“Who should consider applying for Canadian citizenship as soon as possible?

  1. Refugee or Stateless peoplepermanent resident Canada

Whereas permanent residents have their home country for citizenship and passport, refugees or stateless people cannot receive the similar benefits as permanent residents.  In light of current security consideration, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, along with Canadian Border Services Agency is much more active in taking steps in vacating or ceasing refugee status.  For that reason, refugees and stateless people should take urgent steps to obtain Canadian citizenship.

  1. Those who do not meet new residency requirements

If any applicant has resided in Canada as temporary residents, they should consider filing citizenship application to take advantage of accounting those days.  In addition, if any applicant has any plan to reside outside of Canada, under the new Act, such applicant may have an issue in declaring the intention to reside in Canada.

  1. Youth and Older applicants who may have problems of proving language proficiency or knowledge of Canada

The current Act allows for those under 18 years and over 55 years old to get exemption from language proficiency and/or knowledge of Canada.  Under the new Citizenship Act, such ages changes from 18 to 14 years old and 55 years to 65 years old.

  1. People who will wait longer for criminal conviction

The current Act prohibits for the period of 3 years from the date of completing any sentence including fines, whereas the New Act prohibits for the period of 5 years.  Therefore, anyone who has waited more than 3 years already after the date of their sentencing should apply for Canadian citizenship as soon as possible.

 

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