Pincher

Could anyone tell me what the rules are for being granted Canadian Citizenship? As I understood it, I would have to give up my UK citizenship and not have dual. Is this right?
My wife is Australian and does not want to surrender this. Could I be granted Canadian citizenship without my wife having to apply?

JAJ

Where on earth did you hear that you'd have to give up your British citizenship? The UK has generally allowed dual citizenship since 1949 (if your passport ID page says 'British Citizen' for nationality you are ok).

Your Australian wife can now take Canadian citizenship and keep her Australian citizenship. Australia's law in this respect changed more recently, only in 2002.

As for the rules, visit http://www.cic.gc.ca and click on the link for 'Citizenship' once in the main part of the site. If you're still living in the UK, then you likely need to immigrate to Canada first and wait three years.

Canada does not ask new citizens to surrender their old citizenship (and in fact never did, not even prior to 1977).

If you're in the UK, your Australian wife should consider applying for British citizenship herself before leaving (if she doesn't have dual) - http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk

Jeremy