Applying for Citizenship without PR renewal

[DorisD]

Hi Leon,

I applied for PR renewal in Jan 2012 with my family. We were short of 95 days (should have read your posts!). We got a questionnaire last April and sent all the documents - No news yet.
We now have the required 3 years for citizenship - can we apply and how long will it take?

Thanks DD

 

[scylla]

You can apply for citizenship - however it's difficult to say if CIC will process your application until the results of your PR renewal are known. We have seen at least one case here where the citizenship application was put on hold pending the outcome of the PR renewal application where a person did not have sufficient days to meet the PR residency requirement and an RQ had been issued.

If I were in your shoes, I would try to withdraw your PR renewal application since you were short a large number of days when you applied (unless you have very very strong H&C reasons for not meeting the residency obligation which you can also prove / have evidence of). If they let you withdraw the PR application, I would then reapply (assuming you now have 730 days of residency in Canada over the last 5 years).

I would hold off applying for citizenship.

 

[DorisD]

Thanks for your quick reply. Just to clarify - so, from the RQ we now have the required days even as much as for citizenship. But it's now been 4 months since we sent the RQ. If the PR is eventually granted will it still be on H&C in which case we forfeit time already spent towards citizenship. Also can we withdraw th e PR and then fill for citizenship instead.
Thanks. Much appreciated.

 

[scylla]

For PR purposes, it doesn't matter that you now have sufficient residency days. You needed to have sufficient residency days as of the date you applied. CIC won't consider any days after your application date. So as of now, you do not fulfill the requirements to renew your PR status. If your PR status is renewed - it will likely have to be on an H&C basis because otherwise you don't qualify to keep your PR status.

I don't know if CIC will let you withdraw your PR application now that an RQ has been issued, but I would definitely try - especially if you have weak H&C reasons (note that financial / job / schooling reasons are generally not considered for H&C).

If you manage to successfull withdraw your PR application, then you should be able to file for citizenship without any issues (provided you have met the residency requirement of three years). Keep in mind that the citizenship processing times are around a year and a half for normal applications - you may want to plan for a longer processing time of a few additional years since I think it's possible to might receive the RQ for your citizenship application if you were RQ'd and then withdrew your PR application. Overall, I would withdraw your PR application, submit a new PR application and then submit the citizenship application - but it's obviously up to you.

 

[DorisD]

Thanks. It s all so confusing because the RQ came as if it were a fresh application - so fill out all the forms again for all family members - and show the days in Canada in the last five years.

 

[Leon]

You can attempt to withdraw your PR card renewal application at this point and see if they accept. If they do, you can apply again with more than 730 days. If you apply for citizenship right away, seeing that you had a problem with your PR and were short on days and that your PR renewal was never actually dealt with because you withdrew, I think it would be very likely for you to get an RQ for your citizenship.

 

[DorisD]

Thanks Leon. Much appreciated.