Physical prescence calculator reason for staying outside Canada

[Canadavisa92]

Dear all,
Even though I still have some time to apply for my citizenship but I wanted to ask a very important question that has been in my head for a while. Now I landed as a PR in November 2019 and left Canada in December 2019 as I had to sort out some family matter plus I needed to finish up some personal matters before coming back to Canada permanently.
I was planning on coming back in March 2020 but due to the Covid situation I will be postponing this to June or July.

1) If so, that will mean that I will be outside Canada for almost 6 to 7 months and given that my PR card expires in Nov 2024 is there any issue with regards to any of the obligations be it the PR or the citizenship??.

2) Also when filling in the reason do I need to mention all the detai, i mean does it affect the application by any means? Do they find reasons more important that other reasons?

3) Finally, Do I need to be having an ongoing canadian residence when outisde?, I moved into an apartment in that month but had to end my lease as I knew that it would take time for me to resolve my family matters.

Urgent reply is needed please thank you

 

[dpenabill]

Dear all,
Even though I still have some time to apply for my citizenship but I wanted to ask a very important question that has been in my head for a while. Now I landed as a PR in November 2019 and left Canada in December 2019 as I had to sort out some family matter plus I needed to finish up some personal matters before coming back to Canada permanently.
I was planning on coming back in March 2020 but due to the Covid situation I will be postponing this to June or July.

1) If so, that will mean that I will be outside Canada for almost 6 to 7 months and given that my PR card expires in Nov 2024 is there any issue with regards to any of the obligations be it the PR or the citizenship??.

2) Also when filling in the reason do I need to mention all the detai, i mean does it affect the application by any means? Do they find reasons more important that other reasons?

3) Finally, Do I need to be having an ongoing canadian residence when outisde?, I moved into an apartment in that month but had to end my lease as I knew that it would take time for me to resolve my family matters.

Urgent reply is needed please thank you

A note of curiosity: there is little or nothing in your queries which indicates an urgent matter.

So the assertion an urgent reply is needed suggests there might be (not necessarily is but maybe) some other issue or matter at stake. As such, I will offer some observations in response to your queries, but perhaps at the risk of overlooking something of import, since I am not offering anything which could help in making any urgent decisions.

These observations are based on CURRENT law, rules, policy, and practices. These are always subject to change. Policy and practice can change very quickly so long as the changes are consistent with the governing law. But the laws themselves can also change. For example, you are not going to be eligible for citizenship until well into 2023, at the soonest. While there is no indication Parliament is leaning toward changing the law regarding grant citizenship, the laws, rules, policies, and practices in effect in 2023 will govern your eligibility for citizenship and those could be different.


[Re Postponing return to Canada until June or July]

1) If so, that will mean that I will be outside Canada for almost 6 to 7 months and given that my PR card expires in Nov 2024 is there any issue with regards to any of the obligations be it the PR or the citizenship??.​

Regarding PR status:

A new PR's obligations are very simple. Do not engage in criminal activity, which includes, in particular, obeying Canadian law, and comply with the PR Residency Obligation. That's it.

The PR Residency Obligation requires the new PR to spend at least 730 days in Canada within the five year time period that begins the date of landing. Basically this means a PR can spend up to 1095 days outside Canada before the fifth year anniversary of the date of landing.

Cutting it close has risks, and "plans" to return to Canada often get delayed (you have now been there, done that). And if a PR waits almost three years to come to stay in Canada, that will put a hard limit on traveling abroad again for the next two years, which in turn can have an impact on the PR's ability to respond to family emergencies or limit employment options.

But as long as the new PR gets to Canada to stay in time to avoid being outside Canada for 1095 days during those first five years, that complies with the PR Residency Obligation.

Regarding citizenship:

In regards to staying abroad, the only direct impact doing so has on eligibility for citizenship is it delays when the new PR will meet the actual physical presence requirement. This is just about calculating days IN Canada and reaching the minimum threshold for meeting the presence requirement (and then best to wait to add a month or more buffer), to determine when to apply for citizenship.

There are of course many other eligibility requirements for citizenship and all those need to be met. Just one example is compliance with Canadian tax filing obligations . . . regarding which, for tax years (corresponding to calendar years) the PR was NOT a resident of Canada and had no Canadian source income, generally (there are nuances and the individual needs to carefully review the CRA information about who needs to file a Canadian return) means the PR is not required to file for that year. So that can count as one of the years in compliance. This is just one example among many regarding how being abroad can indirectly affect the citizenship application.

One additional example: If the new PR remains abroad in a particular country for six months or more after landing, that will require the PR to submit, with the citizenship application, a police clearance for that country.

2) Also when filling in the reason do I need to mention all the detai, i mean does it affect the application by any means? Do they find reasons more important that other reasons?​

Not sure what you are referring to. Reason for what? In what application?

If you are referring to the reason box in the actual physical presence calculation, where an applicant explains the reason for traveling abroad, the "reason" asked for is very general. The only detail required is a list of additional countries visited during that particular period of time abroad. That is, the applicant lists the primary destination country in the column for that. And then adds, in the reason box, a list of other countries the PR was in during that time abroad (just a list of the names of the countries).

IRCC's request for a "reason," for the trip abroad, is NOT about justifying the trip. It is simply contextual information, so IRCC can evaluate the travel history information itself in conjunction with and in comparison to other information, like the PR's work and address history. That is, the substance of the reason is essentially NOT important. IRCC wants a relatively full picture of the PR's life during the eligibility period, and this is just part of filling in the spaces between dated events (like dates of exit and dates of entry).

For short periods abroad, the reason is often simply "holidays," or "business trip." For many, for longer periods abroad, "working abroad" might suffice, or "staying with family." Whatever is the truth, of course. The soft landing PR can simply state "needed time to wrap up affairs in home country before settling in Canada," or "needed to settle business matters, " or "to keep employment for financial reasons," or . . . again, whatever is the TRUE reason stated simply. And just the primary reason is enough. No need to explain separate reasons for individual months for example. MAIN THING, as always, is to be forthright and honest.

3) Finally, Do I need to be having an ongoing canadian residence when outisde?, I moved into an apartment in that month but had to end my lease as I knew that it would take time for me to resolve my family matters.​

Here too I am not sure what you are referring to. Need for what?

Canada no longer has residency requirements, as such, for either keeping PR status or eligibility for citizenship. Both are now physical presence requirements. The citizenship eligibility requirement has been explicitly a presence requirement, not a residency requirement, since June 2015. PRs have a "Residency" Obligation, but for two decades now this has been defined by actual presence, and has no actual "residency" elements.

Apart from that, however, of course residency elements can be significant factors in evaluating claims and evidence as to physical presence. But owning or leasing a residence in Canada does not help much, if at all, if the PR is actually living elsewhere. And even if the PR maintains a place of residence in Canada, if the PR was actually living elsewhere it would be misleading and potentially outright misrepresentation to list the Canadian address as the PR's residential address in the address history in either the citizenship application or a PR card renewal application.

 

[Canadavisa92]

A note of curiosity: there is little or nothing in your queries which indicates an urgent matter.

So the assertion an urgent reply is needed suggests there might be (not necessarily is but maybe) some other issue or matter at stake. As such, I will offer some observations in response to your queries, but perhaps at the risk of overlooking something of import, since I am not offering anything which could help in making any urgent decisions.

These observations are based on CURRENT law, rules, policy, and practices. These are always subject to change. Policy and practice can change very quickly so long as the changes are consistent with the governing law. But the laws themselves can also change. For example, you are not going to be eligible for citizenship until well into 2023, at the soonest. While there is no indication Parliament is leaning toward changing the law regarding grant citizenship, the laws, rules, policies, and practices in effect in 2023 will govern your eligibility for citizenship and those could be different.


[Re Postponing return to Canada until June or July]

1) If so, that will mean that I will be outside Canada for almost 6 to 7 months and given that my PR card expires in Nov 2024 is there any issue with regards to any of the obligations be it the PR or the citizenship??.​

Regarding PR status:

A new PR's obligations are very simple. Do not engage in criminal activity, which includes, in particular, obeying Canadian law, and comply with the PR Residency Obligation. That's it.

The PR Residency Obligation requires the new PR to spend at least 730 days in Canada within the five year time period that begins the date of landing. Basically this means a PR can spend up to 1095 days outside Canada before the fifth year anniversary of the date of landing.

Cutting it close has risks, and "plans" to return to Canada often get delayed (you have now been there, done that). And if a PR waits almost three years to come to stay in Canada, that will put a hard limit on traveling abroad again for the next two years, which in turn can have an impact on the PR's ability to respond to family emergencies or limit employment options.

But as long as the new PR gets to Canada to stay in time to avoid being outside Canada for 1095 days during those first five years, that complies with the PR Residency Obligation.

Regarding citizenship:

In regards to staying abroad, the only direct impact doing so has on eligibility for citizenship is it delays when the new PR will meet the actual physical presence requirement. This is just about calculating days IN Canada and reaching the minimum threshold for meeting the presence requirement (and then best to wait to add a month or more buffer), to determine when to apply for citizenship.

There are of course many other eligibility requirements for citizenship and all those need to be met. Just one example is compliance with Canadian tax filing obligations . . . regarding which, for tax years (corresponding to calendar years) the PR was NOT a resident of Canada and had no Canadian source income, generally (there are nuances and the individual needs to carefully review the CRA information about who needs to file a Canadian return) means the PR is not required to file for that year. So that can count as one of the years in compliance. This is just one example among many regarding how being abroad can indirectly affect the citizenship application.

One additional example: If the new PR remains abroad in a particular country for six months or more after landing, that will require the PR to submit, with the citizenship application, a police clearance for that country.

2) Also when filling in the reason do I need to mention all the detai, i mean does it affect the application by any means? Do they find reasons more important that other reasons?​

Not sure what you are referring to. Reason for what? In what application?

If you are referring to the reason box in the actual physical presence calculation, where an applicant explains the reason for traveling abroad, the "reason" asked for is very general. The only detail required is a list of additional countries visited during that particular period of time abroad. That is, the applicant lists the primary destination country in the column for that. And then adds, in the reason box, a list of other countries the PR was in during that time abroad (just a list of the names of the countries).

IRCC's request for a "reason," for the trip abroad, is NOT about justifying the trip. It is simply contextual information, so IRCC can evaluate the travel history information itself in conjunction with and in comparison to other information, like the PR's work and address history. That is, the substance of the reason is essentially NOT important. IRCC wants a relatively full picture of the PR's life during the eligibility period, and this is just part of filling in the spaces between dated events (like dates of exit and dates of entry).

For short periods abroad, the reason is often simply "holidays," or "business trip." For many, for longer periods abroad, "working abroad" might suffice, or "staying with family." Whatever is the truth, of course. The soft landing PR can simply state "needed time to wrap up affairs in home country before settling in Canada," or "needed to settle business matters, " or "to keep employment for financial reasons," or . . . again, whatever is the TRUE reason stated simply. And just the primary reason is enough. No need to explain separate reasons for individual months for example. MAIN THING, as always, is to be forthright and honest.

3) Finally, Do I need to be having an ongoing canadian residence when outisde?, I moved into an apartment in that month but had to end my lease as I knew that it would take time for me to resolve my family matters.​

Here too I am not sure what you are referring to. Need for what?

Canada no longer has residency requirements, as such, for either keeping PR status or eligibility for citizenship. Both are now physical presence requirements. The citizenship eligibility requirement has been explicitly a presence requirement, not a residency requirement, since June 2015. PRs have a "Residency" Obligation, but for two decades now this has been defined by actual presence, and has no actual "residency" elements.

Apart from that, however, of course residency elements can be significant factors in evaluating claims and evidence as to physical presence. But owning or leasing a residence in Canada does not help much, if at all, if the PR is actually living elsewhere. And even if the PR maintains a place of residence in Canada, if the PR was actually living elsewhere it would be misleading and potentially outright misrepresentation to list the Canadian address as the PR's residential address in the address history in either the citizenship application or a PR card renewal application.

Thank you so much for the thorough and detailed reply, I appreciate it alot.
Could you just please re explain the tax filing part again, I dont seem to understand how staying abroad (6 to 7 months) will impact the citizenship application

 

[dpenabill]

Thank you so much for the thorough and detailed reply, I appreciate it alot.
Could you just please re explain the tax filing part again, I dont seem to understand how staying abroad (6 to 7 months) will impact the citizenship application

I was not addressing staying abroad a particular period of time. I was not offering advice for you in particular but rather offering general observations related to the situation you presented, and addressing the impact of remaining abroad for extended periods of time (not referencing a period of 6 or 7 months in particular) . . . so, for example, I referenced a PR remaining abroad during a calendar year, which corresponds to a tax year, such that the PR was NOT a resident in Canada for that year.

At the risk of overly emphasizing a minor tangent, a mere example, I will elaborate:

I was addressing Canadian tax filing obligations GENERALLY, regarding which, for a PR who is NOT a resident for tax purposes and who does NOT have Canadian source income, there is no obligation to file a Canadian tax return for that year. (Caveat: again, this is not always true; again each individual needs to consult the respective CRA information to determine if they have an obligation to file a return based on all the criteria.)

This was offered as an example of how remaining abroad might INDIRECTLY (not directly) have an impact on eligibility for citizenship. That is, this is about a situation in which the PR remains abroad such that the PR was not a resident of Canada for tax purposes, and otherwise does not need to file a Canadian tax return, for a given calendar/tax year.

This has an INDIRECT impact on citizenship eligibility in two ways. One, obviously, has to do with the obligation to comply with Canadian law.

The other is that the eligibility requirements include having complied with Canadian tax filing obligations for at least three of the five tax years preceding the year in which the application is made. The application (Item 12. b in the current, June 2019 version) has a chart in which the applicant lists the relevant five years and for each of those years reports whether the applicant was required to file and whether the applicant did file a return. A year for which the applicant can truthfully report he or she was not required to file (such as a year in which the PR was NOT a resident in Canada for tax purposes and did not have Canadian source income) will automatically count as one of those three years. That is, checking [no] and [no] in the row for that year means that is a year the applicant complied with his or her Canadian tax filing obligations.

THIS GIVES MORE ATTENTION TO THIS SUBJECT THAN IT WARRANTS IN THIS CONTEXT.

I just referenced it as one of MANY examples in which staying abroad can have an indirect impact on a citizenship application. Moreover, what I describe above is about meeting the technical requirements. The prudent citizenship applicant will make an effort to do better than just barely meet the technical requirements. For example, the prudent citizenship applicant will file a Canadian tax return for EVERY year he or she is a resident in Canada as well as EVERY year he or she might otherwise be obligated to file a return, even though technically the applicant only needs to have complied with the filing obligation three out of five years, which can include years in which the applicant was not required to file and did not file a return.

 

[Canadavisa92]

I was not addressing staying abroad a particular period of time. I was not offering advice for you in particular but rather offering general observations related to the situation you presented, and addressing the impact of remaining abroad for extended periods of time (not referencing a period of 6 or 7 months in particular) . . . so, for example, I referenced a PR remaining abroad during a calendar year, which corresponds to a tax year, such that the PR was NOT a resident in Canada for that year.

At the risk of overly emphasizing a minor tangent, a mere example, I will elaborate:

I was addressing Canadian tax filing obligations GENERALLY, regarding which, for a PR who is NOT a resident for tax purposes and who does NOT have Canadian source income, there is no obligation to file a Canadian tax return for that year. (Caveat: again, this is not always true; again each individual needs to consult the respective CRA information to determine if they have an obligation to file a return based on all the criteria.)

This was offered as an example of how remaining abroad might INDIRECTLY (not directly) have an impact on eligibility for citizenship. That is, this is about a situation in which the PR remains abroad such that the PR was not a resident of Canada for tax purposes, and otherwise does not need to file a Canadian tax return, for a given calendar/tax year.

This has an INDIRECT impact on citizenship eligibility in two ways. One, obviously, has to do with the obligation to comply with Canadian law.

The other is that the eligibility requirements include having complied with Canadian tax filing obligations for at least three of the five tax years preceding the year in which the application is made. The application (Item 12. b in the current, June 2019 version) has a chart in which the applicant lists the relevant five years and for each of those years reports whether the applicant was required to file and whether the applicant did file a return. A year for which the applicant can truthfully report he or she was not required to file (such as a year in which the PR was NOT a resident in Canada for tax purposes and did not have Canadian source income) will automatically count as one of those three years. That is, checking [no] and [no] in the row for that year means that is a year the applicant complied with his or her Canadian tax filing obligations.

THIS GIVES MORE ATTENTION TO THIS SUBJECT THAN IT WARRANTS IN THIS CONTEXT.

I just referenced it as one of MANY examples in which staying abroad can have an indirect impact on a citizenship application. Moreover, what I describe above is about meeting the technical requirements. The prudent citizenship applicant will make an effort to do better than just barely meet the technical requirements. For example, the prudent citizenship applicant will file a Canadian tax return for EVERY year he or she is a resident in Canada as well as EVERY year he or she might otherwise be obligated to file a return, even though technically the applicant only needs to have complied with the filing obligation three out of five years, which can include years in which the applicant was not required to file and did not file a return.

Thank you for elaboration. So correct me if iam wrong here. If an applicant spent 1 year straight outside of Canada after the soft landing, then came back to settle and found a job etc and lived for 3 years before filing the citizenship application, he/she wont have to file for taxes for that year that they stayed abroad but obviously will have to file taxes for the 3 years that the applicant are residing and working in Canada.
By that the applicant would have met the criteria of the citizenship despite him/her staying a year as a PR outside Canada with minimal ties such as a bank account and a SIN number (no house or job yet etc).
Is what i described above true?

 

[dpenabill]

Thank you for elaboration. So correct me if iam wrong here. If an applicant spent 1 year straight outside of Canada after the soft landing, then came back to settle and found a job etc and lived for 3 years before filing the citizenship application, he/she wont have to file for taxes for that year that they stayed abroad but obviously will have to file taxes for the 3 years that the applicant are residing and working in Canada.
By that the applicant would have met the criteria of the citizenship despite him/her staying a year as a PR outside Canada with minimal ties such as a bank account and a SIN number (no house or job yet etc).
Is what i described above true?

Probably. Yes.

And that is probably all you need to know.



In my effort to be cautious and to avoid giving what might be considered personal advice, as usual I have a LONGER response:

To be clear I am not qualified to offer an opinion about a specific case. There are ALWAYS multiple factors which MIGHT affect the particular case.

I am afraid I sometimes tend to make things seem more complicated than they are. I fumble things a bit.

But anyway, yes, generally, if the soft-landing PR is NOT a resident of Canada for tax purposes in a given tax year (in the year of the landing or any subsequent year), and has no Canadian source income for that year, there is USUALLY (not always) NO obligation to file a Canadian tax return for that year. Again, each individual should carefully consider CRA information and its criteria for who must file a tax return, be that either a resident tax return or a non-resident tax return.

There is no tax filing obligation based exclusively on having Canadian PR status. But having status can be a factor considered when evaluating other criteria for determining who needs to file a return.

Thus, overall, there is NOTHING inconsistent with a PR becoming eligible for citizenship, once all the particular requirements for the grant of citizenship have been met, even though the PR was outside Canada for a year or even two years plus, with minimal ties in Canada . . . but of course the PR must still meet all the other criteria to be eligible.

Which leads to another tangent at the risk of being rather more complicated than necessary:

As many questions typically tend to be, your question is phrased in a way that leaves a lot of possibilities open. I am not criticizing the way you asked the question. You asked the question in a way that is typical, that is very, very common in a venue like this. I am focusing some attention on this to explain why I tend to be careful, circumspect, in the way I answer questions.

In particular, you ask whether the following is true:

"By that the applicant would have met the criteria of the citizenship despite him/her staying a year as a PR outside Canada with minimal ties such as a bank account and a SIN number (no house or job yet etc)."​

I am confident I understand what you are asking, and as I responded, yeah, probably true. That is, true in terms of what I believe it is you are asking.

BUT, but actually, technically, NO, it is not anywhere near true because there are many ADDITIONAL requirements a PR must meet to be eligible for citizenship. That is, as the question is literally phrased, no, of course not, the PR must have no prohibitions, must have been actually physically present at least 1095 days, have valid PR status, and so on, to "have met the criteria of the citizenship despite him/her staying a year as a PR outside Canada."

That is, no, of course not, staying outside Canada a year will not meet the criteria for a grant of citizenship.

In contrast, however, there is nothing about the applicant "staying a year as a PR outside Canada," which will preclude or block the PR from being eligible for citizenship ONCE the PR has otherwise met all the eligibility criteria.

Sorry about getting so technical.

 

[Canadavisa92]

Thanks alot thats too technical indeed
Out of curiosity what other criteria should the applicant need besides the aforementioned and having a proof of English.

 

[dpenabill]

Thanks alot thats too technical indeed
Out of curiosity what other criteria should the applicant need besides the aforementioned and having a proof of English.

See:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-0002-application-canadian-citizenship-under-subsection-5-1-adults-18-years-older.html

 

[Canadavisa92]

@dpenabill hey, I hope everything is fine, I have a quick question please. Regarding he PCC needed,I know that I will need one from the UAE as by the time I leave to Canada it would have been 7 months since I left Canada. Now can I take the PCC with me before leaving to Canada in 2 months? or should I issue it at the time of the application of the citizenship?. The reason I am asking is that issuing a PCC from the UAE with an expired visa and emirates ID will make it hard to issue a PCC at the time of the application.

P.S The UAE PCC doesnt mention the duration of the applicants stay in the UAE. It just mentions the date of the letter and that its valid for 3 months from that date, given of course the applicant still resides in the UAE.

 

[dpenabill]

@dpenabill hey, I hope everything is fine, I have a quick question please. Regarding he PCC needed,I know that I will need one from the UAE as by the time I leave to Canada it would have been 7 months since I left Canada. Now can I take the PCC with me before leaving to Canada in 2 months? or should I issue it at the time of the application of the citizenship?. The reason I am asking is that issuing a PCC from the UAE with an expired visa and emirates ID will make it hard to issue a PCC at the time of the application.

P.S The UAE PCC doesnt mention the duration of the applicants stay in the UAE. It just mentions the date of the letter and that its valid for 3 months from that date, given of course the applicant still resides in the UAE.

Here too, the information in the Guide and otherwise provided by IRCC on its website, covers what the applicant needs to know. There really is no substitute for reading and following the instructions.

Again, see https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-0002-application-canadian-citizenship-under-subsection-5-1-adults-18-years-older.html

While the general instructions cover police clearances from most countries, there are particular issues related to a few certain countries. This includes some ME countries but which ones in particular I do not keep track. So, for example, I am not familiar with any potential issues for the UAE. See:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/medical-police/police-certificates/about.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/medical-police/police-certificates/how/united-arab-emirates.html

For citizenship applicants a police clearance issued within the previous six months (of date application is signed) will suffice, but even older clearances are OK as long as they were issued since (or around) the last time the applicant was in that country.

In general, police clearances are Past-Tense. For many if not most countries, the clearance is actually only good up-to-the-day it is issued. Since they do not and cannot verify no arrests or such in the future. So for most uses, and this is largely true for Canadian immigration related uses, even if the police clearance has an "expiration" date, that matters much less than the latest date covered by the clearance (typically the date it is issued). What matters more is the policy or practice of the country or agency that requests the certificate. And again, as best I recall (but also again, it is far better for applicants to read and follow IRCC's instructions than to rely on what some anonymous dude posts in an Internet forum), Canada's practice is to accept a police clearance issued within the previous six months . . . or, for citizenship applicants, at least issued since the last time the applicant was in that country.


A tangent into some weeds (and more than you probably want let alone need to know; and a lot of words to express a small point):

It warrants remembering there is a distinction between what is required to make a complete application which IRCC will process, versus meeting the burden of proof as to all the requirements for a grant of citizenship. Discussions in this forum tend to gloss over this distinction. Which is almost always OK since the vast majority of qualified applicants, who properly follow the instructions and provide accurate and complete information in their application, will have NO problems. That is, for the vast majority of applicants, there is no practical impact from this distinction: applicant is deemed to have met the burden of proving eligibility based on the complete application plus a successful test and interview.

One aspect in which this sometimes comes up is in regard to meeting the language requirement. The proof-of-language-ability submitted with the application ONLY meets the requirements for submitting a complete application. The applicant will be screened again for language ability during the test/interview event, and in particular must show sufficient competence in one of the official languages during the test/interview regardless what proof of language was submitted with the application (thus, showing paper proof of language ability will NOT suffice -- applicant must actually demonstrate ability in an official language). I mention this only to illustrate the distinction between what constitutes a "complete application" versus what may be further required to meet the burden of proving ALL the requirements for a grant of citizenship have been met.

Which brings this tangent-into-some-weeds around to Police Clearances. A police clearance is NOT a requirement for a grant of citizenship. It is a requirement for submitting what is considered a complete application for citizenship. The requirement this is related to is that the applicant have no criminal charges pending or convictions within the four years preceding the date of the application. No charges, no convictions, both in regards to in Canada and in regards to any other country. A police clearance is merely information. As such, somewhat similar to the language ability aspect, there is some variability in what is actually required with the application, and there are exceptions.

Thus, for example, the instruction guide for citizenship applications states:

"We may request a police certificate at any point during processing, even if you submitted a valid certificate with your application."​

Without wandering much further into the weeds, noting it can get complicated, this means one can see a lot of variability in anecdotal reports from individual applicants. The police clearance aspect is one in which the all-too-common "I did this and it was OK, so it is OK" reasoning is especially NOT illuminating let alone valid.

The good news is that as long as the applicant actually does NOT have any criminal charges pending, or convictions, it appears that IRCC is rather flexible and not particularly strict about police clearances for citizenship applicants.

All of which is taking the long way round to emphasizing that the important thing is to accurately respond to item 10.b (in 06-2019 version of application), and if that response is [yes] then follow the instructions. Including reading and following the information in the guide and additional information regarding police certificates; thus, again for example, see:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/medical-police/police-certificates/about.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/medical-police/police-certificates/how/united-arab-emirates.html

.

 

[Canadavisa92]

I was not addressing staying abroad a particular period of time. I was not offering advice for you in particular but rather offering general observations related to the situation you presented, and addressing the impact of remaining abroad for extended periods of time (not referencing a period of 6 or 7 months in particular) . . . so, for example, I referenced a PR remaining abroad during a calendar year, which corresponds to a tax year, such that the PR was NOT a resident in Canada for that year.

At the risk of overly emphasizing a minor tangent, a mere example, I will elaborate:

I was addressing Canadian tax filing obligations GENERALLY, regarding which, for a PR who is NOT a resident for tax purposes and who does NOT have Canadian source income, there is no obligation to file a Canadian tax return for that year. (Caveat: again, this is not always true; again each individual needs to consult the respective CRA information to determine if they have an obligation to file a return based on all the criteria.)

This was offered as an example of how remaining abroad might INDIRECTLY (not directly) have an impact on eligibility for citizenship. That is, this is about a situation in which the PR remains abroad such that the PR was not a resident of Canada for tax purposes, and otherwise does not need to file a Canadian tax return, for a given calendar/tax year.

This has an INDIRECT impact on citizenship eligibility in two ways. One, obviously, has to do with the obligation to comply with Canadian law.

The other is that the eligibility requirements include having complied with Canadian tax filing obligations for at least three of the five tax years preceding the year in which the application is made. The application (Item 12. b in the current, June 2019 version) has a chart in which the applicant lists the relevant five years and for each of those years reports whether the applicant was required to file and whether the applicant did file a return. A year for which the applicant can truthfully report he or she was not required to file (such as a year in which the PR was NOT a resident in Canada for tax purposes and did not have Canadian source income) will automatically count as one of those three years. That is, checking [no] and [no] in the row for that year means that is a year the applicant complied with his or her Canadian tax filing obligations.

THIS GIVES MORE ATTENTION TO THIS SUBJECT THAN IT WARRANTS IN THIS CONTEXT.

I just referenced it as one of MANY examples in which staying abroad can have an indirect impact on a citizenship application. Moreover, what I describe above is about meeting the technical requirements. The prudent citizenship applicant will make an effort to do better than just barely meet the technical requirements. For example, the prudent citizenship applicant will file a Canadian tax return for EVERY year he or she is a resident in Canada as well as EVERY year he or she might otherwise be obligated to file a return, even though technically the applicant only needs to have complied with the filing obligation three out of five years, which can include years in which the applicant was not required to file and did not file a return.

thanks a lot btw for you recent reply, for some reason I didnt receive any notification with your post,
I just wanted to retouch the tax issue again.
You said this "The other is that the eligibility requirements include having complied with Canadian tax filing obligations for at least three of the five tax years preceding the year in which the application is made. The application (Item 12. b in the current, June 2019 version) has a chart in which the applicant lists the relevant five years and for each of those years reports whether the applicant was required to file and whether the applicant did file a return. A year for which the applicant can truthfully report he or she was not required to file (such as a year in which the PR was NOT a resident in Canada for tax purposes and did not have Canadian source income) will automatically count as one of those three years. That is, checking [no] and [no] in the row for that year means that is a year the applicant complied with his or her Canadian tax filing obligations."
Firstly. could you explain to me please how is this bad?, I mean if the applicant wasnt a tax resident being it by having no income that year or staying outisde of Canada and it counts towards the three years how is this bad?

Secondly, could you please assist me in my situation?. Now I have landed in November 2019 stayed there for a month in which I have opened a bank account (no balance in it, yet to transfer funds to it) and a credit card that I havent used at all not even while being there. I came back in December 2019.
Now, God willingly I will be moving there for good this July 2020 and will of course be filing my taxes for 2020 as I will be settling there for at least 5 months of the remaining tax year even if I will file a zero income if I havent found any income yet ofcourse
What is the situation here?, Should I file my taxes for 2019 too just to be safe, or is it fine to file for 2020,2021,2022 and those will count as 3 years and apply for citizenship in 2023 (August so before the end of the tax year).

 

[dpenabill]

Firstly. could you explain to me please how is this bad?, I mean if the applicant wasnt a tax resident being it by having no income that year or staying outisde of Canada and it counts towards the three years how is this bad?

Not sure what you are asking. I was describing how tax filing obligations are implicated in citizenship cases. Not expressing an opinion one way or the other as to what is "bad."

Secondly, could you please assist me in my situation?.

Not beyond what information and general observations I have already posted. I am NOT qualified to offer personal advice. Sure, I sometimes offer the obvious. Like "if in doubt, follow the instructions, otherwise, yep, follow the instruction," and "give honest, truthful answers." I will similarly offer advice, which really is general advice not personal advice, to NOT rely on advice posted by some anonymous dude with a keyboard and Internet connection. Use information, sure, to help you figure out FOR YOURSELF what to do and how to do it. But the operative imperative is to do the decision-making YOURSELF, after doing the homework.

In terms of information: the requirement for citizenship is to COMPLY with tax filing obligations, NOT NECESSARILY file a tax return.

Thus, for example, if 2019 is one of the tax years within the five relevant years for a PR applying for citizenship, that year will count as one of the three years in compliance if:
-- the PR filed a Canadian return for that year (in which case the applicant can check [yes] and [yes] for that year; yes, required to file, and yes did file), OR
-- the PR did NOT file a return for that year AND did not need (pursuant to CRA rules) to file a return for that year (that is, a year counts as a year complying with the filing obligations if the applicant checks [no] and [no]; that is, no not required to file, and no did not file . . . of course the responses must be truthful)

Beyond that, as I mentioned previously, the PRUDENT (cautious, safe, whatever adjective you prefer) applicant will have complied with tax filing obligations for ALL five of the relevant years. This is NOT required. Just three years of compliance is required. But consistent compliance tends to make the better impression, and the prudent applicant will be conscious of what makes a good or bad impression.

Those who approach life in general, let alone big time items like qualifying for a grant of citizenship, based on meeting what is technically, minimally necessary, are prone to either falling short or perceived to have fallen short, with consequences.

BUT that does NOT mean one needs to go overboard. That does not mean a person should file a tax return just for the appearance of having filed a tax return. Indeed, if and when someone is doing this or that based on the impression it will make, that can backfire. That can be perceived to be an indicator of manipulation if not an outright intent to mislead.

Common-sense plus being informed works.

Taking advice from anonymous Internet dudes like me, that's risky.

 

[Canadavisa92]

Thanks for your reply, and I am asking for the advice not to blindly follow it but just to get more insight on what to look for when researching.
I agree that a lrudent applicant will file taxes for all five years but why do that if the applicant is eligible to apply for citizenship 3 years after being a PR and not 5. Someone who landed straight away and is filing taxes from day one because they established themselves as tax residents, why should they wait for 5 years to apply.
I know being cautious is good and all but why waste time and wait 2 whole years to apply for an application they were eligible to after 3 years of landing

 

[dpenabill]

Thanks for your reply, and I am asking for the advice not to blindly follow it but just to get more insight on what to look for when researching.
I agree that a lrudent applicant will file taxes for all five years but why do that if the applicant is eligible to apply for citizenship 3 years after being a PR and not 5. Someone who landed straight away and is filing taxes from day one because they established themselves as tax residents, why should they wait for 5 years to apply.
I know being cautious is good and all but why waste time and wait 2 whole years to apply for an application they were eligible to after 3 years of landing

I did not suggest that the prudent applicant will have necessarily filed a return for five years. I suggested being in compliance with tax filing obligations for all five relevant years.

That is, to meet the requirement for citizenship it is NOT necessary to file a return for every year the applicant should have filed a Canadian tax return. But the prudent applicant will have in fact filed a tax return for every year in which he or she was obligated to file a return under CRA rules.

REMINDER: for any of the relevant five tax years in which the applicant was not required to file, there is NO need to file. And, indeed, any year prior to the year in which the applicant comes to Canada, and otherwise does not have Canadian source income, will ordinarily be a year for which the applicant does not file a return. And any such year or years that are within the five relevant tax years will count toward the years in compliance even though no tax return was filed for those years.

In particular, when you apply you will list ALL FIVE previous tax years in the chart provided in the application. This is based on the date of the application, without regard to the date of landing or otherwise coming to Canada. That is, those five tax years are listed even if those years precede when the applicant landed and became a PR. For each of all those five years the applicant declares if he or she was required to file, [yes] or [no], and similarly whether he or she did file, [yes] or [no].

Any year for which the applicant checks [no] and [no] (no, not required to file, and no, did not file) counts as a year the applicant complied with Canadian tax filing obligations.

Thus, for example, if a PR first arrives and lands in Canada November 17, 2018, but does not find employment until some time in 2019, and otherwise had no Canadian source income in 2018, and then applies for citizenship December 22, 2021 (having stayed in Canada without leaving and adding a month plus some buffer), the FIVE relevant tax years will be 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 . . . the PRECEDING five tax years (as of date of application). Technically this individual may have NEVER filed a Canadian tax return BUT will still meet the requirement to have complied with the CRA tax filing obligations. For each of the tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018, this individual can check [no] and [no] (no, not required to file, and no, did not file), and those constitute the THREE years in compliance. Thus, even if this individual checks [yes] and [no] (yes, required to file, but no did not file) for 2019 and 2020, he still met the requirement for citizenship. BUT that would NOT be wise. Not a good idea. Not prudent.

REMEMBER: the citizenship requirement is about tax years the applicant complied with the CRA rules for who must file a return. It is NOT based on years the applicant files a return (albeit, if the applicant has filed a return for three of the five years, that automatically meets the three years of compliance requirement).

 

[Sque]

@dpenabill I'm slightly off topic here but maybe you can shed some light. I became PR and landed in 2014 but I did not move permanently to Canada until December 2016 and I started employment in 2018.

I filed my 2018 tax return I claimed all benefits including OTB, GST/HST etc. When I received the notice of assessment, CRA explained that in order for them to calculate all the credits I'm entitled, I needed to filed all tax years up to 2013. So I ended up filing all six years of taxes, even though I was neither living nor working in Canada for some of those years, I only visited sometimes.

If I am applying for citizenship now, my eligibility period would be May 2015 to May 2020. So in my case, I am required to file taxes (yes) for 2015, 2016 and 2017, right?