Applying for citizenship outside of Canada

[Niette]

Applying for citizenship outside of Canada

Hello everyone , hopefully you can help and advise on my situation and thank you in advance !

I have covered my 3 years of physical residency in Canada this summer 2016, but I can't apply for citizenship due to C-24 which is still active.
The current situation in my family does not allow me to stay anymore in Canada and I have to return to my home country for an uknown period (it can take up to 5 years and might be even more). As most of immigrants I'm waiting and hoping that bill C-6 will pass and implemented soon , so I will be eligible to apply for citizenship. But as I need to leave within 2-3 months and most chances this bill will not be implemented by then , I'll have to apply for citizenship from outside of Canada. I have here friends who can mail my application form from inside Canada will all supporting documents and will receive and inform me about any mails and request from CIC.
My concern is the English test exam that I should pass and attach it's results with my application. I'm not sure if it's still existing and at what stage of my application should I do it? Is it at the very beginning and what is it's lead time before expiry ? I just try to figure out if I need to go and do this test before I leave Canada ?
I'll also will more than appreciate if you can advise what other things is better to complete here before I leave , so my application package will be ready when it's time (hopefully soon) will come to be sent?


Thank you again.

 

[dpenabill]

Applying for citizenship outside of Canada

Hello everyone , hopefully you can help and advise on my situation and thank you in advance !

I have covered my 3 years of physical residency in Canada this summer 2016, but I can't apply for citizenship due to C-24 which is still active.
The current situation in my family does not allow me to stay anymore in Canada and I have to return to my home country for an uknown period (it can take up to 5 years and might be even more). As most of immigrants I'm waiting and hoping that bill C-6 will pass and implemented soon , so I will be eligible to apply for citizenship. But as I need to leave within 2-3 months and most chances this bill will not be implemented by then , I'll have to apply for citizenship from outside of Canada. I have here friends who can mail my application form from inside Canada will all supporting documents and will receive and inform me about any mails and request from CIC.
My concern is the English test exam that I should pass and attach it's results with my application. I'm not sure if it's still existing and at what stage of my application should I do it? Is it at the very beginning and what is it's lead time before expiry ? I just try to figure out if I need to go and do this test before I leave Canada ?
I'll also will more than appreciate if you can advise what other things is better to complete here before I leave , so my application package will be ready when it's time (hopefully soon) will come to be sent?


Thank you again.

Tough spot.

What you propose to do is logistically and practically more difficult than what you might anticipate.

In the past, including under prior Liberal governments, indications of being outside Canada when applying, or while the application was pending, tended to trigger further inquiries, RQ, delays in processing, and perhaps skepticism in the process of assessing how much time the applicant was in Canada. This escalated dramatically on the Conservative's watch, culminating in the intent-to-continue-residing-in-Canada requirement. While the current government proposes, in the pending Bill C-6, to remove this requirement, that does not necessarily preclude elevated scrutiny and additional processing (such as RQ) if and when IRCC perceives the applicant to be abroad or to have applied while abroad, or otherwise extensively abroad while the application is pending.

Remember, too, that the applicant must continue to be qualified right up to the taking of the oath, and thus, for example, if a longer process is encountered, the applicant abroad must be careful to stay in compliance with the PR RO in order to stay qualified for citizenship.

Another reminder: applicant must verify the information in the application as of the date the application is made, and that includes the information in presence calculation declarations. Fudging this (such as dating the signature any date other than the actual date of signing) is a recipe for problems.

Also note that you will not be able to complete the application before the changes implementing the 3/5 rule actually take effect. It is not likely the application and checklist will be available until the date the changes take effect, or at most just a bit before. (This is not likely to happen until sometime in 2017.)

Your address history in the application will, of course, reveal right up front that you are abroad and how long you have been abroad. Making a misrepresentation about where you are actually living or have been living is not just a bad idea, it would be misrepresentation. Not just grounds for denying the citizenship application, but criminal fraud.

And of course that you have been abroad and are abroad at the time of applying will also be clearly revealed in the presence calculation declaration anyway. Well, barring making insanely foolish misrepresentations that is.

Ultimately, if you anticipate being abroad for as long as three years (less if you have been outside Canada at all in the last two years), unless you qualify for one of the exceptions, perhaps retaining your PR status is what you really need to worry about.

 

[itsmyid]

Where are all those assumptions coming from? With C-6 one can apply from outside , with C-6 there will be no need for police certificate , with C-6 there will be no language test....

 

[dpenabill]

Where are all those assumptions coming from? With C-6 one can apply from outside , with C-6 there will be no need for police certificate , with C-6 there will be no language test....

Bill C-6 will not eliminate the need for police certificates. These are, even now, merely an administrative requirement, not prescribed by statute or regulation, but rather pursuant to the application of the current prohibition provisions. They are, in particular, what CIC and now IRCC requires to show that an applicant, one who has spent more than a total of six months abroad, does not have a foreign criminal case prohibiting the grant of citizenship. Bill C-6 will not change this.

No language test? The exceptions to the language requirement will expand to what they were before, albeit by statute rather than merely an administrative act, but for the vast majority of applicants Bill C-6 has no impact on this element: the vast majority will still need to meet an official language competency requirement.

Nonetheless, all adult applicants must be interviewed, even if they are exempt from language or knowledge of Canada requirements.

As to whether or not an applicant can make the application while outside Canada, make no mistake, it is not as if IRCC is going to welcome or encourage applicants who, as one version of it goes, apply-on-the-way-to-the-airport, let alone who apply after already having moved abroad. The primary motive for removing the intent-to-continue-residing-in-Canada requirement was more about its perceived possible impact on naturalized citizens. Its removal is not about encouraging applicants who apply-on-the-way-to-the-airport, let alone who apply after already having moved abroad.

There is a difference between what could result in a summary denial of an application, which the intent-to-continue-residing-in-Canada requirement in effect does if an applicant is residing abroad while the application is pending, versus circumstances which can invite concerns, questions, doubts, and skepticism, and thus ultimately lead to additional inquiries and processing, potentially full blown RQ, and delays.

Overall, the approach the OP proposes to do is fraught with not just potential, but likely problems, including complying with the PR Residency Obligation right up to taking the oath. Unless the OP misrepresents where he has been living, and is living, the fact of living abroad is very likely to invite extensive and intrusive scrutiny, extended processing, and more than a little skepticism. And of course, making misrepresentations about one's address history or present residential address, is not simply a stupid thing to do, it is criminal.

In other words, no matter how true it is that technically a person can apply from abroad, at least after the intent requirement is repealed, such an application is very likely to encounter huge problems. (There are exceptions; such as the individual who goes abroad to attend a two year graduate program for example, who is not as likely to encounter such escalated concern.) Undoubtedly, there will be a less strict approach, but it is not as if those abroad are going to get a pass.

By the way: see older discussions about the impact of extended absences abroad while the application is pending, from before the Conservatives even proposed let alone implemented the intent requirement. And note, it was under Liberal leadership that CIC began screening applicants for indications of extended absences, and if there were to engage in further screening, scrutiny, including issuing RQ (this was pursuant to an OB issued in 2005 while the Liberals formed the government).

 

[bonaddictus]

Tough spot.

What you propose to do is logistically and practically more difficult than what you might anticipate.

In the past, including under prior Liberal governments, indications of being outside Canada when applying, or while the application was pending, tended to trigger further inquiries, RQ, delays in processing, and perhaps skepticism in the process of assessing how much time the applicant was in Canada. This escalated dramatically on the Conservative's watch, culminating in the intent-to-continue-residing-in-Canada requirement. While the current government proposes, in the pending Bill C-6, to remove this requirement, that does not necessarily preclude elevated scrutiny and additional processing (such as RQ) if and when IRCC perceives the applicant to be abroad or to have applied while abroad, or otherwise extensively abroad while the application is pending.

Remember, too, that the applicant must continue to be qualified right up to the taking of the oath, and thus, for example, if a longer process is encountered, the applicant abroad must be careful to stay in compliance with the PR RO in order to stay qualified for citizenship.

Another reminder: applicant must verify the information in the application as of the date the application is made, and that includes the information in presence calculation declarations. Fudging this (such as dating the signature any date other than the actual date of signing) is a recipe for problems.

Also note that you will not be able to complete the application before the changes implementing the 3/5 rule actually take effect. It is not likely the application and checklist will be available until the date the changes take effect, or at most just a bit before. (This is not likely to happen until sometime in 2017.)

Your address history in the application will, of course, reveal right up front that you are abroad and how long you have been abroad. Making a misrepresentation about where you are actually living or have been living is not just a bad idea, it would be misrepresentation. Not just grounds for denying the citizenship application, but criminal fraud.

And of course that you have been abroad and are abroad at the time of applying will also be clearly revealed in the presence calculation declaration anyway. Well, barring making insanely foolish misrepresentations that is.

Ultimately, if you anticipate being abroad for as long as three years (less if you have been outside Canada at all in the last two years), unless you qualify for one of the exceptions, perhaps retaining your PR status is what you really need to worry about.

when applying for citizenship under bill C-6, and scenario goes like you have to do post graduate training/studies outside Canada for 1 to 2 years, would that make your application under higher level of scrutiny?

 

[dpenabill]

when applying for citizenship under bill C-6, and scenario goes like you have to do post graduate training/studies outside Canada for 1 to 2 years, would that make your application under higher level of scrutiny?

The risk of elevated scrutiny is just that, a risk, and as is with most risks, the extent of the risk varies depending on a wide range of factors. The more narrow a ledge is, the greater the risk of slipping and falling, and the higher the cliff the greater the risk of serious or even fatal injury if there is a fall. Trying to navigate the ledge wearing high heels will have a fairly obvious impact on the risks. And of course some people are more athletic and less likely to fall. And so on.

What I am saying is that trying to predict the risk of elevated scrutiny and problems, based on isolated factors, is impossible. Moreover, after nearly nine years of Conservative administration, it is difficult to forecast how strict or lenient, how probing or casual, IRCC is going to be, under Liberal leadership, over the coming months and years.

Just because there is no outright prohibition about living abroad, however, is not an invitation to apply-on-the-way-to-the-airport. Who will encounter more or even more scrutiny is still a guess. How much more is a guess. The extent of it is a guess. How much doubt or skepticism IRCC will have is a guess.

Factors affecting the overall impression the applicant makes, the applicant's credibility, the nature and extent of the applicant's establishment in Canada, the extent of the applicant's ties to Canada versus ties abroad, and so on, can all influence whether IRCC sees a reason to question or doubt the applicant's declarations of presence in Canada.

But for the OP's plan, it is fairly easy to recognize the risks are indeed high, and that is without considering the potential logistical issues (potentially short notice of when the test or interview will be scheduled, for example).