Biiiiink

I don't think there would be any way to discriminate against naturalised Canadians - surely the same rules would apply to all citizens? But we don't know what's proposed anyhow...

Lees147

Australia is as soon as you get out there and takes 18months according to a guy i work with.
He was lucky cause he got his citizenship just before he was ordered back here.

northernbird

Australia has recently changed from 2 to 3 years residence before citizenship.

JAJ

Prior to about 1967, naturalised Canadians who lived outside the country for more than 10 years could lose Canadian citizenship if they did not file a Declaration of Retention.

The United Kingdom had a similar rule (repealed 1964) as did Australia (repealed 1958). The Australian rule led to an interesting case a few years ago concerning whether a naturalised Australian who had effectively been trapped in Albania from 1949 to his death in 1973 lost his citizenship or not:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/c...2000/1302.html

JAJ

That's wrong on both counts.

JAJ

It hasn't changed yet. But the proposal before parliament is now to go to 4 years, not 3.

northernbird

sorry JAJ thought it had already changed.

JAJ

What have the rules for maintaining permanent resident status got to do with citizenship?

britishvixen21

Thats the conservatives for you anti immigrant, anti gay, anti education!!! I know the Liberals were thiefing gits but at least they realised that what makes Canada work is its immigrant population.

If they did take it away i would seriously have to think about where i wanted to be. I definatly dont want to give up my British Citizenship I know that for sure. I love Canada to bits, But i cant ever say that I might not want to go home at some point.

MarkG

Um, because lots of people take on Canadian PR as a residency of convenience, and then if they later can't get citizenship in America or wherever they really wanted to live, they can convert that to Canadian citizenship before they go back home?

The whole Canadian system says 'apply here if you're not really serious about moving to Canada but just want to use us as a backup if you can't go where you really want to go'. The 2 out of 5 years rule should have been scrapped long ago; I believe you lose residency in most countries if you leave for more than six months.

JAJ

It doesn't help that CIC continue handing out residency to "skilled migrants" who have no chance of a skilled job in Canada because their qualifications are not recognised.

That's not true in Australia or New Zealand.

Lees147

The trouble with this sort of concept is that (especially in my industry) highly skilled people move to australia on a transfer and are subsequently called back because of a skills shortage. I work with someone at the moment who has been flying between Eng & Aus for the last 5 years because he is one of 2 people in this country who can actually do what he does. It is a bit unfair to say to someone no you cant work like this get out of our country when he is so valued over in Australia as well.

MarkG

Indeed: the whole system is broken.

eocallaghan

Time to throw my tuppence in...

1. I know of a number of Lebanese (resident for years here) who went to Lebanon after the conflict to check on relatives and came back.
2. Did these folks skew the numbers? Did rescued Lebonese who returned and subsequently came back here also skew the numbers? I have not seen any detailed analysis on this yet.
3. Is this "abuse" one-off (in the case of this conflict) or is it systemic.
4. The Canadian governments official repatriation policy is that any costs must be reimbursed, in this case they made an exception on humanitarian grounds.
5. How would those who returned to Lebanon survive assuming that it was impossible to plan ahead, i.e. get cash together, organize a job, etc..?

I'm not saying that there should not be a review (what the results would be is pure speculation at this point), I just think that we do not have all the details, we merely have a summary of facts (could do with some investigative journalism here media!).

Regarding some earlier posts:

The 2/5 rule only applies to immigrants with PR who are not resident in Canada but want to retain their PR status. They have to be resident in Canada for a total of 2 out for the last 5 years just to keep their PR, if not they're deemed to have abandoned their PR status and would have to start the process from scratch should wish to come to Canada again.

For CITIZENSHIP an immigrant in required to have PR status AND have been resident in Canada for a total of 3 out of the previous 4 years before they can apply.

In my case I came to Canada on a WP in late 2001, applied for PR in early 2004 (still waiting) and when I get PR I'll have to wait a futher 2 years (because I've resided here under a WP I can count .5 day for every day up to a max of 1 year) before I can apply for Citizenship. The application for Citizenship currently takes approx. 1.5 year.
All told I'll have been resident in Canada for about 7 years before I'm granted Citizenship. For someone who landed in Canada with PR they would have Citizenship in approx. 4 -5 years.

Hopefully commonsense will prevail with this review. There are economic advantages to Canada having dual citizenship holders. For those of us who hold an EU passport it makes business travel to 25 countries in Europe so much easier and many more reasons beside. If I'm a Citizen and I live, work and pay taxes here then I expect to have exactly the same rights as a Canadian born Citizen. I don't really think that's unreasonable.

Personally I would hate to think that for one possible mass abuse that I would have to renounce something that has been a hugh defining part of me for almost 30 years. I really love it here and look forward to when I'm granted citizenship and can participate fully in this great country.

Andrew Miller

Jeremy,

This entire thing about foreign qualifications not being recognized in Canada is greatly overblown.

First - we, just as every developed country (including Australia) and many developing countries, have standards and licensing/registration system for regulated occupations. So, everybody who has intention to work in Canada in regulated occupation should be prepared to pass relevant exams and meet other requirements to be allowed to practice his/her occupation in Canada.

Second - government cannot force employers (including government employers) to hire anyone. It is a free economy and free labor market. Any employer when having a choice between candidate with good language/communication skills and candidate with moderate or lower language skills but with similar level of qualifications required for the job will make an obvious choice. So, requiring good langage skills for PR application is absolutely essential. There are some (although not as widely spread as some posters led to believe) instances when certain jobs require experience performing same or similar job already in Canada - and again, when employer needs someone with such Canadian experience and has candidate who fits criteria then such employer will not hire new immigrant, no matter what. This new immigrant will have to take a lower level job to gain required experience if s/he really wants to get later that "dream" job. And the same will happen in Australia in similar circumstances.

Third - too many falsely believe that education credentials are the most important factors when looking for the job. It applies mostly to immigrants from India, Pakistan and alike, where having for example a degree of railroad engineer is a guarantee (or at least used to be) of a good job and good salary. Such credentials may be worth a lot in India, Pakistan or even Russia where degree is still more important than skills, but not in Canada. Degree won't guarantee a job - it is skills and relevant to job in Canada work experience what counts.

There are some immigrants (but not thousands as some claim) who have half a dozen or so of various degrees (including PhD) but cannot find job in their field in Canada - the reason in 90% of those cases is that they have a degree in field that has absolutely no demand for in Canada. No government (including in Australia) will guarantee or create job for such immigrant simply because s/he has a degree. It is potential immigrant who must do the research and find out what his/her chances for job in Canada are - PR Card is not a guarantee for any job.