Martha Olsen Joyce: The Gift of Birthright Citizenship

Martha Olsen Joyce shares about her journey to obtain dual citizenship.

I recently became a Canadian citizen. More accurately: I claimed the Canadian citizenship that had been mine since birth. Born in the U.S. to a Canadian father, it turns out I have always been a Canadian. I learned this when I was trying to enter Canada at the tail end of pandemic border restrictions to finalize my father’s estate.

I had all the papers I was told I needed: his birth and death certificates, my negative COVID test, and a letter from the lawyer requesting my presence. That wasn’t enough to grant the special permission U.S. visitors needed at the time. I was rerouted to the windowless room in the Vancouver airport where a border services officer heard my story. 

After a two-hour, worry-filled wait, she found me in the plastic chairs and told me that after talking at length to officials in Ottawa, I would not be admitted based on the documents I was carrying. My heart sank. Then she smiled and said, “But I am going to let you cross because you are a Canadian.” Months later, I received the beautifully engraved certificate officially honoring my Canadian heritage. And thanks to a new law that took effect late last year, our daughters can also now claim this same birthright. It’s not that we don’t want to be Americans. 

We simply want to accept this precious inheritance. I have never lived or worked in Canada and possibly never will. In that sense, I haven’t given Canada much. But I’ve learned that in Canada, citizenship by descent is not transactional. It is a right. 

At a time when the United States is testing the meaning and limits of birthright citizenship, I have been thinking about the very gracious way dual citizenship came to me — both through where I was born, and to whom I was born. I’m grateful for Canada. I’m proud to be half Canadian. With a Perspective, I am Martha Olsen Joyce.

Martha Olsen Joyce is a technology marketing consultant, community volunteer and Masters swimmer. She and her husband live, work and play in Marin County.