Cdn Citizenship & passport applications for children

I live in the UK and want to get Canadian citizenship certificates and passports for my two young children. I have all the forms and even the photos - but I want to know if I can send in both types of applications together. I have heard that this is possible. I emailed the Canadian High Commission in London but got an automated reply which was not at all helpful.

Does anyone here have experience doing this?

I did the same when I was living in Geneva - both our children were born there but two years apart, so I went through the process one child at a time but two documents for each. There was no problem, although the citizenship registration took longer because the certificate was printed in Canada and sent to Geneva, while the passport was issued in Geneva by the consular officer. In some ways it is efficient for you because you only need to submit the supporting documentation once. However, the handling of four different applications for two children from one set of parents may appear a bit complex at first for the consular assistant who first receives them. If at all possible, you might want to submit them to the High Commission in person to explain what you want, present all the documentation and determine if anything is missing. Mailing it in may be convenient for you but risks confusion at the other end. Good luck! John

Thank you for your comments!

I've actually just received an email from the passport office confirming that I CAN send all together but that the passports would be valid for just one year until the citizenship certificates come though.

I have not so much experience about this....but i know you can send both type of application...

Thanks...

I think the best approach to this depends on when you are travelling. If you happen to live in the UK and rarely go anywhere outside the UK it might be better to wait on the passport apps until you get the certificates, because as mentioned they limit the validity of the passports and new passports issued towards the end of 2011 will be valid for ten years (although I'm not sure how they'll handle young children).

Thanks for this post. I live in the UK and want to get Canadian citizenship certificates and passports for my two young children. I am unsure on the legal obligations, but I would think it would be best to travel with a passport.

Yo get passport you absolutely must have either a Cdn birth certificate, or their citizenship cards. The cards can take over a year, so you need to get started.
Proof of citzenship is one thing, but ability to travel usually requires a passport rather than a birth cert or citizenship card. A short-term passport will be useful for just that -- short-term. Any delay in travel will mean that the passport will be too short validity to be useful.
It is becoming more and more necessary for children to have passports wherever they travel, so you should be getting at least one of them for each. The easiest would be to get one for their birth country first.

No.