Canada withdraw new citizenship certificates dem issue to 'Lost Canadians'

Canada don ask American citizens wey recently receive citizenship make dem surrender dia certificate.

Dem say dis dey affect dose wey don received proof of Canadian citizenship, but dem go gatz withdraw am for further review.

Dis matter don cause confusion among dose wey dey affected by di withdrawal.

According to letters by Canada immigration ministry wey dem share wit di BBC tok say di recipients "fit no dey entitled" to dia certificates of citizenship and ask make dem return am.

Dem send di letters to unknown number of pipo wey don obtain citizenship through di ancestral tie to Canada under di 'Lost Canadian' law wey dem enact for December.

For statement to di BBC, one immigration ministry tok-tok pesin confam say dem dey review" limited number of files".

Di review "concerns di processing of individual cases", according to di tok tok pesin.

Dem say dose wey receive di letter to surrender go get di opportunity to provide additional evidence to support dia citizenship case.

"If di review confam say di individual dey entitled to di certificate, dem go return am," di tok tok pesin say.

'E dey beyond my imagination' - affected pesin tok

Shawn Davis Mooney wey recently relocate permanently from California to Victoria, British Columbia, wit husband dey alarmed wen e receive im letter.

"E don devastate me beyond imagination," e tok.

Mooney apply for Canadian citizenship afta di so-called "Lost Canadians" law come into effect late last year.

Wit di help of lawyer, e say e submit 114 pages of documents wey show say im great-great-grandparent dey born in di province of New Brunswick.

Dem approve am for urgent processing and dem grant am citizenship certificate for February, e say.

Now, e dey unsure of im status for Canada. "I gatz read (di letter) three times," e say. "I no understand am."

Di letter, signed by di Registrar of Canadian Citizenship Peggy Sun, say im citizenship certificate fit dey revoked becos e fail to provide di right documentation.

Mooney say di letter leave am and im lawyers confused. E maintain say im application stress am.

"Di worst part na to make us feel like frauds, or we do sometin wrong," e say.

Di letter also state say di status of his citizenship dey under review.

Affected pesin tok her reaction

Di letter dey identical to odas wey dey posted online or shared wit di BBC by oda recipients.

Rana Charron, wey live for Cleveland, Ohio, say she apply for Canadian citizenship using census records wey prove her great-great-grandmother na French-Canadian and from Quebec, as no birth certificate or baptismal records dey available from dat time.

Her application dey approved, she say, and she receive physical copy of her Canadian citizenship certificate earlier dis month.

Now, she say she dey prepare to send am back.

"I dey very excited to dey formally Canadian," she say. "Growing up, my family dey very aware of our Canadian heritage... it matter a lot to me."

But to ask me to surrender citizenship certificate, Charron say na " one of di largest disappointments get get for my life".

Charron say she still intend to see her case through, but add say e don make her lose trust for Canada citizenship processes.

"If dem fit just yank dat back, wetin go stop dem from doing am two years from now, or 10 years from now, wen pipo don really settled down and put roots?"

Di letters dey "shocking" to Lisa Middlemiss, Montreal immigration lawyer.

"Only for very rare circumstances di govment fit revoke citizenship," Middlemiss say, adding say dose wey receive di surrender letters na pipo wey don already go through di appropriate process as set out by Canada immigration laws.

"E send such bad message for Canada," she say.

How 'Lost Canadians' get Canada citizenship certificate

Canada receive more dan 12,000 applications for di first month-and-a-half afta di "Lost Canadians" law dey enforced.

Most citizenship applications dey granted for pipo wey dem born for di US, according to govment data wey CBC report.

For dia statement, Canada immigration ministry say each application dey reviewed by "trained officers" bifor dem go grant certificates.

Howeva, e add say dem dey review dis affected files "to ensure say dem assess fairly, consistently and in accordance wit di law."

Wetin be di Canadian lost law?

Canada bin extend automatic citizenship to children born or adopted abroad to Canadian parent also born outside di kontri.

Di conditions to di "Lost Canadian" rules wey come into effect last year na say, di Canadian parent gatz show "substantial connection" to di kontri by spending at least three years dia bifor dem born or adopt dia child.

"Lost Canadians" refer to pipo wey lose or neva acquire citizenship becos of wetin Ottawa call "outdated provisions" of dia citizenship laws.

Di changes start from di 2023 Ontario court decision wey rule say parts of di law wey limit citizenship by descent dey unconstitutional.

Di court ruling come afta di federal govment under former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper pass law for 2009 wey comot di automatic right to citizenship for descendants of Canadians born abroad.