In Form, the Citizenship Process Same For Refugees As All Others:
The eligibility requirements, the application forms and checklist, and the procedures for obtaining naturalized citizenship, apply the SAME for PRs with protected person or refugee status as they do for those who obtained PR in any other class, be that skilled workers or family class sponsored PRs, provincially sponsored, or even those who became a PR as a member of a discontinued class. Same qualifications apply, including physical presence requirement, language and knowledge of Canada requirements, and prohibitions.
But the factual background and other personal elements can often be very different for refugees and protected persons, and sometimes these differences can have a big influence on how things go for the refugee applying for citizenship.
Cessation of protected person status, which is unique to refugees and protected persons (does not apply to other PRs), for example, is totally separate from qualifying for and being granted citizenship, but for refugees and protected persons who have done things like obtain or use a home country passport, or who have traveled to their home country, an application for citizenship may crash if CBSA prosecutes cessation of their status based on reavailment. This is specifically covered in another thread here: https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/refugee-status-cessation-and-prs-applying-for-citizenship.333455/ Note that the consequences of "reavailment" and cessation are severe. That is a subject very much suitable for its own topic.
Occasionally other more or less refugee-oriented issues have come up in the Cessation thread. I have started this thread to have a more specific place, in the forum, to address such matters, the particular issues and concerns (other than cessation) that refugees and protected persons might encounter that other PRs don't or at least not ordinarily, or not so much.
Here is a recent example from the cessation topic:
So first, @NaAzaAn is spot on about making and keeping complete copies of things like passports. Good idea. Very good idea. Of course this applies to all PRs not just refugees.
But generally refugees are far more likely to NOT have a passport to submit with the citizenship application. Which is the situation underlying the query posed by @NaAzaAn.
Question 14 in the Citizenship application (current CIT 0002 version, from 10-2020) requires the applicant to declare travel documents and passports, and list them.
There is a box for explaining the absence of a passport, travel document, or a gap in time for which the applicant did not have a travel document or passport.
And that's what the refugee applicant without a passport does: list any passport the refugee had that could have been used in the five year eligibility period, and explain why they do not have it now, and explain why they do not have another . . . basically because they are refugees (that might be too brief an explanation but it really does not need to be much more than that).
So yes, the RTD will suffice if that is what the refugee-citizenship-applicant has. Many refugees will not have even this. Again, they just explain in the box for Question 14 in the application.
The checklist item is a little trickier, but my sense is it is OK to check that item, maybe circle the text where it says "an explanation in question 14 of the application form"
If the applicant has a passport but no longer has it, and does not have a copy, list as much information about it as the applicant can remember and in the explanation acknowledge the information about the passport is limited to memory, as part of the explanation about why the applicant does not have it (lots of possible explanations: surrendered to authorities and it was not returned; it was destroyed; it was lost or stolen (give some details, including police report information if applicable, along with the explanation about being a refugee as the reason for not currently having a passport).
By the way: how the absence of a passport might affect the process can vary widely. And largely depend on the nature, frequency, and duration of international travel by the refugee.
In Any Event . . . the object of this thread is to provide space for questions asylum class citizenship applicants have that might be particular to asylum class applicants.
There is another post from the Cessation thread I will quote and address here. It is not clear what issues, IF ANY, that applicant has, so it is not clear that the timeline for their application has been affected by their protected person status. But obviously there is no cessation investigation stalling it. Does not appear to involve a security related concern, but it is worth mentioning that asylum class citizenship applicants might be at higher risk, generally, for complicated security background checks. This would be about the individual refugee's background. As I previously noted, differences in background and history, recognizing that many refugees come from complicated if not chaotic circumstances, and that can invite some non-routine unraveling when going through the citizenship application process.
The eligibility requirements, the application forms and checklist, and the procedures for obtaining naturalized citizenship, apply the SAME for PRs with protected person or refugee status as they do for those who obtained PR in any other class, be that skilled workers or family class sponsored PRs, provincially sponsored, or even those who became a PR as a member of a discontinued class. Same qualifications apply, including physical presence requirement, language and knowledge of Canada requirements, and prohibitions.
But the factual background and other personal elements can often be very different for refugees and protected persons, and sometimes these differences can have a big influence on how things go for the refugee applying for citizenship.
Cessation of protected person status, which is unique to refugees and protected persons (does not apply to other PRs), for example, is totally separate from qualifying for and being granted citizenship, but for refugees and protected persons who have done things like obtain or use a home country passport, or who have traveled to their home country, an application for citizenship may crash if CBSA prosecutes cessation of their status based on reavailment. This is specifically covered in another thread here: https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/refugee-status-cessation-and-prs-applying-for-citizenship.333455/ Note that the consequences of "reavailment" and cessation are severe. That is a subject very much suitable for its own topic.
Occasionally other more or less refugee-oriented issues have come up in the Cessation thread. I have started this thread to have a more specific place, in the forum, to address such matters, the particular issues and concerns (other than cessation) that refugees and protected persons might encounter that other PRs don't or at least not ordinarily, or not so much.
Here is a recent example from the cessation topic:
Unlike other PRs, most (not necessarily all) PRs in the Protected Person class surrender their passports and do not get them returned (they can . . . for discussions about asylum class claimants and PRs and getting their passport returned see https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/get-passport-back.720701/ in the Refugees and Asylum part of the forum . . . CAUTION: even if the passport is still valid, most in this class should NOT use their home country passport, not for any travel to anywhere, AND for sure NOT get it renewed, which again is about reavailment and cessation).
So first, @NaAzaAn is spot on about making and keeping complete copies of things like passports. Good idea. Very good idea. Of course this applies to all PRs not just refugees.
But generally refugees are far more likely to NOT have a passport to submit with the citizenship application. Which is the situation underlying the query posed by @NaAzaAn.
Question 14 in the Citizenship application (current CIT 0002 version, from 10-2020) requires the applicant to declare travel documents and passports, and list them.
There is a box for explaining the absence of a passport, travel document, or a gap in time for which the applicant did not have a travel document or passport.
And that's what the refugee applicant without a passport does: list any passport the refugee had that could have been used in the five year eligibility period, and explain why they do not have it now, and explain why they do not have another . . . basically because they are refugees (that might be too brief an explanation but it really does not need to be much more than that).
So yes, the RTD will suffice if that is what the refugee-citizenship-applicant has. Many refugees will not have even this. Again, they just explain in the box for Question 14 in the application.
The checklist item is a little trickier, but my sense is it is OK to check that item, maybe circle the text where it says "an explanation in question 14 of the application form"
If the applicant has a passport but no longer has it, and does not have a copy, list as much information about it as the applicant can remember and in the explanation acknowledge the information about the passport is limited to memory, as part of the explanation about why the applicant does not have it (lots of possible explanations: surrendered to authorities and it was not returned; it was destroyed; it was lost or stolen (give some details, including police report information if applicable, along with the explanation about being a refugee as the reason for not currently having a passport).
By the way: how the absence of a passport might affect the process can vary widely. And largely depend on the nature, frequency, and duration of international travel by the refugee.
In Any Event . . . the object of this thread is to provide space for questions asylum class citizenship applicants have that might be particular to asylum class applicants.
There is another post from the Cessation thread I will quote and address here. It is not clear what issues, IF ANY, that applicant has, so it is not clear that the timeline for their application has been affected by their protected person status. But obviously there is no cessation investigation stalling it. Does not appear to involve a security related concern, but it is worth mentioning that asylum class citizenship applicants might be at higher risk, generally, for complicated security background checks. This would be about the individual refugee's background. As I previously noted, differences in background and history, recognizing that many refugees come from complicated if not chaotic circumstances, and that can invite some non-routine unraveling when going through the citizenship application process.
