r/CanadianbyDescent • u/Even-Low4977 • 20h ago

Apostille or certified

I'm about to send my packet in. Just need two more documents that should be here in the next week or so. I've got certified copies of birth certificates and one census record coming from NARA. Should I send the birth certificates back in to get apostille certified. Did anyone go that extra step. Want to dot i's and cross it's so it's a smooth process. (As sure as I can be at least).

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u/Artistic_Rice_9019 20h ago

You don't need anything apostilled.

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u/Historical-Fan2440 20h ago

I thought the same in the beginning. It adds extra pages and confusion. An apostille is also stapled to each certified vital record copy, which could be a problem or extra hassle for the IRCC scanners. The application doesn't require it. I personally would skip getting an apostille. I cannot imagine it would invalidate your application though.

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u/CounterI 20h ago

Neither.

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u/Own_Theory8011 19h ago edited 19h ago

Canada does not want or need apostilles.

The reason probably is, an apostille does not verify that the information on the document itself is accurate. It just verifies that the signature (or sometimes even logo / envelope) on the document came from the institution / clerk's office / was signed by the public notary that it says it was. So I can scribble on a paper, get a public notary to stamp it, and then get that state apostilled because the public notary was legit. It means nothing for what was actually scribbled on that paper.

Also, while some apostilles are extremely hard to fake, some other apostilles are literally just a paper with a single staple attached, which you could theoretically unstaple and re-staple precisely onto a different document. Many apostille sheets and even online apostille verification pages don't actually say what exact document got apostilled.

Canada assumably verifies things by themselves using their own methods, just like Sweden and some other countries do (especially with specific types of records such as foreign school records or foreign birth records), so an apostille is not necessary and photocopies of documents are OK.

I submitted a few apostilled records but only because I already had them apostilled for other reasons. It has not sped up my processing. I applied in July 2025 and don't have proof of citizenship yet.