July 22, 2015

This Week’s Featured Success Story!

At Bellissimo Law Group we are privileged to work on behalf of many wonderful people, companies and associations. We represent people from the application stage to the Supreme Court of Canada. Every week we will be featuring a success story to offer some comfort to those who will soon embark on a similar journey …

Canadian Citizenship Granted on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds

A Canadian citizen entered Canada with his newborn, who was born in the USA via human reproduction technology. The parent had the birth certificate which indicated that he and his spouse, both Canadian citizens, were the legal parents of the baby. The newborn was allowed to enter without being given any status. Once in Canada, the parents applied for a citizenship certificate for the baby as they believed she was entitled to it given their status as Canadian citizens. About one year later, they were advised that their application was put on hold until the “new policy has been developed”.

In the circumstances, with the help of our office, a Temporary Resident Permit was requested and granted. An application was then filed for permanent residence on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds. This was also approved and she became a permanent resident of Canada. Subsequently, our office requested that the child be granted Canadian citizenship under subsection 5(4) of the Citizenship Act – based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Over 5 years after she arrived in Canada, a decision on the initial application for the Citizenship Certificate as a child of Canadian citizens was made: it was refused. Our office made another application for citizenship, as a child of a Canadian parent (section 5(2) of the Citizenship Act). After many complications, the application was approved and the girl, now 6 years old, was just recently granted Canadian citizenship. Finally!