PR --> citizen (working outside Canada)
Feb 18th 2001, 6:32 pm
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Hello,
A friend works for a Canadian company and needs to be sent to States for at least 6
months, he wants to know if the time he spends in States is counted when he applies for
his Canadian citizenship. He has lived and worked in Canada for one and half years now.
I do not often read this newsgroup, to be safe, I'd really appreciate if you can send your
reply to my account directly ([email protected]).
Thank you very much in advance!
Ellen
A friend works for a Canadian company and needs to be sent to States for at least 6
months, he wants to know if the time he spends in States is counted when he applies for
his Canadian citizenship. He has lived and worked in Canada for one and half years now.
I do not often read this newsgroup, to be safe, I'd really appreciate if you can send your
reply to my account directly ([email protected]).
Thank you very much in advance!
Ellen
Feb 18th 2001, 7:39 pm
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Hi:
The rule requires that you are physically present in Canada for 1,095 days in a four year
period. Each day that you reside in Canada prior to obtaining permanent residence status
will be counted as one half-day.
If you do not have the required days of residence, you may be granted citizenship pursuant
to section 5(3) of the Citizenship Act, where the Minister of Citizenship exercises her
discretion to waive the residency requirement on compassionate grounds.
A citizenship judge will recommend a waiver where there is evidence that the immigrant has
established residence in Canada, and has maintained residence in Canada, notwithstanding a
physical absence, where the person has settled into or maintained or centralized his or
her ordinary mode of living with its accessories in social relations, interests and
conveniences in Canada:
For more information on obtaining Canadian citizenship go to
http://www.webimmigration.com/citizen.html
Yours truly, Ingrid Y. Chen, B.A., LL.B.
_________________________
Webimmigration.com, Embrace Opportunity 52 Dumbarton Blvd. Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada R3P
2C8 Tel: 1-204-943-3303 Fax: 1-204-895-4042 Email: [email protected]
> Hello,
>
> A friend works for a Canadian company and needs to be sent to States for
at
> least 6 months, he wants to know if the time he spends in States is
counted
> when he applies for his Canadian citizenship. He has lived and worked in Canada for one
> and half years now.
>
> I do not often read this newsgroup, to be safe, I'd really appreciate if
you
> can send your reply to my account directly ([email protected]).
>
> Thank you very much in advance!
>
> Ellen
The rule requires that you are physically present in Canada for 1,095 days in a four year
period. Each day that you reside in Canada prior to obtaining permanent residence status
will be counted as one half-day.
If you do not have the required days of residence, you may be granted citizenship pursuant
to section 5(3) of the Citizenship Act, where the Minister of Citizenship exercises her
discretion to waive the residency requirement on compassionate grounds.
A citizenship judge will recommend a waiver where there is evidence that the immigrant has
established residence in Canada, and has maintained residence in Canada, notwithstanding a
physical absence, where the person has settled into or maintained or centralized his or
her ordinary mode of living with its accessories in social relations, interests and
conveniences in Canada:
For more information on obtaining Canadian citizenship go to
http://www.webimmigration.com/citizen.html
Yours truly, Ingrid Y. Chen, B.A., LL.B.
_________________________
Webimmigration.com, Embrace Opportunity 52 Dumbarton Blvd. Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada R3P
2C8 Tel: 1-204-943-3303 Fax: 1-204-895-4042 Email: [email protected]
> Hello,
>
> A friend works for a Canadian company and needs to be sent to States for
at
> least 6 months, he wants to know if the time he spends in States is
counted
> when he applies for his Canadian citizenship. He has lived and worked in Canada for one
> and half years now.
>
> I do not often read this newsgroup, to be safe, I'd really appreciate if
you
> can send your reply to my account directly ([email protected]).
>
> Thank you very much in advance!
>
> Ellen
Feb 19th 2001, 1:50 am
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
"Ellen" wrote:
> A friend works for a Canadian company and needs to be sent to the States for at
> least 6 months. He wants to know if the time he spends in the States is counted when
> he applies for his Canadian citizenship. He has lived and worked in Canada for one
> and a half years now.
Maybe, maybe not -- and in this case, more likely not.
The current Citizenship Act does not strictly define what "residence" is for purposes of
being eligible to apply for citizenship. Although some people claim that "residence" means
only physical presence, and the responsible government agency (Citizenship and Immigration
Canada) reserves the right to challenge someone's eligibility if they haven't amassed a
full three years' worth of literal, physical presence, my understanding is that many
people DO manage to get citizenship even though a modest amount of their "residence" time
was spent outside Canada on vacations or business trips. There are also several court
cases in which the government was forced to accept citizenship appli- cations from people
who had spent time outside Canada.
On the other hand, the government is currently working on a major rewrite of the
citizenship law, which (if passed in its current form) will restate the residence
requirement to require a full 1,095 days of literal, physical presence in Canada. If this
bill gets enacted within the next year and a half (before your friend becomes eligible to
apply for citizenship), then his time spent in the US will NOT be applicable to his
three-year (1,095-day) residence requirement. The fact that he was outside Canada at the
behest of his employer will, unfortunately, not make any difference as far as the law is
concerned.
Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.webcom.com/richw/
*NOTE: I've lived in both Canada and the US and have dual citizenship.
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.
> A friend works for a Canadian company and needs to be sent to the States for at
> least 6 months. He wants to know if the time he spends in the States is counted when
> he applies for his Canadian citizenship. He has lived and worked in Canada for one
> and a half years now.
Maybe, maybe not -- and in this case, more likely not.
The current Citizenship Act does not strictly define what "residence" is for purposes of
being eligible to apply for citizenship. Although some people claim that "residence" means
only physical presence, and the responsible government agency (Citizenship and Immigration
Canada) reserves the right to challenge someone's eligibility if they haven't amassed a
full three years' worth of literal, physical presence, my understanding is that many
people DO manage to get citizenship even though a modest amount of their "residence" time
was spent outside Canada on vacations or business trips. There are also several court
cases in which the government was forced to accept citizenship appli- cations from people
who had spent time outside Canada.
On the other hand, the government is currently working on a major rewrite of the
citizenship law, which (if passed in its current form) will restate the residence
requirement to require a full 1,095 days of literal, physical presence in Canada. If this
bill gets enacted within the next year and a half (before your friend becomes eligible to
apply for citizenship), then his time spent in the US will NOT be applicable to his
three-year (1,095-day) residence requirement. The fact that he was outside Canada at the
behest of his employer will, unfortunately, not make any difference as far as the law is
concerned.
Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.webcom.com/richw/
*NOTE: I've lived in both Canada and the US and have dual citizenship.
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.
