Does this sound right?

[JanetD]

If someone could advise if below sounds possible.

My friend's family is born in India and still resides there. (I live in another country).
The mother's family has immigrated to Canada and have been there for several years, maybe decades.
I have been told by my friend that they have applied for Canadian residency, I presume that this might be through family sponsorship.

The immigration papers were first filed several years ago and I have been told that the Canadian High Commission has granted 5 years for immigration process to be completed.

My question is, does it sound plausible that the High Commission would allow this long for a family to get immigration organised? I would had thought it would be a straight accept or rejection but no lead time allowed.

Once this family migrates there, presume this would allow permanent residency - how long before they can apply for citizenship? Also if they are PR, are they allowed to travel out of the country during that time?

Sorry I have not got the full details. I am trying to investigate whether I have been told lies in my relationship.

[Leon]

It can take a long time to apply for PR, depending on where you applied from.  Could even take up to 5 years from some places.

Permanent residents (PR's) have pretty much all the rights of Canadian citizens except to vote.  They can travel outside the country but when they come back they have to show their PR card.  Although, if they travel or live outside of Canada for more than 1095 days (3 years) total in any 5 year period, they lose their PR status.

To apply for citizenship, they have to have lived in Canada for a total of 1095 days (3 years) within I think the last 4 years.  After applying for citizenship, that will have to be processed too which looks like will be taking me a total of 2.5 yrs but immigration says should take on average just over a year.