Citizenship 🇨🇦
I don’t even know where to start. My feelings are still all mixed up — probably because getting here takes so long. It took us six years. Some people take longer, others get there sooner, but eventually you do arrive.
On December 12, 2025, we became Canadian citizens.
The funniest and at the same time unexpectedly pleasant thing is that after Covid I didn’t have a single acquaintance who went through the ceremony offline. No conversations, no other people’s experiences, no “how’s it going in general?” And so we were one of the first to be called. The ceremony turned out to be bilingual - later I read that there are purely English-speaking, purely French-speaking and mixed. Apparently, because Maxim and I had different languages in our applications.
As expected, obtaining Canadian citizenship begins with a queue. I always joke that they genuinely love standing in lines, so waiting almost an hour to enter the hall seemed quite logical. Then checking the documents, handing in the PR cards - and then it turned out that everything was organized so clearly that it was even a little confusing. To be honest, I was worried: I haven’t been to large official events for a long time, where it seems that there are some rules of behavior, but you don’t know them. But the alarm was in vain.
During the document check, we were immediately given seat numbers - we didn’t have to run into the hall, take chairs, or think about how to seat everyone so that they could be seen. Everything is thought out in advance. Even before the ceremony began, the organizers came up and gave us a special coupon for photography: since we were with children, we were given priority, without a long wait. We were seventh out of ten. Everyone was given flags and badges with a Canadian maple leaf - a small thing, but nice.
The ceremony itself took place in parallel in two languages and turned out to be surprisingly dynamic. To be honest, we waited longer than it lasted. The film, the oath, the invited guests - everything is quick, clear and without unnecessary solemn prolongation. Then we were given certificates, we signed the documents and went to take pictures.
In total, 79 people received citizenship on this day, plus about the same number of guests. The organizers said that 33 countries were represented - it turns out that almost every second came here from some other part of the world. And at the moment when they say “Welcome home” to you for the hundredth time, your eyes suddenly sting.
Now we still have to somehow get used to this thought. But the sensations are still very, very cool and unusual.