Hi guys! I got my PR back in January so my citizenship application is still a few years away
But I had a quick question! So I've been in Canada since late 2018 and up until early 2020 I had visitor status until I got my Work Permit with my PR application.
Now I know that time spent in Canada as a temporary resident counts towards citizenship up to a max of a year so that means that I should be eligible to apply for citizenship in January 2023
1 year of temporary time spent in Canada Canada + 2 years as a PR
But my question is regarding the taxes. It says I'll have to have filed 3 years of income tax returns in order to apply for citizenship but by Jan 2023 I'll only have filed two because the rest of my time in Canada back in the past was spent as a visitor and I didn't need to file Canadian taxes then, right?
So can I apply for my citizenship then with just 2 returns filed or do I need to wait until I've filed 3 which I suppose would be by April of that year?
I hope this makes sense ahaha
There is no requirement, to be eligible for a grant of Canadian citizenship, to file a Canadian tax return. A person otherwise qualified for a grant of citizenship can (possibly) meet all the requirements without ever having filed any Canadian tax returns.
The requirement is to comply with CRA rules for filing Canadian tax returns for at least three of the preceding five tax years, as of the year in which the citizenship application is made.
Thus, for an application made in 2023, assuming there are no changes in the law by then, the applicant will need to report, in the application, (1) whether he or she was required (according to CRA rules) to file a return, and (2) whether or not a return was actually filed, and do this for each of the following years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (the five tax years prior to 2023).
In addition to years in which the individual did file a return, any year in which the individual was NOT required to file a return will automatically count as a year complying with the CRA rules. That is, if the applicant checks [No] [No] (as in not required to file and did not file) for a given year, that year counts toward being one of the three in compliance.
This is one of the easiest to meet requirements. For example, for many PRs they will get credit for a year before they ever set foot in Canada. In your situation, for example, if 2021 was the first year in which CRA rules required you to file a tax return, you could possibly apply and meet the tax-filing requirement even if you fail to file a return for 2021 or 2022, since the [No] [No] responses for 2018, 2019, and 2020 will technically meet the requirement, since you will get credit toward being in compliance with tax filing rules for those three years. CAVEAT: THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED. (What the law allows is often NOT a good measure of the better way to approach things . . . by far best to be in compliance with the filing rules for ALL five years.)
For individuals residing in Canada it is often (more than usually) a good idea to file a Canadian tax return even if the CRA rules do not actually require the individual to file a return. This is mostly about qualifying for credits and benefits stuff.
CAUTION regarding relying on visitor status:
When making the citizenship application the applicant should, of course, truthfully report all periods of time (within the relevant five years) the individual had temporary resident status in Canada, and include the information about days in Canada during those periods of time.
HOWEVER, for the purpose of deciding WHEN to apply, the prospective applicant should NOT rely on days in Canada with temporary resident status UNLESS the government's records document the individual's status.
For those with visitor status this would usually mean either a Visitor Record or a formal visitor visa. For example, individuals who carry a visa-exempt passport may be allowed into Canada without being specifically issued a formal temporary resident visa or permit, or a Visitor Record. The chances are high that the government's records will NOT show the individual had temporary resident status during their visit. If the government records do not show the individual was formally issued temporary resident status, it appears that IRCC might conclude the applicant cannot prove having such status, and thus it might NOT COUNT toward meeting the minimum presence requirement. (Remember, just meeting a requirement is not enough; applicant has burden to prove it.)
Similarly for any period of time the individual had implied status.
The applicant still reports the time in Canada and the status the individual understood he or she had during that time, BUT IT IS BEST to be sure to have enough days to have a decent margin over the minimum (30 plus is good for most) without counting those possibly questionable days.
