Applying for Canadian Citizenship online from overseas.

[cottonheadedninymuggins]

I'm applying for Canadian Citizenship outside of Canada after completing well in excess of 1095 days as a PR within Canada over the past 3.5 Years. During the physical presence section of the application, it requires you to fill out your departure and return date to Canada. However, I am still overseas visiting family and the form does not allow me to set my return date as a future date.

Am I able to set the return date as the date of the application and provide my true return date/flight ticket information as additional information?

Or should I return to Canada to submit the application? I expect to be visiting family here for a few more months and would prefer not to delay due to the lengthy processing times.

Please note: My ties to Canada are still current such as Canadian address, bank accounts, phone plans etc.

If anyone has done this before and can share your experience, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[akbardxb]

I'm applying for Canadian Citizenship outside of Canada after completing well in excess of 1095 days as a PR within Canada over the past 3.5 Years. During the physical presence section of the application, it requires you to fill out your departure and return date to Canada. However, I am still overseas visiting family and the form does not allow me to set my return date as a future date.

Am I able to set the return date as the date of the application and provide my true return date/flight ticket information as additional information?

Or should I return to Canada to submit the application? I expect to be visiting family here for a few more months and would prefer not to delay due to the lengthy processing times.

Please note: My ties to Canada are still current such as Canadian address, bank accounts, phone plans etc.

If anyone has done this before and can share your experience, I would greatly appreciate it.

If you search the forum, (perhaps you posted earlier as well), it has been addressed a few times, that it is NOT possible to apply for Canadian citizenship while being abroad, without misrepresentation. Your last absence from Canada has not ended while you are still abroad.

 

[UKVAN]

You can, as long as you have the 1095 days. There is nothing on the website saying you have to be physically in Canada (I'm not), travel dates change and you can put down an expected date even without a ticket booked. Don't say you're back already even though you're not, but put in your application with a hypothesised date in the future.

The worst that can happen is they will ask for proof (but that will be much longer down the process).

The official government website and guidance does not list having to be in Canada at the time of application as a requirement.

Applying for Citizenship from Overseas - Maxcan Immigration MarkhamMaxcan Immigration Markham (maxcanvisa.com)

 

[adbcca]

What city are you going to put in your application signature? If it's not a Canadian city, you may have a much longer processing time.

 

[akbardxb]

You can, as long as you have the 1095 days. There is nothing on the website saying you have to be physically in Canada (I'm not), travel dates change and you can put down an expected date even without a ticket booked. Don't say you're back already even though you're not, but put in your application with a hypothesised date in the future.

The worst that can happen is they will ask for proof (but that will be much longer down the process).

The official government website and guidance does not list having to be in Canada at the time of application as a requirement.

Applying for Citizenship from Overseas - Maxcan Immigration MarkhamMaxcan Immigration Markham (maxcanvisa.com)

LOL. How & when did your last absence from Canada end if you continue to be outside Canada?

 

[UKVAN]

LOL. How & when did your last absence from Canada end if you continue to be outside Canada?

It only refers to the 1095 days. Time after that does not impact your physical presence. You do not need to be physically present in Canada to apply for citizenship, that is not one of the requirements of citizenship.

Guide: Application for Canadian Citizenship: Adults - Subsection 5(1) CIT 0002 - Canada.ca

 

[akbardxb]

It only refers to the 1095 days. Time after that does not impact your physical presence. You do not need to be physically present in Canada to apply for citizenship, that is not one of the requirements of citizenship.

Guide: Application for Canadian Citizenship: Adults - Subsection 5(1) CIT 0002 - Canada.ca

Only if you insist; but your didn't answer my question.

Indicating a date "you returned to Canada" without physically being in Canada would, I guess, construe misrepresentation. Maybe it is semantics, but the forms don't say "will return to Canada" or "will have returned to Canada". Considering in the last 8-9yrs that I have been on the forum, I haven't read a single case claiming successful application while being outside Canada, I would tend to go with my interpretation of the forms.
Someone did say they had successfully applied. I posted the same question and they ghosted after that, so either the information is incorrect or they were not completely accurate in their application. You may also read up on how to calculate physical presence.

"It's ok to apply while being outside Canada" is probably a case of how we want the rules to be and not how they actually are.