Dual Citizenship (U.S. and Canada) for Minor- Lawyer Recommendations

If your husband is a Canadian citizen born in Canada your daughter is already a citizen and all you need to do is request her citizenship certificate. A DIY process that took us only a few months waiting time for it to arrive in the mail.

I don't know the citizenship rules for Canada but if you're husband has dual citizenship why can't you go to the Canadian consulate and apply for citizenship for your daughter? My wife has French citizenship and when our daughter was born we went to the French consulate in SF, verified our daughter is our daughter and that my wife has citizenship and that was it. We received her passport a few weeks later.

We have worked with Amy Wang at the International Institute of the Bay Area in Oakland and really love her! That said she has helped us with more complex green card/residency stuff -- for dual citizenship things we have always been able to easily get help from a consul directly at the consulate of the country (Mexico in our case).

Daniel Lopez at Surowitz in El Cerrito: savvy, kind, and reasonably priced.
https://www.eastbayvisalaw.com/our-immigration-lawyers/daniel-lopez

I recently did this for myself (adult child of a Canadian-born parent) and it was pretty straightforward -- a couple of steps up from applying for a passport, but not something you would need a lawyer for. You will find all the information you need at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/cana…

A few tips:

• When you have photos taken for your daughter's certificate, be sure to specify that they are for Canadian identity documents. I used Foto Shop in downtown Berkeley; they can print at the right size and they know what info goes on the back of the photo.
• You will need certified copies of your husband's birth certificate and your daughter's.
• The Canadian Consulate in SF will make copies of your identity documents for free if they are for a citizenship certificate. They can't give you any advice on your application though.

One caveat: only the first generation born outside Canada is eligible. So if your husband was born outside Canada to a Canadian parent, your daughter isn't eligible. The link above provides more information on this.

Hi, we have had all three of our kids outside of Canada, and have successfully applied for Canadian citizenship for them on our own. The Canadian government's website explains who is eligible, and Canada's Immigration website has all the information you need to apply. So although I can't recommend a good immigration lawyer, I know it is possible to do the whole thing on your own. 

If your husband is a Canadian citizen born in Canada your daughter is already a citizen and all you need to do is request her citizenship certificate. A DIY process that took us only a few months waiting time for it to arrive in the mail. Canada Immigration website is very easy to navigate.

I did this about 20 years ago without a lawyer and it was no problem (kinda bureaucratic, but that's to be expected!).

So I would start by contacting the Canadian embassy/consulate (can't remember which it is) in SF and say you want to register your child as a Canadian citizen born abroad. That resulted in an ID card which we then used to get a passport. Things may have changed of course, but worth a try on your own!

You don't need a lawyer. The paperwork for citizenship through a parent, both in Canada and the US, is pretty self-explanatory. Both my kids are dual US/Cnd citizens and we did all the paperwork ourselves. Save your money.

Assuming that your husband has Canadian citizenship because he was born in Canada, and assuming your daughter currently has U.S. citizenship and you're trying to get her Canadian citizenship too, you don't need a lawyer. Your daughter should be entitled to Canadian citizenship by virtue of being the child of a native-born Canadian, even if she was born here. You may want to just pay a visit to the Canadian consulate to talk to them about it. My Canadian-born, dual citizen husband was able to get our U.S.-born child a Canadian passport just by filling out a few forms. 

If my first assumption is wrong and you need a lawyer to get your daughter Canadian citizenship, then you probably want a lawyer in Canada, not here. In that case, you may want to talk to Cumming & Partners in Toronto (canada-usa.com). We're currently using them for help with my own Canadian immigration issues and they've been great. 

Hi there, I have an excellent immigration lawyer if you are interested but he's not in East Bay. He's in Vancouver, Canada and helped us get our US Visa to move here last year. We did everything online and conference calls. I've referred him to others and he's helped a lot of people. He also does an initial phone consult - no charge so may be worth seeing if he can help your case.