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Canada’s Ancestry Citizenship Law Sparks U.S. Application Surge, Delays Refugees

4/24/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Canada’s new citizenship-by-descent law, which lets descendants as far back as great-grandparents qualify, has triggered a wave of U.S. applications.
Immigration lawyers in Washington and British Columbia say their practices are flooded with cases, shifting resources to handle the demand.
Officials warn the surge could delay services for refugees and asylum-seekers, noting ten-month processing times and a backlog of over 56,000 applications.

History

Historical Context

President Lyndon Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act on Oct 3 1965, ending the National Origins quota and creating a family-preference system that spurred a surge in reunification visas. Decades later, Canada’s 2023 citizenship-by-descent reform redirected thousands of U.S.-eligible heirs to Washington firms and British-Columbia lawyers, straining resources already stretched by the act’s 120,000-annual Western-Hemisphere cap.

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Story summary

Canada’s new citizenship-by-descent law, which lets descendants as far back as great-grandparents qualify, has triggered a wave of U.S. applications.
Immigration lawyers in Washington and British Columbia say their practices are flooded with cases, shifting resources to handle the demand.
Officials warn the surge could delay services for refugees and asylum-seekers, noting ten-month processing times and a backlog of over 56,000 applications.

1 / 2