Expats fear for children's fate under new rules

Expatriate Canadians say their children who have been born abroad are being denied the full rights of citizenship under rules that come into effect in April.

Canadians who give birth or adopt in another country will be able to pass on their citizenship to their children. But those foreign-born children of Canadians will not be able to bestow that same citizenship on their own children should they also decide to adopt or give birth outside Canada.
A spokesman for the Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the minister has heard from parents who fear that the new law will limit the options of their children adopted abroad. He is aware “of these concerns.”

But there do not seem to be similar plans to review the rules that will affect, retrospectively, the many people born to Canadians working in foreign countries.
“Hundreds of thousands of Canadians will be affected by these rules. These people may be working or volunteering abroad temporarily,” says Allan Nichols, the executive director of the Canadian Expat Association.

“My own children will be affected,” continued Nichols, whose son and daughter were born in Nagoya, Japan, where he was working for a travel agency. “They were born abroad, but, of course, live in Canada. As bilingual (English/Japanese) children they hope to work in international trade in the future. Do I honestly need to tell them that if they have kids while working abroad, they will not be Canadian?”

The new regulations were released in December, after changes to the Citizenship Act were passed as law last spring. Exemptions have been extended for the children of Canadian diplomats and military personnel.
But those who have taken jobs overseas with multinational corporations, for instance, or have gone to another country to teach or work with aid groups, will be affected.