Common Mistakes Parents Make Filing a Child's Citizenship Application
Parents filing a citizenship application for themselves and their children at the same time tend to make the same handful of common mistakes on a Canadian citizenship application for a child — almost always because it's natural to assume a child's file works the same way an adult's does. It mostly doesn't.
Mistake one: paying the adult fee for a minor
The standard adult citizenship fee is $653, combining the processing fee with the right of citizenship fee. A child under 18 has an entirely separate rate: $100, processing fee only. Families juggling multiple applications in one household sometimes default to the adult figure across the board, either overpaying or getting confused when the numbers on their receipt don't match what they expected. Check the fee schedule per applicant, not per household.
Mistake two: assuming a child has to sit the knowledge test
The citizenship knowledge test — 20 questions, a 45-minute time limit, a pass mark of 15 out of 20 — applies specifically to applicants between 18 and 54 at the time of signing the application. Children under 18 are exempt entirely. Parents sometimes over-prepare a child for a requirement that was never going to apply to them, or worse, delay submitting a child's application while trying to schedule a test slot that isn't required.
Mistake three: assuming the language requirement applies too
The same 18-to-54 age bracket governs the language requirement — proving CLB or NCLC 4 or higher in speaking and listening, in English or French. A child under 18 doesn't need to demonstrate this at all. This is a genuinely good-news mistake to avoid making in the wrong direction: don't spend time or money arranging language proof for a child who's exempt by age.
Mistake four: treating the whole family as one file
A household application can move through IRCC together, but each person in it — adult or child — is still assessed against their own applicable requirements. An adult in the same household still needs to meet the physical presence requirement, the language and knowledge thresholds if applicable, and pass the same prohibitions check that applies to every applicant regardless of age. Don't assume that because a child's file is simpler, the parents' file inherits any of that simplicity.
Mistake five: missing that the physical presence requirement still applies to children
Exemption from the language and knowledge test doesn't mean a child skips every requirement. The physical presence rule — 1,095 days within the five-year eligibility period before applying — still needs to be met for every applicant, including children, based on their own time in Canada. A child who arrived later than their parents, or who spent extended periods outside Canada with a grandparent, may have a different day count than the rest of the household, and that needs to be tracked separately.
The general fix for all five
Every one of these mistakes comes from applying assumptions built for the standard adult pathway to a case that has its own specific rules. The safest habit is to check each family member's requirements individually against IRCC's current eligibility criteria — age at signing and physical presence days — rather than assuming what applied to one applicant automatically applies to the whole household. Where a child's situation is unusual — split custody, time spent partly outside Canada, or documentation gaps — a licensed RCIC can confirm the file is built correctly before it's submitted, rather than after a delay flags the problem.