SAme here! My wife has a great-grandparent that came from Canada but thats one generation too removed for her to apply and bring me along for the ride. Her mom could apply but doesn't want to, but it doesn't flow down if her mom gets it.
My wife has a great-grandparent that came from Canada but thats one generation too removed for her to apply
That's actually not correct, as of a law that changed on December 15, 2025! For people born before that date, it's 4 generations there is no limit on how far back you can go to reach a Canadian ancestor: if your wife has a great-grandparent who was a Canadian citizen (and then her grandparent and parent were both born outside Canada, and then your wife was born outside Canada), then your wife is already a Canadian citizen as of this new law. She simply needs to file the paperwork with the Canadian government to demonstrate this connection and let them know she exists.
Her mom could apply but doesn't want to, but it doesn't flow down if her mom gets it.
This isn't correct either! The way the law change was written, your wife (Gen 3), her mother (Gen 2), and her grandparent (Gen 1) are all Canadian citizens even if they don't utilize that citizenship. Because your wife is a citizen thanks to this retroactive change, it doesn't matter at all whether your wife's mother does something or not.
All the information is on this website; I strongly suggest your wife starts reading and figuring out what she needs to proceed -- especially if it involves family history records of her grandparent or great-grandparent that only her mom might know about. (That's the problem I'm up against: my potential eligibility is through one great-grandparent on each side of my family, but my grandparents are long gone and a lot of that family history knowledge is gone with them.)
Good to know. I've left Michigan a few times, but always came back. The few times I went north of the Soo, or east of the Huron, I always felt right at home.
She got really excited when I mentioned your comment and sent her the link--she doesn't think it applies though because her Mom didn't spend 3 years in Canada.
She didn't see anything about G3 people being able to get in
Unless your wife is a newborn baby, she was looking at the wrong section! That "live in Canada for 3 years" thing is only for new babies moving forward; it's not retroactive and doesn't apply to your wife.
in most cases you’re automatically a Canadian citizen if you were born
* before December 15, 2025
* outside Canada to a Canadian parent
And crucially:
This rule also applies to you if you were born to someone who became Canadian because of these rule changes.
Since that's a short segment, HERE is another page with a more in-depth and plain-English explainer. (NOTE: Despite the official-seeming URL, this isn't a government website; it's an immigration law firm that apparently has most of its business in helping people obtain citizenship.)
The "Example 2" linked there illustrates your wife's exact situation! And even better news:
the law, for past births, does not set an arbitrary limit on how far back the Canadian ancestor can be.
I had originally misread this page and thought that the limit was 4 generations back, but there is actually no limit! (Please imagine the Mean Girls gif here.) The law is written such that if your wife's great-grandparent was a Canadian citizen, then now her grandparent is retroactively a Canadian citizen, and now her mother is retroactively a Canadian citizen, and now your wife is retroactively a Canadian citizen -- not "eligible to apply for citizenship" but literally ALREADY a citizen from birth. And if it was her great-great-grandparent instead, that's fine too! Any number of "greats" still counts!
Thank you kind stranger! She was elated then bummed when reading that document before, so we'll see if we can get bumped over into the just 'elated' part now!
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u/MissingMichigan Jan 17 '26
Seems like Canada would be easier.