Ottawa moves to help Canadians regain citizenship

The federal governmenthas set up anew systemtorestore citizenship quickly topeople who have discovered they are no longerCanadians because of a little-known section inthe law.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada on Friday added a new optionto its hotline, 1-888-242-2100, specifically for people who wish to regain their Canadian citizenship in a hurry.

Hundreds of people, hoping to obtain passports last week so that they could fly to the U.S. under new travel requirements, found outthat their Canadian citizenship had expired years ago.

"We have shifted resources to deal with the issues that have arisen," Lisa Borsu, spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada,told CBC News Onlinefrom Ottawa.

"It's to helppeople regain their citizenship."

If people call the hotline,then press option six, they will be able to talk to an agentwho will take their information and verify that they needdirect helpto regain Canadian citizenship.

Within 24 hours, Borsu said, another agent from the federal department will phone back to process their application to restore citizenship.

Borsu said Citizenship Canada is working with Passport Canada to ensure the applications are handled quickly.

As of Jan. 23, 2007, Canadians need a passport to fly to the U.S.

The citizenship problem surfacedlast weekwhensomepassport applicantswere informed that their chance to remain Canadian expired years ago.

According to Citizenship Canada, some Canadians born abroad are expected to take action before their 28th birthday to confirm their Canadian citizenship. If they fail to do so, under section 8 of the Citizenship Act, they are no longer considered to be Canadians.

The law applies to people who are part of second and subsequent generations born outside of Canada, not to all Canadians born abroad.

Health care, old age security not affected: minister

Citizenship Minister Diane Finley said in a Jan. 24 statement that thegovernment will make certain that the provision will not affect health care or old age security coverage.

"I will use the powers available to me as minister under the Citizenship Act to resolve these cases as quickly as possible. I have directed my department to deploy the resources necessary to do so," she said.

"While these cases are being reviewed, these individuals can rest assured that they can remain in Canada."

Borsu said the special line at the call centre has received1,788 callssince it was set up last Friday but only178wereaboutlost citizenship.

"In the vast majority of cases, we were able to reassure our callers that they had not losttheir citizenship," she said.

Only a handful of calls neededto be referred to the department forfurtherreview, she said.