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AmandaK

Newbie
Jan 14, 2013
9
0
hello senior members

so the basic residency requirement is: must not have more than 365 absent days outside canada in the last 4 years.

have you come across this baffling situation before:

When I first landed 4 years ago in 2009, I continuously stayed inside canada for 2 and a half years (900 days). But than I spent the next 1.5 years outside canada (560 absent days). So in the past 4 years, I spent the first 900 days inside canada and for the remaining 560 days I was absent.

I am in Canada now, but it seems that every physical day i gain inside canada today is cancelled by a physical day from 4 years ago. Meaning, my absent days seem to remain the same even if I spend the next 2 years inside Canada. I cant seem to minimize my absent days unless I spend another 900 days inside canada from today.

Have I explained this correctly? Am I confused or have I missed something?

thanks for your answers!
 
Yes - what you're saying makes perfect sense. Your math is correct.

Because you spent a year and a half outside of Canada, the only way you can qualify to apply for citizenship is if you accumulate the three years of residency AFTER this one and a half year absence.
 
Agreed. When the requirement is 3/4 years, you can only have been gone for 1 year during that period. Therefore, if you have an absence of more than one year, you can not use time from before the absence because as you try to make up for the time gone, your time spent before the absence keeps moving outside the 4 year window.
 
I see. But most of my absent days are due to medical reasons.

So what if I can justify 7 months of absence due to medical reasons? How would that help?

would those 7 months be counted as presence days instead of absent ones?
 
AmandaK said:
I see. But most of my absent days are due to medical reasons.

So what if I can justify 7 months of absence due to medical reasons? How would that help?

would those 7 months be counted as presence days instead of absent ones?

No - this won't help at all. The fact you were absent for medical reasons won't allow you to count your days outside of Canada towards citizenship. You need to make up the missing days by physically living in Canada.
 
I heard you could renew your PRC without having met your residency obligations if you can prove that medical reasons prevented you from completing 1095 days.

Is it not the same case for a citizenship application?
 
AmandaK said:
I heard you could renew your PRC without having met your residency obligations if you can prove that medical reasons prevented you from completing 1095 days.

Is it not the same case for a citizenship application?

Yes - you can sometimes renew your PR card if you prove that you were prevented from completing the residency obligation for medical reasons.

No - the same rule does not apply to citizenship. For citizenship you must have the physical residency days in Canada.