Millions more Americans are eligible for Canadian citizenship after a new law was passed north of the border. The law, which took effect on December 15, opened up a pathway to claim citizenship by descent for anyone born before that date who can prove that they have a direct Canadian ancestor. Previously, citizenship by descent could only be passed down one generation. Under the new law, applicants can claim citizenship via a grandparent, great-grandparent, or even more distant ancestor. Since the change, Canada is experiencing an increase in applications from Americans now eligible to claim citizenship, as tensions between the neighboring countries continue to simmer due to President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to annex the country and turn it into the 51st state. A Washington-based immigration attorney who spoke to the Associated Press said that his practice was “pretty much flooded with this,” adding, “We’ve kind of shifted a lot of other work away in order to push these cases through.” Vancouver attorney Amndeep Hayer said his practice went from 200 citizenship cases a year to over 20 consultations a day, and he estimated that there are millions of Americans eligible for Canadian citizenship under the new law.
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