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of 40 pages before. Here’s everything that I included in my application package, including all the records

Learning the Hard Way I Didn’t Need an Attorney

I thought hiring an attorney would be the safest route. It was the opposite and almost cost me $10k CAD

Urgent Processing

Some of us just can’t wait 10+ months, but luckily, the IRCC has a process to request urgent processing

A large tree stands in the middle of a lush green field. The tree doesn't have any leaves. The sky behind the tree is a gradient starting from bright blue to light blue at the top

A clipboard reading "Application" sitting next to an ink pen and a partially visible MacBook

A large white and black printer sits on a dark grey surface with a lighter grey, striped wall behind it

A light blue clock face with white numbers and orange clock hands. The outside is framed in mint green. The clock hands are indicating that the time is 10:10

Mapping Out My Family Tree

Creating a family tree gave me a map from my Canadian ancestor (“Gen 0”) to me and all the records that I needed

Filling Out My Application

What I thought would be a monster turned out to be one of the easiest steps. The CIT 0001 wasn’t always clear, but it wasn’t actually that scary

Printing and Shipping

This seemed like the most straightforward part of the process, but I was so scared that I would messed it up! And I did. Kind of.

Waiting is the Hardest part

While I was putting my app together, I had something to focus on! Here’s some distractions that kept my mind busy while I wait on Canada