Citizenship

Citizenship

The Canadian Citizenship Act of 1947 established Canadian citizenship for the first time. According to the current version of the legislation, both Canadian-born and naturalized citizens have equal rights and duties of a citizen

What make citizenship so crucial?

One can take part completely in Canadian society once they become a citizen. The most significant benefit is that people have the unrestricted right to enter and remain in Canada. It bestows upon individuals a number of economic, social, and political rights, including the ability to vote. Due to recent changes in immigration law that make it simpler to lose permanent resident status, this has become even more valuable. Citizenship is increasingly more accessible to more people. Many more persons now qualify for citizenship sooner than in the past because to modifications made to the Citizenship Act that went into effect in October 2017. Children may submit an application even if their parents are unable or unwilling to do so. Candidates must have spent three of the previous five years in Canada. Some applicants may be able to count a portion of their time in Canada prior to becoming a permanent residence. They must have spent at least two years living in Canada as permanent residents. If they held Protected Person (refugee) status or were a permitted temporary resident, they can also count half of every day they spent in Canada prior to becoming a permanent residence.

New Canadians 

Beginning in 2022, Canada has drastically increased the number of new citizens as it attempts to deal with a backlog of applications and lengthening processing periods. In the first quarter of 2018, more than 95,000 persons became citizens, compared to 136,604 in the entire year of 2021, according to official statistics. If things continue as they are, in 2022 more than 380,000 people could become citizens of Canada.

For grant of citizenship, you must satisfy the following criterion:

1) Permanent Resident status

Regardless of your age, if you’re applying for citizenship, you must have permanent resident (PR) status in Canada.

This means you must not:

• be under review for immigration or fraud reasons

• be asked by Canadian officials to leave Canada (removal order)

• have unfulfilled conditions related to your PR status, for example: medical screening

2) Time Spent in Canada

You must have been physically in Canada for at least 1,095 days (3 years) during the 5 years before the date you sign your application.

3) Income Tax Filing

You may need to file taxes in Canada for at least 3 years during the 5 years right before the date you apply.

4) Language Requirements

If you’re 18 to 54 years of age on the day you sign your application, you must show that you can speak and listen at a specific level in English or French language. You need to meet the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) Level 4 or higher in Speaking and Listening Module.

5) Citizenship Test

If you’re 18 to 54 years of age on the day you sign your application, you need to take the citizenship test. You’ll need to answer questions about the rights and responsibilities of Canadians and Canada’s:

• history

• geography

• economy

• government

• laws

• symbols

6) Prohibitions

If you committed a crime in or outside Canada

• you may not be eligible to become a Canadian citizen for a period of time.

time spent serving a term of imprisonment, on parole, or on probation doesn’t count as time you’ve lived in Canada