Filling out the application (CIT 0001)
One of the ways that the attorney that I spoke to intimidated me into paying her thousands of dollars was to tell me that the application itself was complicated and that there needed to be justifications written in legalese
Well, the thousands of people that have gone through the process without an attorney undercuts that argument. In fact, once I opened up the application myself, I realized that it was pretty straightforward
The application itself (CIT 0001) even has instructions. If I had read those instructions prior to speaking to the attorney, I probably would have realized that her statements about was required weren’t correct
One thing to note - anywhere that a box doesn’t apply to you, they tell you to write N/A so that they know that skipping it wasn’t a mistake
Also, they could have changed the form since I filled it out! Make sure you read all the instructions carefully and don’t just copy and paste my answers!
My Answers
I completed the application PDF on my computer with the exception of the signature. Then I printed, signed, and shipped!
I want to reiterate - these are MY answers. You are not me, so our answers won’t match in most places! I’m providing because I had never (and still have not) seen anyone else’s application. A lot of the evaluation of our application packages is dependent on the actual Officer who reviews the file too so it’s not possible to know what a “perfect” application looks like!
At the top of the application, there’s a question that asks “Do Any of These Apply to You?” Opinion about whether you should choose “I never had a citizenship certificate and I was born outside of Canada AND my parent was a Canadian citizen before I was born; I wasn’t adopted by my Canadian parent” or “I think I’m a Canadian Citizen and want to know for sure” are divided, but it doesn’t really seem to make a difference. I wasn’t adopted, so I went ahead and chose the first one (BTW - if you or someone in your descendent line were adopted, things can get a little confusing and this was not a hurdle that I had to overcome. I would check out communities in Free Resources to get additional guidance)
A screenshot of the first question from the CIT0001. It asks “Do any of these apply to you?” and I checked the box next to “I never had a citizenship certificate and I was born outside Canada AND my parent was a Canadian citizen before I was born; I wasn’t adopted by my Canadian parent.” Some people prefer to choose the next option instead that reads “I think I am Canadian and want to know for sure.”
A screenshot showing sections 1-3 of CIT0001. In each of the text boxes, because they didn’t apply to me, I wrote “N/A” to make sure that they knew that it wasn’t a mistake that I didn’t fill out those fields
Language that you want service in. Because Canada has two official languages (French and English), the government can communicate with you in either. Because my first language is English, I chose English
I did not have a UCI (for more info check the Glossary), so my answer was N/A
I was applying for a new certificate, not replacing one that I already had so I chose “No - skip to section 4” and I put N/A in all the rest of the boxes in Section 3. I did not fill in any of the other circles to answer the other questions because I was not supposed to
I asked for an electronic citizenship certificate. I felt like this would be faster since I wouldn’t have to wait on snail mail. I don’t really know why you’d ask for a paper one honestly, but I’m sure that some people have a good reason
This information should be completed as it appears on your birth certificate, so I put my birth certificate info in the boxes and then included my current full name with “(current)” beside it in the box that says “List any other names (including current or former married name(s), aliases and nicknames). These names will not appear on your citizenship certificate.
If you want a different name, date of birth, or gender to appear on your certificate, then you’ll need to include supporting documentation for your name change (check the instructions for more info)
I didn’t have a copy of my original birth certificate, so I had requested and received a new certified birth certificate from my state of my birth. So I chose “Yes” because I had replaced my birth certificate. In the box I wrote, “ My original birth certificate was lost. I am including a new, certified copy that was issued in January 2026”
Ok, now we’re getting into the parents. Parent 1 is the parent whose line you’re following to show you’re a Canadian descendent. In my case, it was my father. My mother went in Parent 2. For my father, he had used the same name throughout his life so I put “N/A” in the box for other names. My mother had changed her name when she got married, so I put her current name in the first box (Surname/Last Name) and I put her maiden name in the Other names used by parent (name at birth, maiden name etc. box with “(maiden name)” beside it. For their place of marriage, I wrote “<state>, USA”. Because neither of my parents have had a Canadian birth certificate registration number, and they are both still alive, I put “N/A” in the box for both of those boxes for both parents.
A. The Relationship to You for Parent 1 and Parent 2 was biological parent for me (again, for adoption, check out the groups in Free Resources to learn more about the requirements if you were born abroad or had someone in your descendent line that was adopted)
B. For Parent 1, I chose “Parent is/was a Canadian Citizen” since that’s the legal theory behind what we’re doing. We’re not asking to be Canadian citizens, we’re asking for proof to show that we ARE Canadian citizens.
In the first box (Please tell us the Circumstances), I put “N/A”. In the second box, for How did Parent 1 obtain Canadian citizenship, I wrote “Parent 1, <full name>, is a citizen by descent. His father, <full name>, was a Canadian citizen.” There might have been more that I could have included, but the people that are reading these applications know the law. They don’t need me to explain the concept of citizenship to them (or that’s what I was counting on anyway!).
For citizenship certificate number, I put “unknown.”
For on what date did Parent 1 first enter Canada to live, I put N/A since they’ve never lived in Canada.
For Did Parent 1 ever leave Canada for more than 1 year, I put “Yes” and for the dates in the table, I put his birth date in From and “Present” in To. Destination was “USA” since he’s lived in the US his whole life.
Since my father is also a citizen of the US, I said “Yes” to Is (or was) parent 1 a citizen of a country or territory other than Canada before 1977. In the explanation box, I wrote, “Parent 1, <full name>, was born in the United States as a United States and Canadian citizen.”
For the next three questions about parent 1, I chose “No” because those situations did not apply to him.
For Parent 2, I chose “Parent 2 is/was not a Canadian citizen" and “Not applicable, not born in Canada” everywhere and N/A in all of the boxes.C. I chose “Not applicable, not born in Canada” for both parents and put “N/A” in both the boxes
For this section, you’re moving on to the grandparents, but the first box is the name of Parent 1 so that they can tell which grandparents you’re talking about. My answers were all in alignment with how I answered the same questions in Section 8, but with my grandparents’ info
**Because I had one more generation to list, I included an addendum with the information in section 9 for my relevant great-grandparentsThese questions were straightforward. For me, it was “No” and “N/A” in any text boxes
These questions were straightforward. For me, it was “No” and “N/A” in any text boxes
These questions were straightforward. For me, it was “No” and “N/A” in any text boxes
These questions were straightforward. For me, it was “No” and “N/A” in any text boxes
I made sure to fill out all the boxes and if any don’t apply, put “N/A” in them
I wasn’t using a representative and didn’t want anyone else to be able to talk to the government on my behalf so my answers were “No” and “N/A”. If I had wanted to, there would be an additional form that I would have needed to include (IMM 5476)
I checked all the boxes and then after I printed the form, I signed and dated the application