citizenship
 

hi
i am currently a PR, i have heard so many different stories in regards to the length of time it takes to get it, from 6 months to 3 years!!!!! :eek:
what are peoples experiences???

Re: citizenship
 

You are eligible to apply if you have spent 3 years (1095 days) in Canada during the four years immediately preceding your application. Days spent residing here before becoming a PR can also be counted. It's all on the website.

That's probably not the question though.

I applied in mid-October of last year. I received the acknowledgement and study book in mid-March. That was about two months late; they had a backlog. The acknowledgement indicated that I could expect to wait 12-15 months from the date on the letter. A notice to appear for a test was sent to me on September 8th. The test is on the 22nd September. The paperwork says that if I pass the test, the citizenship ceremony will take place immediately. If all goes well, by this time next week I'll be a card-carrying Canuckistanian and my Mrs will finally get off my back.

Two things. Firstly, I don't think it is standard practice to have the ceremony the same day as the test (go look at the citizenship test discussion I started yesterday). I can only guess that where I am there will be so few people taking the test, they'll be able to process us all on the spot.

Secondly, there is an inconsistency between the March letter and eclient. The general rules say that you can expect to wait 12-15 months from receipt of the acknowledgement. Although the letter I got was dated in March, eclient has it down as being sent in October, ie when I sent in my application. I think the clock started ticking then, not in March.

Either way, it's been quicker than I expected.

Re: citizenship
 

I applied in spring this year and got the study guide, etc about two months later - it does seem to be going more quickly than I expect too :)

Re: citizenship
 

I bet you weren't surprised at the speed with which they cashed your application fee :)

I'm still pi**ed at that question about the North. Once I've got my card (ie they won't deport me) I'm going to exercise one of my fundamental rights as a Canadian.

I shall complain. I'll say sorry, obviously, but I'll complain.

Re: citizenship
 

I did the online payment bit, then sat on the application for three months ... I've nobody to blame but myself :o

Re: citizenship
 

Just bide your time. It'll not be long before you have the power to start DEMANDING. But in a nice way of course, and saying sorry after. :rolleyes:

Re: citizenship
 

We applied last October, since then 2 families who applied after us (one family applied in March!) have been for their tests, it is making me paranoid as we haven't heard a thing! sigh :(

Clare

Re: citizenship
 

How long it takes to get to the test and oath depend a lot on where you live. It takes longer in places like Toronto where there are lots of people applying. I am on the east side of Toronto, so it took about 13 months total. I applied on August 1 2004, got the book in January 2005, took the test on June 17 (about 10 days notice before hand), and finally got the oath notice in August for the 26th. When I took the test, they said it could be as much as 4 months before getting your score or oath notice. I never got a score, although I know I got all the questions correct, just the notice to show up for the oath ceremony.

You can check your status on e-client if you are wondering what is going on. It won't change for long periods of time but at least you will know when the letter is sent before you get it in the mail.
http://services3.cic.gc.ca/ecas/ECAS.jsp
You will need your PC card number or landing papers number to use this.

Re: citizenship
 

I think that the citizenship test is a travesty and I am sorry that anyone has to pass it. I have written a letter to the Prime Minister asking that it be abolished.

Re: citizenship
 

Surprisingly there are people who fail it. The only real purpose it serves is to get people to read the booklet about Canada they provide.

Re: citizenship
 

I can only see myself failing if I have a memory block and can't remember the name of my local MP. The other questions are almost unfailable if you've read the book.

There is a second real purpose to the test. It creates jobs for civil servants.

Did you know that the Portage complex in Hull contains the largest number of civil servants anywhere in the world, after the Pentagon?

I've done the Ottawa River boat trip. It shows, doesn't it?

Re: citizenship
 

Serious question Souv ( can i call you Souv yet? after all we have known of each other for 4 months now :D )
What are the advantages/disadvantages of becoming a citizen? other than being able to vote

Re: citizenship
 

Sadly if it weren't for the test, most would never read the book. So many of the non-English first language people who took the test when I did were VERY nervous and still studying before the test.

I have never been to Ottawa yet, maybe someday.

Re: citizenship
 

Souv? We are getting chummy :rolleyes:

Interestingly, souv is an anagram of vous, which is the formal version of you (as opposed to the informal tu).

Stops briefly to consider getting a life.

As far as I am aware, there are no advantages/disadvantages to taking citizenship, other than perhaps an easier ride at immigration next time I leave the country and come back again (which is in a few days' time). That and voting, which I certainly will.

I'm doing it simply because I want to. And because my wife wants it very much indeed. Cut her veins and you will see maple syrup, mixed with poutine.

Re: citizenship
 

LOL, Thanks old chum, i fully intend doing it as well in about 3 yrs time and like you, just because i want to. I have no idea what difference it will make though. maybe it will make me clever like vous tu

Re: citizenship
 

A bilingual pun! You should be living in NB, not NS. :)

Re: citizenship
 

Hubby rang CIC today (see what these posts prompt us to do) and were told we should here any day now. Hm, where is that book??

Clare

Re: citizenship
 

I have heard it said that one of the main advantages of citizenship is that you are no longer seen as a flight risk by employers.

Re: citizenship
 

Officially, in addition to giving you the right to vote, having Canadian citizenship means:

On the issue of passports, I don't suppose a Canadian passport is a big deal to British subjects. In my case my other choice would be a Swaziland passport. When I look at it that way, a Canadian passport looks very attractive indeed.

Speaking for myself, I can't imagine foregoing the opportunity to vote.

Re: citizenship
 

Becoming a Canadian citizen improved my husband's employment situation.

While he was still a PR he worked as a contractor for a consulting company that did work for an oil company. When we became Canadian citizens, my husband's colleagues took us out for a celebration lunch and gave us handsome leather passport wallets as gifts.

Within a few days the oil company offered my husband a permanent, full-time job -- for better pay than the consulting company was giving him and with benefits that the consulting company didn't give him. No one mentioned a word about his citizenship being a factor, but you didn't need to be the proverbial rocket scientist to see the connection.

Come to think of it, there is an irony in my typing a message on this topic just now. Even as we speak, my husband is attending the funeral of the oil company employee who offered him that job back in 1980. The man subsequently had a happy retirement and died at the age of 82.

Re: citizenship
 

You can work for the Canadian government, in most cases, even if you're not a citizen. Getting a permanent job with the government if you're not already "in" is a non-starter for most people, regardless of citizenship.

I believe that a few years back it was discovered that a federal government minister wasn't actually a citizen. Then again, Gagliano was a minister and later an ambassador, so anything can happen.

Re: citizenship
 

Thanks Judy, cowtown and last but definately not least.........Souv
I now have an insight as to what it means to have canadian citizenship.

Re: citizenship
 

That's a cute story. :)

It does reflect reality. My brother in law, who in seven years I have never heard utter a good word about anything or anyone, rang to congratulate me on taking the test. I haven't even done it yet; he was congratulating me on the fact that I was going to do it.

Funny old world.

Re: citizenship
 

You can also leave Canada for as long as you like and return when ever you like, and are not bound by the rules related to being a permanent resident. (You must live in Canada for two years in every five year period)

Re: citizenship
 

Don't forget that you also cannot be deported or refused entry to the country either.

Re: citizenship
 

You can be stripped of citizenship though. I think the circumstances have to be pretty unusual.

Re: citizenship
 

Yes, but that is a lot harder to do and more unsual and deporting a PR which happens pretty often.

Re: citizenship
 

People from the United Kingdom are British citizens, not British subjects.

There is still such a thing as a 'British subject' but it only applies to certain people connected with the Republic of Ireland or former British India before 1949.


Jeremy

Re: citizenship
 

Thanks for the clarification.

Re: citizenship
 

Even as a British citizen, I'm looking forward to travelling on a Canadian passport.

You get really "special" treatment travelling from Canada to the US on a British passport - I was given a big laminated card to hold (?) and escorted through airport security by my very own immigration official on my last trip to the US - meanwhile US and Canadian citizens just breezed through.

I get the feeling that not too many people with overseas passports cross the border in the prairies :rolleyes: