Canadian Citizenship by Descent: A New Era for Americans

0:00It's April 23rd. This is Durham News today, local news powered by AI. A new Canadian law just flipped the script on citizenship by descent, making it way easier for millions of Americans to claim dual citizenship through. Grandparents or even further back ancestors. It kicked in on December 15th, 2025, and suddenly folks are digging up family trees like never before. Before this, citizenship only passed down one generation from parents a kid, but now anyone born before that date with a direct Canadian ancestor qualifies automatically. They just need to prove it for an official certificate. For those born after, parents got to show at least 1,095 days of residency in Canada. Americans are lining up for all kinds of reasons, from political vibes under Trump to job hunts and pure heritage pride. Immigration lawyers on both sides of the border say they're slammed, shifting everything else to handle the flood of applications. The fees is still at 75 Canadian dollars, about 55 US, and plenty are DIYing it with all

1:04mine tips instead of pricey attorneys, or genealogists. Processing takes around 10 months though, with 56,000 in the queue already, and from mid-December to late January, they approved one, 1,480 descent claims, not all American. Canadians mostly roll out the welcome man, but some grumble about folks was zero ties, jumping the line ahead of refugees. Still, last year alone, 24,500 Americans locked in that dual status, so this rush feels like the new normal of North.