Canadian Citizenship

Canadian Citizenship

There are many who want to move to Canada – its modern, clean, and stylish appeal to many migrants who prefer combining the great outdoors with urban conveniences.

As getting around is easy here, you can easily stay in a large and spacious house in the suburbs while commuting easily to work daily.

Can you apply for Canadian citizenship?

If you want to become a Canadian citizen, you should be:

• A permanent resident of Canada
• Passed a citizenship test
• Have lived here at least three out of the last five years
• Filed taxes (if required)
• Be able to speak well in English or French

IRCC

A Canadian government’s department called IRCC or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has been entrusted with the responsibility to manage matters related to Canadian immigration, refugees, and citizenship.

The citizenship application goes to the IRCC, which may return the form if you are unable to furnish proof of your adequate knowledge of the English or French language.

Application Process

• First, you have to download and fill out the application forms for you and your family.
• Include all the supporting documents, as asked.
• Now you have to pay the application fee.
• Finally, you have to mail the application to the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Physical Presence

For citizenship, it is imperative to prove that you’ve been in Canada for a long period of time, enough to become a citizen.

Do not think that permanent residents will always become citizens. For this, you have to be physically present in Canada – for at least 1,095 days in the five-year period just before the date you have signed on your application.

Paying taxes

As mentioned, some documents must be filed to support your application. These include three years’ worth of tax returns within the five-year period before the date on your application. This proves the legitimacy of your employment.

Speaking the languages

There are two official languages in Canada – English, and French. To gain citizenship, you need to be able to converse passably well in either of the two.

To prove this, you have to submit supporting documents along with your application. The final decision lies with the citizenship officer who will ascertain if your language skills are up to the mark.

Knowing the country

If you are applying for citizenship and you are between 16 and 64 years of age, you have to sit for a Canadian culture test. So, read up! Questions may be asked about the culture, symbols, institutions, and values of Canada. While it is a written test, there may be oral questions too – asked by the Canadian citizenship officer.

Denial of application

This entire process takes quite a bit of time and you may hear yay or nay after several months of applying for citizenship.

If everything is in place, hooray – you are a Canadian citizen! However, your application may be denied as well. There are several reasons for this. Some of these are given below:

• You have recently been in prison.
• You are presently in prison, or on parole or probation.
• You are serving a conditional sentence.
• You have been charged with or convicted of an indictable crime.
• You are under a deportation order.
• Your citizenship application was refused for misrepresentation in the last five years.
• Your Canadian citizenship was revoked on fraud charges within the last ten years.
• As a permanent resident, you were convicted of charges like terrorism, treason, or spying.
• You served as a member of an armed force or organized armed group of a territory or country engaged in armed conflict with Canada.

For more information on this aspect, please get in touch with us.