Section 5 of New Citizenship Act, coming into force in June, 2015

Because of these changes and the increase in applicants in June as a result, if anyone currently has sufficient eligibility to become a Canadian citizen, it is highly recommended to submit Canadian citizenship application as soon as possible before the New Act comes into force.

What are the differences from the current Act?

1. Applicant must show the minimum of 4 years of physical residence out of the last 6 years.
2. Applicant must stay in Canada at least 186 days for each of the above four years requirements.
3. Applicant cannot account any time spent in Canada as a temporary resident toward the minimum time of residence in Canada.
4. There is no clarification whether one hour or 23 hours a day is required to account for a day towards the above four years requirement.
5. Applicant must declare the intention to reside in Canada.
6. An increase in the age of applicants that must have adequate knowledge of one of the official languages from 55 to 65 years old.
7. An increase in the age of applicants that must have adequate knowledge of Canada from 55 to 65 years old.

If anyone has sufficient eligibility to become a Canadian citizen, it is highly recommended to submit Canadian citizenship application as soon as possible before the New Act comes into force.

If you have any individual questions or concerns, please contact our office for more customized consultation for your unique situation.  Please note that this posting is for general information only and is not to be considered binding or official legal counsel since situations will vary and can be complicated. The content in this post is current as of the day of entry. Due to the changing nature of Immigration law, the information in this entry may or may not still be applicable