Question:
When I landed , I was told by the
immigration officer that 3 years
from now, I can apply for a citizenship.
I understand that I need to be physically
present in canada for 3 years continuously.
Is this assumption correct ? Later
I heard that, there is a new law
coming, saying that in the past
5 years I need to be in Canada for
2 years. Does this mean, I can only
apply for citizenship after 5 years
? And this two years is it continuously
without leaving canada or is it
cumulative ? On an average how long
does it take to complete a citizenship
process in toronto after I apply
for one ?
Answer:
I am not a lawyer nor an immigration
consultant. My advice is based on
personal knowledge and experience
only. It seems you are confusing
a proposed law that deals with the
definition of "permanent resident"
in terms of time. This is not law
yet and in any case does not deal
with citizenship at all, only with
resident status. One can still apply
for citizenship after having spent
1095 days in the last 4 years in
Canada as a permanent resident.
I applied for citizenship 1098 days
after I gained permanent resident
status in Canada.
I was "physically" absent from Canada
for 72 of those days. My application
for citizenship was successful and
I am now a Canadian citizen.
I too applied
from Toronto and it took me 7.5
months from submitting an application
to being sworn in. "permanent resident"
means a person who (a) has been
granted landing, (b) has not become
a Canadian citizen, and (c) has
not ceased to be a permanent resident
pursuant to section 24 or 25.1,
and includes a person who has become
a Canadian citizen but who has subsequently
ceased to be a Canadian citizen
under subsection 10(1) of the Citizenship
Act, without reference to subsection
10(2) of that Act. ***********************************************
The new Immigration and Refugee
Protection Act which as a Bill C-31
was introduced last year in our
Parliament and subsequently died
with all other pending Bills at
the dissolution of the Parliament
didn't provide a clear definition
of permanent resident, only provided
a "meaning" for such definition
as follows: ********************************************
... person who has been authorized
to enter and remain in Canada as
a permanent resident and has not,
since that authorization, lost permanent
resident status under subsection
42(1) of the Immigration and Refugee
Protection Act.
