Canada’s immigration department has temporarily stopped finalizing some new citizenship-by-descent applications, according to recent reports.

The department has sent letters to a group of individuals who had already been approved, instructing them to surrender their citizenship certificates for re-examination.

Internal Review and Legal Permissions

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has initiated an internal review to investigate the situation and ensure fair and lawful assessment of applications. Applicants who have received surrender letters can continue working in Canada but cannot use a Canadian passport during the review process.

According to Canadian citizenship laws, individuals with surrender letters are still considered Canadian citizens while their applications are under review. A citizenship certificate is essential for proving one’s status and applying for a passport.

If the review confirms Canadian lineage, the certificate is returned to the applicant.

Insight into Surrender Letters

Recently, IRCC requested certain individuals to return their citizenship certificates for further review based on a regulation allowing the Registrar of Canadian Citizenship to request certificates back in cases of entitlement uncertainty.