Has the requirements to apply for Citizenship changed?

[Sunny1212]

I am a PR card holder since 2011
And stayed in Canada physically for 9 months....
then had to leave Canada due to personal reasons....
Currently I am outside Canada and
accompanied by my wife who is a Canadian Citizen...
I have to renew my pr card mid 2016

But my question is...
when I became a PR card holder,
the requirement to be able to apply for Citizenship was
to be present in Canada for 3yrs within the 5 yr period...
1) Has that policy been changed now?

2) IF it has... What is the new requirement?

I heard the policy might have changed....
and IF it has...
3)would it also apply to me (even though I am an old PR card holder)
OR the new policy applies just to the people who are newcomers?

 

[scylla]

You've actually misunderstood the current citizenship requirements and confused it with the PR residency requirement (the PR residency requirement is 2 years out of the last 5 years). The citizenship residency requirement is currently 3 years of residency in the last 4 years (not five). And yes - this is scheduled to change mid 2015 to 4 years out of the last 6 years.

The new policy will apply to you. It doesn't matter when you became a PR - what matters is when you submit your citizenship application.

 

[Sunny1212]

Thanks for the update....

Well.... As you said the residency PR requirement is 2 years within 5years,
In my case...
I stayed in Canada for 9 months
and Lived Outside the country for 2 years WITH my Spouse (who is a Canadian Citizen)....
So, is my PR requirement fulfilled?
I have proof that I have been Accompanied by a Canadian citizen outside Canada....
And the ruling states:

"You may count each day that you accompanied a Canadian citizen outside Canada provided that the person you accompanied is your spouse, common-law partner or parent (if you are a child under 19 years of age)"

So do you think that fulfills the PR requirement?

Thanks in Advance for your help.

 

[Rob_TO]

So do you think that fulfills the PR requirement?

Yes as long as you are with your Canadian citizen spouse, time spent outside Canada still counts towards PR obligation. So you should not have a problem.

But that doesn't apply for eventually applying for citizenship. You will need to stay in Canada for 4 years out of 6 before you can apply for citizenship.

 

[Sunny1212]

Thanks alot for the update...
Really appreciate it.