Would you allow this (passports)?

[Twinklebottom]

Apologies if this is a silly question - I’m not familiar with the laws around this so wondering if anyone has experience and can advise: I’m British and live in the UK with DH and our DC. DH is a dual citizen (British/Canadian) as one of his parents was born in Canada. His parents are encouraging him to get Canadian passports for our DC (who are 5&8) - I believe this can be done quite easily, but as a spouse I wouldn’t qualify.

Would it be unwise to allow my children to apply for Canadian passports when I can’t get one? Our marriage is good and I’d like to give my kids the benefits of dual nationality, but if anything did go wrong between me and DH, presumably there’d be nothing stopping him from taking them there without me. He’s a good dad and I trust him (as much as I can trust any man!) but I’ve seen friends’ “good” husbands unexpectedly turn on them and do extreme things, so feel it’s wise to be cautious.

I'm not sure why the canadian passport would make it easier for your child to be abducted. I would allow them to have it if they can have both why not? My children and I have 2 nationalities nad passports but husband doesn't nad is not bothered by it. He can't get our other nationality but is happy for the children to have it.

Don't see the issue.
I don't qualify for an Italian one, but my daughter has one. That doesn't make it any more likely that her father will abduct her.

Abductors abduct children not people with dual citizenship.

If they are entitled to a Canadian passport because they're Canadian citizens, travelling to Canada to visit relatives and explore their heritage will undoubtedly be easier on a Canadian passport.

If he is applying to have them registered as Canadian citizens by virtue of grandparents being Canadian, then again, why wouldn't you? The Canadian nationality laws may make it more difficult to be able to do that as an adult (I don't know, I only know about British Citizenship laws)

But tbh, if the first thing you think of at such a suggestion is that he'll abduct them, you might want to look at the relationship rather than the passport issue.

Well, only you know will be able to assess whether you're being overly anxious about this or not. If you're genuinely worried about this, to the extent that you would deny your kids their right to dual citizenship, I would look very hard at your relationship with their father and/or your own trust issues.
I'm mixed race but had to give up one country's passport as they didn't allow dual citizenship when I reached 18. In my childhood and adolescence, it gave me an emotional link to my parents' country of origin and my ethnic heritage, which I believe was a very beneficial thing to have.

Was DH officially Canadian citizen before their birth? I'm only asking because I had to apply for Irish citizenship before my children were born or else they wouldn't be eligible to go on the foreign birth register.

I'd get them it. Opens up more doors for them in the future. Presuming that DH wouldn't take them away.. I'd trust my DH.

Are you thinking of he flees to Canada with them,no one will stop him or make him come back? Whereas if he flees to Canada on British passports he won't be able to stay?

If he's Canadian they may automatically be Canadian, so it might just be a question of applying for passports rather than citizenship. It's not clear in the OP.

I am however now remembering with some misplaced humour the "I AM CANADIAN" thread in Classics.

One of my parents was Canadian, therefore I managed to get Canadian citizenship and passport. But because I was born here and so were my two children, I can't apply for citizenship for them. Think the rules changed in 2008. Happy to be corrected, but this was the case when I last looked.

So if he was born in the UK, and they were too, it might not be possible anyway

Allow is not the right word as he can apply for the passports if he wants. He's their father.

If they have Canadian citizenship and he wanted to abduct them to Canada if you were splitting up then he could just apply for them then.

I would suggest getting them early as it's easier to do. It's still a Hague convention country, and if you see the relationship going south and are concerned, as long as you k ow where the passports are you can hold the Canadian ones and they can continue to travel on British ones.

I was going to say this too. My DH was born in the UK and has British, French (maternal) and Canadian nationalities but our children would have to go and live in Canada for a (fairly short) period of time to be eligible for Citizenship.

I've tried to google for you but it's hard to find the answer.

However, given that Canada is part of the Commonwealth, I'd assume that reciprocal arrangements are in place re child abduction.

Thanks @BrioLover @bare - that is useful to know. And good point @SD1978!

Canada is a signatory to The Hague Convention.

DD has two passports and it's great for many reasons. Including different dates they run out so you never panic. We've often travelled on a selection of passports!

Thanks @ClematisRock - I agree it isn’t particularly clear!

From what you say, I’m assuming that they already are Canadian anyway by birth, from their father.
Whether your dh applies to get passports for them or not won’t change that.

Im not sure how you can ‘allow’ your dh to get Canadian passports for them tbh.
My dcs have dual citizenship. If my dh had told me that ‘he is allowing me to get that passport for them’ let alone ‘not allowing me to get that passport’,I’d have seen red. For the simple reason that this is part of their heritage, and always will be. Regardless of whether you are happy with it or not.

It’s a similar system for British born abroad. They can’t give their British citizenship to their children.

Yes- DH was born in Oz to UK born parents so has dual nationality- we’re planning on getting Aussie passports for our DC once our 2nd is born (you can do 2 on the same application which saves a bit of money/hassle sending docs twice etc).
I think its worthwhile to give DC options in later life.

Oh yes, my DH is entitled to Irish citizenship (all his extended family has already claimed theirs). I nagged at him to get it sorted before we had kids, but he did not get it done before DD was born 🤦🏻‍♀️ I've said he can be the one to explain why she's the only one of her cousins who isn't also Irish when she asks!!

I'm in the same situation, but with an American DH. We have gone for both passports because I think it gives them more opportunities.

My understanding is that the problem would arise if we were living in the US and then split up, because then it could be difficult to get my children out of the country. But we aren't planning to live there.

My DC have dual citizenship.- EU country.

I think if it is beneficial for their future, go for it.

If your marriage is solid, i would not worry about things like abduction.

Thanks for these replies. Managed to find some up-to-date info on Canada and apparently their “second-generation rule” means this won’t be possible for my DC anyway BUT the rule has very recently been declared unconstitutional so this may change. I think on balance it’s something I’ll support if it does become possible as it would potentially benefit my DC. My marriage is great, but I recently met a mother whose DH had taken their DC to “his” country and was refusing to bring them back and this had come as a total shock to her, so I think her story has made me a little paranoid!

I rushed out and got my children their dual passports - they are now required to up keep them to enter my birth country. I’ve estimated we’ve spent thousands on passport renewals I could have avoided if I had of waited until they were adults and could get 10 year passports

Oh, that's interesting, so there may be a possibility that they could get Canadian citizenship. TBH, I'm not sure it would make it any more/less likely for abduction purposes, but if I could get them for my children, I would. Mine are young adults now, so I'm really just looking at job opportunities etc.

It's Canada, not some middle eastern country.
No disrespect to middle eastern countries whatsoever, just a lot harder to have governments communicate about handing over abducted children.

In cases like Canada and UK, even if the worst possible scenario comes true, there are plenty of legal systems to get your children home safely.

What really intrigues me is why you would even deem your husband capable of something like that? Do you find yourself becoming paranoid easily?

I'm a dual citizen and my dc have two passports. I know you've said it's a moot point now, as you have found you can't apply, but there are good reasons to have more than one passport if you are eligible. For one, my children are dual citizens by birth (whether I applied for a passport or not), but they would not be able to travel to my home country on their British passports as dual citizens. Also, as I have citizenship, when I travel on my home country passport, it would likely flag up issues (potential trafficking) at the border because I'd be travelling with children with different passports into a country where they 'should' also have a passport. Also, having two passports is just really practical sometimes, personally I've travelled countries where a visa from one country would cause issues in another country. It means I can use one passport for one tricky country and the other for the other tricky country and neither causes me issues. But to answer your question, no, it was never any concern for dh that the 3 of us have two passports and he just has his British one. It's pretty standard when you have a parent who holds dual citizenship - even though administratively, it's a pain in the bum to sort out every time they are up for renewal.