jkgtr

hello all, been a while since i last posted but a little intro. Name is John and i am a british expat now living in Canada as a PR under family sponsorship. It has been 2 years now and i am starting to think about citizenship application so my question to you guys in the know (assuming this has been asked a lot and there is a really helpful page someone could just link as a reply ) is what information should i have to hand for my application? apart from the record of landing and pr card that is

A little about my last 2 years here. I have not been working but a mix of part time and full time student over that time so no tax forms, any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks in advance for your help

John.

graham1710

All the info you need is here:

Canadian citizenship


One thing I would point out is that you need 4 years as a PR with the current rules to be eligible to apply for citizenship. There is a calculator on the CIC website that'll tell you when you're eligible. Bear in mind that any time spent out the country (e.g. vacation) doesn't count towards your 4 years. So if you've been out the country 2 months total, it'd be 4 years and 2 months. They also don't count any time before PR anymore (i.e. time on a temporary work permit).

Hope this helps,

Graham.

jkgtr

damn i didnt notice they put it up to 4 years, used to be 3 lol

graham1710

They also used to count temporary work permit days as half days! Would have helped for us if they still had that too!

There's a few extra requirements like it has to be within the last 6 years as well. Best read through that link as it fairly clearly spells it all out.

Graham.

beckiwoo

The new citizenship rules (currently the bill is going through parliament) are looking at allowing this and for it be 3 years out of 5 instead of 4 out of 6 years.

Time before on a TWP/study permit/IEC will count as half a day per day you were in Canada up to one year.

They should never have got rid of this IMO - stupid Harper!

jkgtr

thanks a lot folks.

lots of help

graham1710

They're planning to change it back? (Pretty sure that's what it was before the semi-recent changes). Is it basically a reversal? That'll be nice as we could apply quicker!

When you say the TWP days would count as a half day per day we were in Canada up to one year, can I clarify which of the following you mean:
1. 2 years on a TWP at a half day each, making one year total of full days
2. 1 year on a TWP at a half day each, making half a year total of full days

?

Any idea on timeframe for this one? It'd bring forward our potential application date! :-) Not sure what it'd normally take for this sort of thing to go through parliament and actually take effect at CIC.

Thanks,

Graham.

beckiwoo

I believe it is bill c24 that is being repealed.

There are some CBC articles about it on the web and when I landed the CIC agent also spoke to me about it when I asked so it pretty certain to go through.

So basically it means on a TWP that you need have been in Canada for 2 years under TWP to get 1 year towards citizenship - it will probably mean like PR that any time spent outside of Canada will not count towards citizenship.

I have 10 months towards it right now from being on an IEC

SchnookoLoly

This would be my assumption as well. Time outside of Canada as a PR has never counted towards citizenship. (I think the exception was if you were deployed... I think.)

Stinkypup

It is being repealed and needs passing in Senate- Likely to happen after the Summer recess.

beckiwoo

PMM

Hi


1. Civil Servants and Military, can claim service time outside Canada.

graham1710

By my (approximate) calculations, the changes would mean we could apply now, if they were in effect.

We have approximately 17 months from TWP time, giving 8.5 months.

We have almost 30 months from PR time.

That gives 38.5 months total within the last 5 years, which is perfect! Even discounting any vacations (which would only remove half days when on TWP), we'd still be at it. By the time we'd gathered paperwork, photos, etc. we'd 100% be ready.

At the risk of getting an answer that I find shocking, when is the summer break for MP's and Senate finished? I know it's likely a total stab in the dark, but would anyone have any idea when a likely time would be that it'd be ready at CIC?

Also, any ideas if the application and paperwork required is likely to change? I'm unsure if it was the same before this bill came in, so unsure if it has something to go back to. I'm wondering if I should spend time and effort getting the application filled out and paperwork ready. There is definitely some paperwork I imagine won't change that I could get ready. I can also hold off on photos as I know they need to be within 6 months.


This is exciting - I totally missed that announcement :-)

Graham.

SchnookoLoly

My husband is in a similar boat. He'll hit 36 months later this year, so if they change the requirements he'll be able to apply reasonably soon. Fingers crossed!

Stinkypup

Can't put an exact date on it- We too are waiting to submit our reapplication as soon as it gets through, now that we can speak English (apparently)