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It is important when applying for citizenship to prove that one has been a multi-year resident of Canada.

Some applicants go to great lengths to try to make such a case, as we’ve seen in the Metro Vancouver housing market, which is fueled by trans-national capital.

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However, one woman, Sogul Ghaffari, went further than most.

She convinced a citizenship judge that, even though she had barely spent any time in Canada, she should become a Canadian because she had left her son’s umbilical cord in the country.

The strange case was discovered by Richard Kurland, a prominent Vancouver immigration lawyer and an ace researcher. Kurland released details of the case today in his November newsletter, called Lexbase.

Kurland’s newsletter, which is often based on freedom-of-information requests, points out that upon review of Ghaffari’s case, the federal court in October overturned the earlier ruling of Ontario Citizenship Judge Angelo Persichilli.