Citizenship for Under 18s

[woodyohill]

Hello everyone.

My family and I recently received our COPR and subsequently landed as PR.
Due to COVID, our PR application took 3.5 years to process, but we are all very glad it was finally approved.

Onto the next phase. Our goal is to obtain citizenship.
I was told all this time that the residency requirements are:
For PR Card Renewal, 730 Days every 5 years.
For Citizenship, 1095 days in the 5 years before application submission.
But the above requirements are only needed for adults, not for kids under 18.

Kids under 18 can apply for Citizenship when either parent fulfills the 1095-day residency requirement.
Is this correct? E.g., if my child (under 18) wants to study abroad, he/she could as he/she has no residency requirement.

Please kindly confirm my interpretation of the IRCC rules and let me know if I understand correctly.

 

[forw.jane]

Hello everyone.

My family and I recently received our COPR and subsequently landed as PR.
Due to COVID, our PR application took 3.5 years to process, but we are all very glad it was finally approved.

Onto the next phase. Our goal is to obtain citizenship.
I was told all this time that the residency requirements are:
For PR Card Renewal, 730 Days every 5 years.
For Citizenship, 1095 days in the 5 years before application submission.
But the above requirements are only needed for adults, not for kids under 18.

Kids under 18 can apply for Citizenship when either parent fulfills the 1095-day residency requirement.
Is this correct? E.g., if my child (under 18) wants to study abroad, he/she could as he/she has no residency requirement.

Please kindly confirm my interpretation of the IRCC rules and let me know if I understand correctly.

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/children-do-not-meet-pr-renewal-advice-needed.155382/
730 Days every 5 yrs is needed for kids too for PR Card renewal.

If your kid is with you in Canada while you apply for citizenship and does not have 1095 days residency it would work.

I am doubtful it will work if your kid is not in Canada and you apply for citizenship and most of time kid has spent out of Canada.

 

[woodyohill]

Thanks. Yes I am aware that for PR Card Renewal, everyone, 18 above and below, will require 730 Days of residency.

I am only inquiring about citizenship. Apparently, you can apply for citizenship even if your PR card has expired:

"You don’t need a valid PR card to apply for citizenship. You can apply with an expired PR card." from https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/become-canadian-citizen/eligibility.html#pr

As to your doubt, there is nothing on the application that actually asks you to report whether kids under 18 are in the country or not.

 

[forw.jane]

Thanks. Yes I am aware that for PR Card Renewal, everyone, 18 above and below, will require 730 Days of residency.

I am only inquiring about citizenship. Apparently, you can apply for citizenship even if your PR card has expired:

"You don’t need a valid PR card to apply for citizenship. You can apply with an expired PR card." from https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/become-canadian-citizen/eligibility.html#pr

As to your doubt, there is nothing on the application that actually asks you to report whether kids under 18 are in the country or not.

My doubts are because of the answers you have to give to these questions in the application -

Question 6 Home address in Canada
Enter the minor’s current home address (where the minor lives).
Mailing address
Indicate if the minor’s current home address is the same as your mailing address. If you select “No”, enter the following:

Question 8B
You must let us know if the minor left Canada for a total of 730 days or more in the past five (5) years or since becoming a permanent resident.
If “Yes”, complete the chart. If you require more space, add rows by pressing the plus sign (+) button.

As soon as the processing officer realizes kid is away for an extended period of time, things may not move smoothly. These are my interpretation.

You can always check it with an immigration lawyer. Best wishes to you and your family whenever you are ready to apply for citizenship.

 

[woodyohill]

Thank you. That is very helpful. Yes I will verify with a lawyer!

 

[woodyohill]

My doubts are because of the answers you have to give to these questions in the application -

Question 6 Home address in Canada
Enter the minor’s current home address (where the minor lives).
Mailing address
Indicate if the minor’s current home address is the same as your mailing address. If you select “No”, enter the following:

Question 8B
You must let us know if the minor left Canada for a total of 730 days or more in the past five (5) years or since becoming a permanent resident.
If “Yes”, complete the chart. If you require more space, add rows by pressing the plus sign (+) button.

As soon as the processing officer realizes kid is away for an extended period of time, things may not move smoothly. These are my interpretation.

You can always check it with an immigration lawyer. Best wishes to you and your family whenever you are ready to apply for citizenship.

I do not think Question 6 is a problem.
Question is, is Question 8 a deal breaker if the answer is Yes?
According to this, it should not be a requirement: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/become-canadian-citizen/eligibility/minors.html

 

[forw.jane]

I do not think Question 6 is a problem.
Question is, is Question 8 a deal breaker if the answer is Yes?
According to this, it should not be a requirement: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/become-canadian-citizen/eligibility/minors.html

While it isn’t explicitly stated, IRCC appears to handle applications differently based on the age of the child involved.

Typically, when a child’s application is submitted alongside their parents’, there isn’t any visible progress on the child’s tracker. The status of the child’s application seems to be directly tied to the parent’s application, and it only shows as completed when the parent’s application is finalized.

However, this process seems to differ for children who are 15 years or older. For these applicants, the tracker displays status transitions for activities such as ‘Physical Presence’ and ‘Prohibition’. This suggests that the IRCC is conducting additional internal processing for applicants in this age group.