Definition of 3 year residency requirement for citizenship

[s_g_t]

Hi all,

I applied for Canadian PR under the Federal Skilled Worker Program back in May. Assuming that I am successful and am admitted into Canada, my plan is to relocate to Calgary asap and start the clock ticking on the 3 year requirement before applying for citizenship. Since I will be paying taxes in Canada as a permanent resident, my question is: if Canada considers me a permanent resident, how is travel outside Canada treated as far as completing the three year residency requirement? Must I be physically present in Canada for a full three years before I can apply for a Canadian passport?

Thanks for your input.

 

[zardoz]

Yes.. you must be physically IN Canada for an absolute minimum of 1095 days within the last four years on the date that your application is submitted. Any time spent outside, whether it's vacation, study or work, does not count.

 

[Mona_Barca]

Yes.. you must be IN Canada for an absolute minimum of 1095 days within the last four years on the date that your application is submitted. Any time spent outside, whether it's vacation, study or work, does not count.

Unless ofcourse living with abroad and working for Canadian government, or accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse working with the public service of Canada, of a province or for the Canadian armed forces.

 

[zardoz]

Unless ofcourse living with abroad and working for Canadian government, or accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse working with the public service of Canada, of a province or for the Canadian armed forces.

While this is true, the chances of this exemption applying in this particular case to a newly immigrated FSW are relatively low, which is why I didn't bother to bloat the reply with irrelevant information.

 

[Mona_Barca]

While this is true, the chances of this exemption applying in this particular case to a newly immigrated FSW are relatively low, which is why I didn't bother to bloat the reply with irrelevant information.

I know where you are coming from, but you don`t know what is his/her personal circumstances are, or what might be his/her future plans!

 

[scylla]

Must I be physically present in Canada for a full three years before I can apply for a Canadian passport?

As others have said, yes - you need to be physically in Canada for the days to count towards your citizenship residency obligation.

And just to clarify - once you have enough days, this doesn't entitle you to apply for a Canadian passport. It entitles you to apply for Canadian citizenship. The Citiizenship process then takes about a year and a half (assuming all goes well). Once you have been accepted as a citizen and taken the citizenship oath you can then apply for a passport.

 

[chx]

Oh that question! Everyone's absolute favorite.

Google cp-05 cic. Sorry, i can't link. Here's the relevant quote from the very handbook the CIC uses:

While the Act stipulates the manner in which residence is to be calculated, it does not define what constitutes "residence" or "being a resident in Canada" for citizenship purposes. The Federal Court of Canada has made many decisions on this question but there has been little consistency in the interpretation of the concept of residence. In the words of Madame Justice Reed, "There is no doubt that a review of the citizenship decisions of this Court, on that issue, demonstrates that the process of gaining citizenship in such circumstances is akin to a lottery".

Physical is good but what if your job made it necessary to go back and forth between Vancouver and Denver cos the startup you were working for got bought by a Denver company? Well. I am in the process of asking for an exception. Wish me luck!

 

[scylla]

Physical is good but what if your job made it necessary to go back and forth between Vancouver and Denver cos the startup you were working for got bought by a Denver company? Well. I am in the process of asking for an exception. Wish me luck!

Good luck! Definitely let us know how it goes - I'm very curious.

I know the rules technically allow exceptions on a per case basis - but we don't really hear of them ever being granted. Or maybe people are successful but never report back to the forum.

Would be nice to see where this worked and what the specific circumstances were.

 

[chx]

To be honest -- I doubt I will be the one who will satiate your curiosity because I left that job in 2011 and now I am trying to get my 1095 days accumulated and given how long it takes to get the RQ and process it , I might have 1095 and revoke the current application and file a new one with enough days...