blu_rays

Hi All,

I have a question about the PR status and eligibility for citizenship after applying for citizenship.

I landed in Canada in late 2005, Got hit really hard by the crappy crunch in 2008, lost job, time, money. Had to sell my lovely house and decided to try my luck in UK. I am in IT so I got a bit lucky. I still want to live in Canada if I possibly can and keep trying it. I worked in the UK for 6 months and went back to Canada and stayed there for a year and a half again. As my three (out of last four) years were complete so I applied for citizenship. Three months ago was offered a job in Victoria BC but I guess the credit crunch got the better of it again. They hesitated in making the offer and sometime later I found out that the company was closing down their offices there because of the slow down. I have managed to find another small contract in UK for the time being. I got the letter of my papers reaching CIC just a month ago when I was still in Canada.

Anyway, my situation is that I will have lived outside of Canada for more than 3 years in early 2011. The time lines stated on the letter for the whole process mean that I will come very close to have lived out of Canada to loose my PR status by the time my application is processed. I have also heard stories that if one is out of the country then the CIC can drag the application for long. Is this correct?

How will my eligibility for citizenship be effected in case I have lived outside of Canada for more than 3 years before I get a reply for the written test or oath etc? As mentioned earlier I have completed the required period for citizenship and have applied for the same.

I have tried to find an answer to this question but have failed so far. I am regularly submitting my tax returns in Canada as well. Calling the CIC help line has given me three different answers on three different occasions.

For those who are wondering, I have changed my residence 12 times in the past 10 years.

Regards

TF

Ben W Bell

If you're not eligible to maintain your PR status, you're almost certainly not eligible for your citizenship requirements which I believe is 3 out of 4 years?

cornmatthew

The OP met the residence requirement at the time of application -- or at least claims to have done. That's all the law asks for.

However, the law also requires that people becoming citizens are already permanent residents. And that's not just at the time of application. So any loss of PR status now would cause the citizenship application to fail.

Most citizenship applications are decided quickly enough that this is not much of a concern in practice. But it could be a problem if the case drags out (or if the application relies on time outside Canada to meet the residence requirement -- see the recent thread on that topic).

* It is important to retain PR until citizenship is granted. So the OP should keep to the PR residence requirement while the application is in process.

* Once an application is filed, further absences that remain within the limits for retaining PR do not affect eligibility for citizenship. However, if it's apparent that the applicant is living outside Canada, CIC may take a more skeptical look at the residence claims in the application -- and that could hold things up.

* The citizenship test and ceremony are both held in Canada and at fairly short notice. Missing those appointments would certainly delay the application and may cause it to be denied.

blu_rays

Thanks guys,

So it seems that it could become an issue if I am not present in Canada for a long period and my Citizenship application is not processed in the meantime. It looks like that could be decided on a subject to subject case.

Thanks again!!

TF

Aviator

No, you meet the requirements or you don't, there is no latitude given. If you are working out of the country and have been for some time, CIC are not going to be sympathetic.

JAJ

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Canadi...ng_application

blu_rays

Thanks guys,

Very helpful.

Cheers!!!