hmirzaei said:
Friends, I have a question and would appreciate your comments.
Under bill c6, I would be eligible to apply for my citizenship right now. The thing is I have to go to the US for a one-year-long job. In that case, the later the law comes into effect the less physical presence days I will have in my 5 year window.
For example if the c-6 comes into effect later than Sep. 2017 and I leave for US this December, my residence days will go lower than the limit (because my 5 year window will have more empty days when I sign my application).
My question is, what are my options?
1- Can I write a letter and explain I have been eligible at this date but later became ineligible and is there a chance they can accept me with this situation?
2- If I return back to Canada for a couple of months, do the get suspicious about my case and do I get RQ?
Also, do I need to be present in Canada when I submit my application?
Is there anything a lawyer could help me with this situation?
hmirzaei said:
Thanks for your answer. This is my first question's answer.
Other questions are : Lets say I will be eligible when I am in the US and they pass the law. if I am eligible but apply when I am away or only come to Canada for a month, does it make any problem for my application?
hmirzaei said:
Thanks for your comment bro. Agree with it. But I will have my own US visa and won't require Canadian citizenship towards working in US. I will probably have my green card by the time. But your point is valid.
I am especially asking about the "intent to reside" part of the citizenship application which will be removed by that time hopefully.
The applicant for citizenship must be eligible as of the date the application is made (and remain eligible until the day of taking the oath), and of course this is based on the requirements of law
for that date. Thus, however you go about things, on the date you apply for citizenship, you must meet the requirements imposed by law for that date.
Being eligible, or having been eligible as of some other date, is meaningless. The simple reality, based on the dates and numbers you report, is that you will
NOT be eligible for citizenship before your planned departure unless the proposed 3/5 rule in Bill C-6 takes effect before your departure. I have avoided guessing when that might be, but currently it seems unlikely to happen before the end of March 2017, if even that soon. (I still expect Bill C-6 to become law this year, or at the latest early next year, but the 3/5 rule will not be implemented for at least several months beyond that.)
But you otherwise pose a scenario implicating the vagaries in how changes in law can affect individuals differently. This is inevitable when there are significant changes in the law.
Dozens of topics in this forum illustrate this with some emphasis, particularly as to the impact of the 2014 changes implemented by Bill C-24. While we do not know the actual numbers, it is fair to estimate that there were
many thousands, if not tens of thousands, who were eligible for citizenship as of June 10, 2015, but who had not yet applied for citizenship, and were consequently, abruptly, no longer eligible and would not be eligible again for at least another year, some up to two years, and then only if they stayed almost exclusively in Canada. Contrary to the incessant wailing otherwise, in this and other forums, however, these individuals had plenty of notice about what was coming, since Harper's government had promised such changes as early as
the summer of 2011 (during the election campaign that year), and more specifically promised them in both 2012 and 2013 (and had indeed promised the changes would be implemented by the end of 2013), and the actual change did not come into effect until more than fifteen months after Bill C-24 was formally tabled in Parliament, those changes taking effect just last year, June 11, 2015.
The changes proposed in Bill C-6 will mostly have the opposite impact, in effect resulting in as many as a quarter million PRs, perhaps more, suddenly becoming eligible for citizenship.
Living Outside Canada; current requirements:
There is no doubt about the current requirements, which includes having an intent to
continue to live in Canada, which of course is not physically possible unless the applicant is currently living in Canada.
As noted before, the applicant must be eligible for citizenship as of the date the application is signed,
AND remain eligible until the oath is taken. Thus, under the current requirements, the applicant must intend to
continue to live in Canada right up to the date the oath is taken.
Thus, in simple terms, no, a PR living outside Canada is
not eligible for citizenship, whether outside Canada at the time of applying, or moving outside Canada any time prior to actually taking the oath.
Living Outside Canada; effect of Bill C-6:
The so-called
intent-to-reside requirement is prescribed by subsection 5(1)(c.1) in the current
Citizenship Act. Bill C-6 proposes to remove/repeal this provision, and to provide that it will be deemed to never have applied.
Thus, for example, anyone who applies now could be denied citizenship if they move abroad while the application is in process. If, however, their application is still in process the day after Bill C-6 is adopted, their application will no longer be subject to the so-called
intent-to-reside requirement. The fact they are living abroad will no longer support grounds for denying the application.
Caution: this is about direct grounds precluding eligibility. There are other aspects of this to consider, to seriously consider. (see below)
Thus, once Bill C-6 is adopted, there will be no
intent-to-reside requirement, and living abroad while the application is pending will not be a stand-alone basis for denying citizenship. (Again, see caution.)
Note that while the 3/5 rule will
NOT take effect when Bill C-6 is adopted, but will take effect on some later date to be determined (technically to be determined and prescribed by order of the Governor General, but in practice this means as decided by the PM, PMO and others such as the Minister of IRCC), in contrast the repeal/removal of subsection 5(1)(c.1) in the current
Citizenship Act will take effect immediately.
This leads back to your particular scenario and how it poses an interesting question. It is indeed likely that a number of PRs who are not currently eligible, but who will suddenly become eligible when the 3/5 rule is implemented, will be living abroad on that date. Moreover, it is likely that there are some PRs living abroad who would be currently eligible
except for the
intent-to-reside requirement, and thus who will suddenly be eligible when Bill C-6 is adopted and the
intent-to-reside requirement is removed.
The question: How will applications by such PRs be handled by IRCC?
It would be guessing to forecast just how this will unfold, what the practical impact will be, when the change actually takes effect.
Which brings up the caution: just because there is no specific provision precluding the grant of citizenship to a PR who is living abroad at the time of applying or while the application is pending does not mean living abroad will not have a seriously detrimental impact on the process and the prospects of a successful application resulting in the grant of citizenship.
Prior to June 11, 2015, the requirements similarly did
NOT preclude granting citizenship to an applicant who was living abroad after applying for citizenship. But it was amply apparent that such applicants tended to encounter significant obstacles in their cases. Make no mistake, it was under a Liberal government that CIC adopted (in 2005) overt criteria to question residency based in part on the applicant merely having extended absences while the application was pending, let alone living or working abroad.
There is a
reasonable basis supporting policy and practices which would escalate the amount of scrutiny, elevate the degree of skepticism, employed in assessing the application of a PR who is living or working abroad. We cannot guess to what extent the current IRCC will do this, although I would anticipate, at the least, some increased difficulty for such applicants.
Additionally, in practice the logistical difficulties of successfully navigating the process while abroad tend to be more daunting than many expect, given the short notice CIC/IRCC have tended to give applicants, the fact that notice will not be mailed outside Canada, among other factors which can make it difficult for an applicant abroad to respond timely to requests or to show up for scheduled events, such as test, interview, and especially the oath . . . failure to show for the oath directly results in termination of application unless the applicant
promptly submits proof of an acceptable reason (and generally, difficulty getting back to Canada from abroad is
NOT an acceptable reason).
Thus, it may be possible to apply for citizenship and be living abroad while the application is pending, but getting to the finish line (the oath) is likely to be difficult and fraught with pitfalls.
Short answer:
Yes, living abroad while the application is pending probably will increase the chance you will be issued RQ. And involve other risks, other potential problems along the way. At this time, quantifying the risks is not feasible.
