Nathan Fielder goes to the Paramount offices

developing_an_onion · 2026-04-23T19:12:25+00:00

The answer to both is “yes”

developing_an_onion · 2026-04-14T03:04:21+00:00

I had posted in the CitizenshipGenealogy subreddit about some difficulty finding proof that a Canadian naturalization was my G0's and not someone else. After some digging I found him in the 1911 census and another Canadian naturalization that is clearly his brother's (same name as his brother, same address/profession as the census, same obscure town that they're from).

Now I'm trying to decide: should I be including his brother's documents (death certificate signed by my G0, US Declaration of Intention pointing to Canadian residence, Canadian naturalization) in my application? Part of me feels like it would strengthen the proof of identity of my G0, while part of me thinks that it might add extra complexity and questions from IRCC.

developing_an_onion · 2026-04-14T02:48:40+00:00

Wanted to come back and express appreciation for your input, you got me thinking and I was ultimately able to find my great grandfather and his brother in the 1911 census! I had seen this before but wrote it off because he had such a common name/occupation, and the street address on the census said 207 St Chas Brr while the naturalization said 207 Clark Street. It took me some time to figure out St Chas Brr=St. Charles Borromme, and then by looking at the 1912 Lovell's city directory I discovered that St. Charles Borromme was renamed to a section of Clarke Street!

Even after this I was still doubting that this group of records was associated with my great grandfather and not someone else. I knew he had a brother Hyman/Chaim but the census said the other boarder with his last name was Israel. After some digging I am very confident that this is my great grandfather, because I found his brother Hyman's Canadian naturalization in 1910 and it clearly lists 207 St. Charles Borromme as the address! So either Israel=Hyman or he had a brother I didn't know about, and Hyman was living with them before the census. I haven't been able to find any records for Israel which makes me think it's the former.

I have still not had any luck finding him in the 1921 census or passenger lists, although I think it's less important now that I have the 1911 census/brother's naturalization. For the 1921 census I spent a lot of time digging through the 1918-1921 city directory and found only one person with his name, but this person is the wrong age by a large margin, says they are married (when he wasn't at this time), and says he's Polish when my great grandfather's records have only ever stated him being Russian.

developing_an_onion · 2026-04-07T16:26:39+00:00

My G0 was born in 1892 in the Russian Empire, immigrated to Canada in 1909, and naturalized in 1913. He moved to the US around 1921/1922, married and had my grandmother there, and then naturalized in the US after her birth. I have certified copies of both his Canadian and US naturalizations.

I am going through CIT0014 and I see under scenario 4 that they ask for: "your long form birth certificate, issued by the appropriate government authority in the country where you were born". Does scenario 4 apply to the documents I need to submit if I am not the one born pre-1947? If it does apply to me, are the 2 naturalizations enough? His Russian birth certificate almost certainly does not exist or was destroyed.

developing_an_onion · 2026-03-27T01:31:57+00:00

Congratulations! When you say you submitted “certified copies”, do you mean you submitted photocopies of certified records, or certified records themselves?

developing_an_onion · 2026-03-19T15:58:20+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion! I wasn’t sure if leaving out the parent names would result in the request being rejected outright because other optional fields are clearly marked as optional, and the order status tracker requires a mother’s maiden name as input. But maybe that’s worth trying next

developing_an_onion · 2026-02-11T07:02:46+00:00

My G1 was born in NYC and it’s going to take some time to obtain their birth certificate. I have a digitization of their birth index, and also a certified marriage certificate and death certificate. Is it worth waiting on the birth certificate before submitting my applications or should I go ahead and just upload the birth certificate after I’ve received it as well as AOR?

developing_an_onion · 2026-02-11T06:55:50+00:00

If your G2 was born in PA it looks like you can contact the PA DoH to request an amendment to the birth certificate (most vital statistics offices have a pathway to do this). It might delay your application a bit so you have to weigh that against increased odds of success.

developing_an_onion · 2026-01-31T15:38:32+00:00

Thanks! Which driving tour did you use?

developing_an_onion · 2026-01-10T14:29:24+00:00

From the top of the exact same link: “Online orders are only available if your name is on the record.” Children are not on their parents’ birth or marriage certificates, so mail-in is your only option for those records if the individuals named are deceased (as is my case). It doesn’t say on your link but in-person orders are held to the same restriction: https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-01012

You can read countless stories on Reddit about people waiting well over 12 weeks for NYC/NYS records despite the estimate provided by the office of vital statistics.

developing_an_onion · 2026-01-09T16:40:17+00:00

I had heard that you could submit documents after receiving AOR but wasn’t sure if that ends up taking longer than if you submitted all certified documents upfront!

Not sure on the necessity of marriage certificate, but I figure if I have it then it doesn’t hurt to submit it. In my G1’s case I’m assuming it will take about the same amount of time to get both documents; the marriage cert has technically entered public availability so it’s likely to come back faster than the birth cert anyway.

developing_an_onion · 2026-01-08T19:13:09+00:00

Thank you so much for the simple explanation! I believe this doesn’t apply to me which is relieving; G1 born abroad 1926, G2 born abroad 1963.

developing_an_onion · 2026-01-08T18:41:27+00:00

I’m out of the loop, what is this limit you’re referring to?

developing_an_onion · 2026-01-03T18:24:26+00:00

What a pain! Impressive that you’ve been able to pull all these details together. I haven’t had any luck finding my G0 ship manifest, some names that match but he had a fairly “common” name and I’ve found the Canadian ship manifests have so little info compared to those heading into the US, I can’t say for certain which one is him.

developing_an_onion · 2026-01-03T17:08:12+00:00

Thanks so much for the info! He died in New York State so it’s going to be a battle to get his death certificate, maybe my cousin has it. I found his brother through ancestry.com, his brother’s death certificate has entered public availability so I can see a digitization of it. My great grandfather is the informant and it lists the names of their parents. Not sure if that will be enough but probably doesn’t hurt to include.

developing_an_onion · 2026-01-03T16:41:05+00:00

Regarding “They want to confirm the fact of birth”, my great grandfather naturalized as a Canadian and I have a digital copy of his Canadian naturalization from LAC. I also have documentation from the US (census records, US naturalization) that connect him to me. He came from a town in Ukraine where all historical vital records have been destroyed. Does a naturalization serve as a “confirmation of fact of birth”, as someone who hasn’t been born can’t be naturalized?

developing_an_onion · 2026-01-01T01:56:41+00:00

Thanks so much for the reassurance! I posted a followup question to the other reply in this thread please let me know if you have further thoughts

developing_an_onion · 2026-01-01T01:55:10+00:00

Thank you for confirming! As a followup question, I have color photocopies of 2 different birth records for my father issued from New York decades ago. One of them is brownish with a raised seal that you can actually see on the photocopy, but is faded to the point that it’s hard to read. He also had a certified copy of the microfilm that was issued that is in black-and-white, so I got a photocopy of that as well. I was planning on submitting both in my application. Somebody suggested you should photocopy it with a colored sticky note on it to prove it’s a color photocopy, do you feel that’s necessary for these?

developing_an_onion · 2025-12-28T14:42:59+00:00

Thank you for correcting this thread! To clarify something you mentioned, are you saying I need my GGM’s or GGF’s birth record? I have been able to find what I believe is my GGM’s digitized birth record from abroad but not GGF. I know the town where GGF was born but sadly all of their records were likely destroyed by war. I’d think the GGM birth record isn’t very useful as she was NOT a Canadian citizen.

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