jimmynoshoes

Thanks snowy, I stand corrected from my assumption

mjanovitz

Hi,

It was a while back for me, maybe 2002 or so, I didn't have to do an English test, I more or less wrote a covering letter with the application explaining that I had lived in the UK all my life, and my job and my wife's job required us to have a good knowledge of the English language. I guess they accepted it. My highest language qualification was O Level. Things could have changed since then though..
Mark

DigitalGhost

They have. It's now a compulsory part of the application process for PR. Most Anglophone countries waive the requirement for British applicants but Canada doesn't. It's been that way for the last 8 years or more.

mjanovitz

That would have been frustrating to have to do that and seems a stupid rule! Although does make me wonder home come there are so many people here that can't speak one of the two national languages.

DigitalGhost

I'm not going to lie, it's a pain in the arse. I had to do it last year and so did my SO although her first language isn't English. Tbh though, we took it on a university campus in England and most of the other Brits there seemed to be doing it for Australian immigrant visas if my eavesdropping was anything to go by. Aussie doesn't enforce English testing for British applicants but it seems as though a lot of people just take the exam anyway just for the extra points.

All foreign born spouses of Canadian citizens are exempt from taking language tests in Canada whereas they're not in the UK.

Siouxie

Not if they want Citizenship, lol. (unless they are over 55).

PMM

Hi

1, Actually for citizenship, you can get a letter from the school that you attended that the courses that you took the instruction medium was English, this sufficient for the language requirements for citizenship

DigitalGhost

Can you use a British degree for the same purpose? I should still have expired IELTS if and when I apply for citizenship but I'm just considering a 'just in case' scenario really.

Former Lancastrian

You may send a transcript, diploma or certificate showing that you graduated from a secondary school or from a post-secondary program in Canada or abroad. These materials must show that the program was in English or French. A single course in an official language is not enough to meet this requirement.

See the complete list of acceptable documents.

What documents can I use to prove that I meet the citizenship language requirement?

DigitalGhost

Thanks. As I said, assuming the rules don't change over the next few years then I should just be able to use my IELTS results anyway I think but that kind of info is always useful to have as a backup.