'Lost Canadian' finally recognized as citizen

"Last Updated: Friday, April 20, 2007 6:54 PM PT
CBC News "

Photo: Barbara Porteous was presented with a certificate of Canadian citizenship by a judge during a ceremony near her B.C. home.(CBC)

A B.C. woman who had lived most of her life in Canada, only to suddenly discover she was not a Canadian, was officially sworn in as a citizen on Friday.
Wearing red and white, Barbara Porteous was presented with a certificate of Canadian citizenship by a judge during a ceremony near her B.C. home.

"There are a lot more people out there. I'm only one," she said, referring to others sharing her predicament.
Born in the U.S. to a Canadian father, Porteous has lived in Osoyoos for the last 46 years and even worked as a returning officer for Elections Canada.
Last year, she learned her status as a Canadian ended decades ago because of an obscure provision in the Citizenship Act, a little-known law that applied between 1947 and 1977.
The law states that if you lived outside Canada on your 24th birthday and failed to sign the right form, you automatically lost your citizenship.

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n.b. I would like to mention here that this problem runs both directions. I was born in Canada to a US mother and was in NY by the time I was 6 months, attended kindergarten in NY and in Wyoming and periodically lived or visited in the US but lived most of my life in Canada.

I understood as a child/teen that my US citizenship would end when I was 18 if I was in Canada on my birthday -- and vice versa. I also understood that if I were to vote in either country I would have to renounce citizenship for the other.

I learned in 1999 that these were erroneous and when I talked to the US consul in Vancouver in 2000 he said I could easily move back to the US, establish proof of citizenship with my mothers birth certificate and my school records and get my SSN.

On my arrival in 2003 I discovered it was not that simple. I did get my drivers license and my SSN but was turned down on the passport. I was told I was not a citizen -- no other details. I applied for a certificate 'proof of citizenship' through CIS and after 18 months my application was finally approved.

In the US there is a law stating that Citizenship is lost if you were not physically in the US between the ages of 17 and 24. However, this can be corrected by taking the oath. I believe this is also affected by your year of birth and it did apply to me. Makes me wonder if it would have made any difference if it had been me that came down to Arizona with dad in 1970 instead of Juanita.

My struggle to get proof of US citizenship lasted from April 2003 to March 2006. I am not the only one facing this problem in the US. The good news is that once I cleared the hurdles and got us into the computers it has been easier for other family members.

Wendy