Hello All,
I am a US Citizen and sponsored my Canadian wife to the US, who currently holds her US Green Card since June 2021.
My wife's Canadian passport renewal application was denied because it said she isn't a Canadian Citizen, even though she has the Canadian citizenship card ID and ceremonial certificate from 2001.
I asked ChatGPT what it thinks happened, and it stated:
"Your old Canadian citizenship card is still legally valid proof that you are a Canadian citizen — even though they stopped issuing those cards in 2012. Canada’s official rules still list citizenship cards as accepted proof of citizenship.
What changed in 2012 is how Canada issues new proof of citizenship. They moved to a newer paper citizenship certificate that’s easier for the government’s systems to check electronically.
Because your card is older and doesn’t have the newer certificate number or barcode, Passport Canada’s automated system may not have been able to find your citizenship record in their database. When it can’t automatically verify the record, it sometimes produces a confusing message like “you are not a Canadian citizen” — even though legally you still are. This isn’t a true loss of citizenship — it’s a technical/administrative mismatch between the old document and the current verification system.
This is a known situation: many people with older citizenship cards run into verification problems because Passport Canada’s systems expect the newer certificate format. In those cases, either a manual check of the original citizenship record or applying for the newer citizenship certificate solves the issue.
So the problem was likely not that your citizenship ended, but that the passport office couldn’t electronically confirm the old card in the system. That’s why we’re planning to ask the consulate to manually check your record — if they confirm it, the passport can be processed without waiting for a new certificate."
It recommends scheduling with the Canadian Consulate in Washington State where we live, and discuss with them to resolve this issue.
I wanted to know if anyone else in this forum had this issue as well? What were your outcomes?
Thank you everyone in advance!
Hello All, I am a US Citizen and sponsored my Canadian wife to the US, who currently holds her US Green Card since June 2021. My wife's Canadian passport renewal application was denied because it said she isn't a Canadian Citizen, even though she has the Canadian citizenship card ID and ceremonial certificate from 2001. I asked ChatGPT what it thinks happened, and it stated: "Your old Canadian citizenship card is still legally valid proof that you are a Canadian citizen — even though they stopped issuing those cards in 2012. Canada’s official rules still list citizenship cards as accepted proof of citizenship. What changed in 2012 is how Canada issues new proof of citizenship. They moved to a newer paper citizenship certificate that’s easier for the government’s systems to check electronically. Because your card is older and doesn’t have the newer certificate number or barcode, Passport Canada’s automated system may not have been able to find your citizenship record in their database. When it can’t automatically verify the record, it sometimes produces a confusing message like “you are not a Canadian citizen” — even though legally you still are. This isn’t a true loss of citizenship — it’s a technical/administrative mismatch between the old document and the current verification system. This is a known situation: many people with older citizenship cards run into verification problems because Passport Canada’s systems expect the newer certificate format. In those cases, either a manual check of the original citizenship record or applying for the newer citizenship certificate solves the issue. So the problem was likely not that your citizenship ended, but that the passport office couldn’t electronically confirm the old card in the system. That’s why we’re planning to ask the consulate to manually check your record — if they confirm it, the passport can be processed without waiting for a new certificate." It recommends scheduling with the Canadian Consulate in Washington State where we live, and discuss with them to resolve this issue. I wanted to know if anyone else in this forum had this issue as well? What were your outcomes? Thank you everyone in advance!