What is “Intent to Reside” under the New Citizenship Act?
Currently, there is no intent to reside declaration under the Canadian citizenship . However, under the new Citizenship Act, it is required for an applicant to declare his intention to reside in Canada after he obtains citizenship.
This clause may lead two significant issues:
(1) it potentially grants broad discretion to a citizenship officer – government officer – to speculate on the future intentions of applicants and deny citizenship based on an alleged lack of intention to reside in Canada;
(2) since misrepresentation or fraud in relation to any condition of citizenship may start revocation of citizenship, any naturalized citizen may be opened to such revocation proceeding if she leaves Canada to take up residence elsewhere.
The New Citizenship Act is to come in force in June, 2015. As a result, anyone who is eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship should seriously consider obtaining it before such time.
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