Application for Canadian Citizenship - A Comprehensive Guide

[rajkamalmohanram]

Hello everyone,

I need some help in answering my questions regarding calculating my physical presence in Canada for my Citizenship as 1) Student 2) Work permit 3) PR
I have tried calculating on cic website, but I am little bit confused about some days (No legal status for 6 months, between my work permit expiration and Pr Landing)
Here are my dates in Canada and the date I became PR on 28 June 2018 Valid Until 30 August 2023

1) 01 Jan 2013 to 05 Jan 2015 on Student permit (0 days absence) --> Each day physically present in Canada would count as half a day.
2) 05 Jan 2015 to 01 Jan 2018 on Work permit (Around 120 days absence) -->Each day physically present in Canada would count as half a day.
3) 06 Jan 2018 to 12 June 2018 - NO LEGAL STATUS (As my work permit extension rejected, Pr application was in processing and Pr confirmation letter received on June 12, 2018) --->Need more information.
4) 28 June 2018 to 27 Nov, 2018 (0 absence) ---> Each day physically present in Canada would count as one day.
5) 28 Nov 2018 to 15 July 2019 (OUT OF CANADA) ---> Won't count
6) 16 July 2019 to 17 Nov, 2019 (0 absence) ---> Each day physically present in Canada would count as one day.
7) 18 Nov 2019 to 30 April 2020 (OUT OF CANADA) ---> Won't count
8) 1 May 2020 till date..............

Can someone help answering the questions below:
1) Will the NO LEGAL STATUS days be counted?

You are considered to be on implied status between the day your visa expired and the day a decision was made on your work permit application. AFAIK, days you spent inside Canada physically while on implied status would count towards your physical presence. Usually, people apply for a visitor's visa in these situations to not go out of status.

If you did not take any remedial measure to restore to a legal status by the time your work permit extension was refused, you'd have been without a legal status in Canada. AFAIK, time spent in Canada without a legal status wouldn't count towards your physical presence.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/canadian-citizenship/grant/residence/calculate-physical-presence.html

Each day of physical presence in Canada as an authorized temporary resident or protected person before becoming a permanent resident, counts as one half day, with a maximum of 365 days credit towards physical presence.

2) I see On CIC calculator as Only the five (5) years immediately before the date of your application are considered for calculating the physical presence requirement this - If I apply for my Citizenship in 2023, will I loose my days as STUDENT & WORKER days accumulated before 2018? ( I supposed to get 365 days)

Only the last 5 years from the date of your application are considered.

3) Is there any advantage for students graduated in Canada, Worked on Work permit, & became PR. Or is it the same 1095 for everyone?

There are no special provisions for students who graduated here. Everyone has to follow the same rules. The only advantage of being a temporary resident is that you get to count each day of physical presence as half a day up to a maximum of 365 days.

4) Since my family living in USA I am not able to stay continuously in Canada. Will there be any impact on my application?

As long as you meet the physical presence requirement AND satisfy other mandatory criteria, you should be good. Remember, you should have filed income taxes in Canada for at least 3 years in the last 5 years - (if you were legally required to file a return).

When I calculated the eligibility in this website, it showed me I am eligible by July 2021, So I am really looking forward to stay and complete my days if its right as shown. Please help me clarify the confusion with this.

The number of days physically present as shown in the physical presence calculator would be correct. However, NEVER apply with exactly 1095 days. Read my initial post in this thread for more information about that.

I would really appreciate some advice, suggestions on this

Thankyou
Anee

 

[Chris1983]

Very detailed and thorough. Appreciate the time that got put into this. Will help resolve a lot of questions someone like myself and other forum members have.

 

[Nebm31]

[U]rajkamalmohanram[/U] Thank you.
I really like this post.
Now I can follow steps with out hunting back those past post.

Were planning to apply this coming July depending on this pandemic makes difference and slow down to gather our documents.
Specially our kids school records and my eldest PCC.
Embassy still close.
Wife and kids all expired passport

We are six in our Application
Me and wife
Kids
22 yrs old
21
17
13
We are planning 6 application in 1 envelop
My question is;
1. Can we used 1 email address 6 application
2. Will CIC contact us separately if we use own email add

Thanks

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

[U]rajkamalmohanram[/U] Thank you.
I really like this post.
Now I can follow steps with out hunting back those past post.

Were planning to apply this coming July depending on this pandemic makes difference and slow down to gather our documents.
Specially our kids school records and my eldest PCC.
Embassy still close.
Wife and kids all expired passport

We are six in our Application
Me and wife
Kids
22 yrs old
21
17
13
We are planning 6 application in 1 envelop
My question is;
1. Can we used 1 email address 6 application
2. Will CIC contact us separately if we use own email add

Thanks

AORs are sent separately for each applicant. So, you'll be receiving 6 AORs.

I don't see a reason why you shouldn't use the same email address.

Also AFAIK, if you were to receive an additional document request, IRCC would actually 'name' the applicant the additional documents are being requested for.

Hence, I believe that using the same e-mail ID in all 6 applications shouldn't be a problem IMO.

 

[Nebm31]

AORs are sent separately for each applicant. So, you'll be receiving 6 AORs.

I don't see a reason why you shouldn't use the same email address.

Also AFAIK, if you were to receive an additional document request, IRCC would actually 'name' the applicant the additional documents are being requested for.

Hence, I believe that using the same e-mail ID in all 6 applications shouldn't be a problem IMO.

Yes better using 1 email add for our application.

Thanks man

 

[shazahsan]

This is amazing @rajkamalmohanram! Reading through it gave me peace of mind as I prepare my application. Thank you for contributing this!!

 

[tjxob]

Hi there,

I wish this thread find you all well. I have a question regarding question 13: Do you currently, or have you ever held immigration status outside Canada? I was born in Country A while my parent were working there and later I moved to my country of origin Country B. How should I fill in chart number 13 correctly?

Is this correct?

Screenshot

My other question is related to the security clearance. I got it but I need to authorize/stamp it. Due to COVID19, they are not processing any legalization process until further notice. What should I do? Can I send all what I have and explanation letter? Should this be enough? What I have is an old certificate and a new one but not legalized.

Thank you in advance
Big T

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Hi there,

I wish this thread find you all well. I have a question regarding question 13: Do you currently, or have you ever held immigration status outside Canada? I was born in Country A while my parent were working there and later I moved to my country of origin Country B. How should I fill in chart number 13 correctly?

Is this correct?

Screenshot

This appears to be correct, IMO.

My other question is related to the security clearance. I got it but I need to authorize/stamp it. Due to COVID19, they are not processing any legalization process until further notice. What should I do? Can I send all what I have and explanation letter? Should this be enough? What I have is an old certificate and a new one but not legalized.

I don't follow your question. I also do not understand what "they are not processing any legalization process until further notice " means. What do you mean by security clearance? Do you mean police certificate? If you are talking about police certificates, then you only need them if you have lived in a country other than Canada for 183 or more days IN A ROW in the past 4 years. I have talked about this in part 3 of the guide.

Thank you in advance
Big T

 

[tjxob]

Thank you very mush for your quick reply. Yes, I was referring to the Police Certificate. I spent more than 183 days. Therefore, I need to send it. The problem is that I need to legalize it from the ministry of exteriors in Spain. I sent it for legalization. But they have stopped accepting any request of legalization untill further notice. To sum up this point:

• I have an old Certificate translated and legalized.
• I got a new one recently and I translated it.
• I sent all documents to the ministry of exteriors in Spain for the final step of legalization
• When I contact them, they confirmed multiple time that due to the state of alarm and COVID19, they are not processing anything until further notice.

Hope that I was able to give more details.

Thanks again

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Thank you very mush for your quick reply. Yes, I was referring to the Police Certificate. I spent more than 183 days. Therefore, I need to send it. The problem is that I need to legalize it from the ministry of exteriors in Spain. I sent it for legalization. But they have stopped accepting any request of legalization untill further notice. To sum up this point:

• I have an old Certificate translated and legalized.
• I got a new one recently and I translated it.
• I sent all documents to the ministry of exteriors in Spain for the final step of legalization
• When I contact them, they confirmed multiple time that due to the state of alarm and COVID19, they are not processing anything until further notice.

Hope that I was able to give more details.

Thanks again

I'm assuming you mean notarized when you say legalized.

The only way you can use your old notarized Police Certificate is if it was issued after the last time you've lived in the country.

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#Step3

To be valid, the police certificate must be either issued

• after the last time you were in that country, OR
• no more than 6 months before the date you sign your citizenship application

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

 

[ZZW_CBB]

Hi Raj
Very helpful protocol. I very much appreciate of your kind typing.
I have several questions about the application form Section 9b:
We have to list the temporary status resident in Canada during the eligible period: for example, 2015-05-22 to 2020-05-22
Become PR in 2018-04-15
hold work permits from 2014-08-26 to 2018-04-15.
Several work permits have been issued and renewed, also as you mentioned, there were several implied status during this period since the IRCC processing time.

In case of this, do we need to list all the work permits in Table?
Second, if we need to list, we have to put the issued/expiration date from the WP. Then there are 'GAPs' (implied status) during the processing. Do we need to list also and put 'implied status'?
For the lastest WP, the expiration date should be the 'PR landing date' or still put the date from WP. As my understanding, when we became PR, the WP will automatically expired.


Or in this section, we just need to put as '2014-08-26 to 2018-04-15' and 'Worker'

Thanks very much if you could clear my confusion.

ZZW

 

[Dr.Raj91]

Hello Raj,

I really appreciate your effort writing everything in detail for your fellow applicants

 

[Dr.Raj91]

How do we get notified for Citizenship Test? Can we request an Email notification? Thanks in Advance.

 

[Nebm31]

Language Proof

My wife completed her Certificate Health Care Aid a 5 months course. Is this proof of language as level of post secondary education.
Thanks

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

How do we get notified for Citizenship Test? Can we request an Email notification? Thanks in Advance.

The 'Citizenship Test' portion of the operational bulletin doesn't mention anything about e-mail notifications. So, I believe it is sent only via snail-mail.

Notifying applicants

Applicants scheduled for a written citizenship knowledge test are sent a Notice to Appear - To Write a Citizenship Test and for Verification of Identity Documents [CIT 0023] (for applications received before June 11, 2015 and CIT 0023CIF2 (for applications received on or after June 11, 2015) by regular mail (or method to be determined by IRCC) to the latest known address. Applicants should be notified about the test at least seven days before the test date. Therefore, notices should be sent 14 days before the test date.
The following information is included in the notice to appear:

• the date and time of the citizenship knowledge test;
• the location of the test;
• that the test will be a written test; and
• the identification and supporting documents the applicant must bring to the test.