Returning to Canada after years abroad

Hi everyone, I just discovered this forum and I wonder if anyone here could give me some information about my situation.

I was born in Canada to landed immigrant parents and lived there until I was about 8 or 9 years old. I even once had a (now-defunct) Canadian passport. However, my whole family then moved and has lived abroad since, for the last 11 years. I now hold a passport of my new home country (which was my parents' original nationality; so I could get citizenship by descent). Because of my background I technically have two citizenships, one Canada (by birth) and the other of my current home country. However, in the next few weeks I am planning to visit Canada again for a few days for holiday. My question is, do I need to apply for a Canadian passport? Or will it suffice for me to take my current non-Canadian passport + my birth certificate? Or do I need to apply for a normal tourist visa using my current non-Canadian passport? This last option would be very troublesome for me.

Incidentally, my parents also are planning to holiday with me, but they actually have Canadian citizenship certificates in addition to their non-Canadian passports. Will they be allowed to enter with just those documents?

Thanks in advance for any useful info.

canada does not care if you enter canada with another passport. It is your actual passport which is your travel document, so it is doubtful that the airline will let you travel without visa. This applies to all of you.

If you have a Canadian citizen certificate or a birth certificate apply for the Canadian Passport. That is the only legel document that will be recognized at the border. Talk with someone at your "local" Canadian embassy - that is what they are for. They will give you the correct information. Do not rely on some advice from a "forum".

I once travelled to Canada on my UK passport and honestly, it can be a bit of a chore at customs. I would get a passport at the Embassy but if you can't it should be alright.

The poster is going on holiday, people. he does not need a Cdn passport to go to canada on holiday. My son goes on holidsy to canaf 4 5 times a year on US passport without question.

If posters wants to get a visa, then he can get a visa. But without a Cn passport, he will need the visa.

canada recognizes passports and visas from all over the world, folks.

I'm aware that the airline might forbid me to travel, but I'm planning to enter Canada by land from Seattle, so that shouldn't be a problem. It's only the immigration people at the border which might be a concern. Will they let me enter with a birth certificate and a non-visa foreign passport?

(If the foreign passport had already been visaed, then there wouldn't even have been any problem for me at all. But I think it's way too close to the date of travel to apply for a tourist visa - and besides, I plan to return to Canada someday permanently to live there, so this problem will crop up again anyway).

As for asking my local Canadian embassy, frankly speaking I tried and it didn't help much. The person who answered my call was a local (I know this by accent), not Canadians. She implied that because I didn't have a Canadian passport I am not a Canadian, which seems to me pretty absurd. You get the citizenship first, then the passport. Not the other way around. Even worse, the visa information center officer also told me that it would take one entire year for me to obtain a Canadian passport, because I'm "not a Canadian"...which seems ridiculous. I never renounced my Canadian citizenship. I know that to do that you need to apply!

I think that the reason for this kind of reply was that in my home country, double citizenship isn't recognized by the government. So I kind of keep it secret (and haven't really had a need to "use" my Canadian citizenship until now), and when something like this happens it creates thorny issues. So even if I have to create a Canadian passport I'll probably try to apply for it in Seattle or somewhere else...

I thought I answered that: NO! You need a visa with your foreign passport, or you need a Cdn passport.

Are you going to sit for 2 months in seattle waiting for passport? seems to me you should just get visa.

The info you got at the embassy seems a little contradictory. If you have a Cdn birth cert, you can get a Cdn passport. If you ahve a Cdn cit card you can get a Cdn passport. the Cdn cit card takes time, but otherwise, getting a passport, regardless of country, takes no morre than 2 months -- but no less than a month either.

I thought I answered that: NO! You need a visa with your foreign passport, or you need a Cdn passport.

US requires a visa too, so I trusdt you have this?

Are you going to sit for 2 months in seattle aiting for apssport? seems to me you should just get visa.

The info you got at the embassy seems a little contradictory. If you have a Cdn birth cert, you can get a Cdn passport. If you ahve a Cdn cit card you can get a Cdn passport. the Cdn cit card takes time, but otherwise, getting a passport, regardless of country, takes no morre than 2 months -- but no less than a month either.

I thought that you answered that the airlines wouldn't allow me to travel. I understand that; even the Canadian government website said that. However, it never said even anything close to that the Canadian authorities would reject my entry if somehow I could get to the border. Would they just reject me? They should know that on the basis of that birth certificate that I'm a citizen right?

Yes, I have a US visa issued to my foreign passport (nationality). But does it really take 2 months to get a Canadian passport? You mean if a Canadian lost his passport somewhere in the world he would have to wait for two months? When I was in Canada my childhood passport took only days to make. Even in my country, a developing country rife with corruption, bribes, and a ton of red tape, a new passport would take no more than two weeks to make.

"If posters wants to get a visa, then he can get a visa. But without a Cdn passport, he will need the visa." Sounds like the answer to me.

You are not in canada, and even in canada, it takes at least 2 weeks, unless it is an emergency.

You cannot get a Cdn passport while in US unless you live in US, so forget that.

You've already expressed a reluctance to deal with your embassy, for whatever reason, so who cares how long it would take in your bribe-ridden country? But even if you do, it takes time -- ask them.

You need passport -- which is a travel document -- to enter canada. If you could use your birth certificate -- which is not a travel document -- so could I, or make one up. That is why it takes time to get a passport: verification of documents.

Times have changed since you were a kid. Its been 4 days now: have you applied for visa or passport yet?