Applying in advance of bill C-24

[transformer]

Senior Members,

as you all know bill c-24 is going to be passed pretty soon (in the next few weeks actually) :-[. I believe they will make the law effective 1 year from now(or im very hopeful )

I have a hypothetical situation for you:

I got my PR June 20 2013 and I have pre-Pr time and will be eligible using "basic residence" for citizenship Jun 20 2015 and will be have fulfilled my physical residence in October 2015

lets just say it gets approved on June 20 exactly and the change will be effective june 20 2015 do I have a shot at applying in 2015 and hoping for the loving mercy of a citizenship judge or should i forget about it?

 

[zardoz]

I suspect that if it becomes law, it will be put into operation within a few weeks, not as long as a year... The Government seems to want this in place ASAP.

 

[transformer]

I kind of agree because currently there is a backlog of 320,000 applications and this year another 200,000(atleast) will be eligible making the backlog to 520,000

for the sake of argument lets go of experience that based on previous legislation the implementation was always 1 year later

do you think applying before meeting physical residence is wise?

 

[zardoz]

No. Why make life more difficult than it already is. Just comply with the physical residency requirements and then apply. Trying to take a short cut now is likely to make things much slower in the long term.

 

[us2yow]

transformer,

You don't qualify to apply before LATE 2015 - which is a long way away - and by which time the new law will most definitely be in effect.

It is people who qualify to apply in 2014 who are more concerned about when the law will come into force.

 

[turboracer]

Question to US2Yow

How abt the ppl who are eligible on early 2015 ?

 

[taleodor]

If you are ready to go through the court, I think it's wiser to challenge the bill C-24 as a group, once it becomes law. Personally, I don't think one has much chance applying ahead of time. Though, in the end of the day, nobody knows.

 

[sicko86]

I suspect that if it becomes law, it will be put into operation within a few weeks, not as long as a year... The Government seems to want this in place ASAP.

There is no way the law will be effective in few weeks never happened .. Check the previous act (2009) .. It took a year until it got effective as a Law (After Royal Assent) .. if it gets effective in few weeks that will be insanity! Even the Act from 1946 took 7 or 8 months until it became a Law.. I would say there will be a 6 months minimum (My Opinion).

I think our friend with October 2015 has a chance to make it! (Depends on how fast the senate will go throw it .. Remember the Parliament Vacation is in 3 weeks)

And there wont be a 520,000 backlog .. this will happen if there was nothing processed .. remember that there are always people getting their file completed so this number keeps fluctuating .. if 200,000 applied and 300,000 took there citizenship this year backlog will be 220,000.

Thanks,

 

[zardoz]

I think the reasoning behind this new Bill is different from previous ones. There does seem to be an urgency about it, especially if you look at things like the vote to limit discussion time. It just "feels" like they are going to rush it through and make it operational. Only time will tell..

 

[on-hold]

I think the reasoning behind this new Bill is different from previous ones. There does seem to be an urgency about it, especially if you look at things like the vote to limit discussion time. It just "feels" like they are going to rush it through and make it operational. Only time will tell..

I basically agree with zardoz here, but I also think that we simply have no idea what the government cares about. Maybe passing the bill is a high priority to them, so their MPs can go home and talk about it during the break; but implementation is not. Frankly, I can't see how even Harper could consider implementation an emergency, since all a delay means is that PRs keep getting citizenship under the same conditions that PRs have gotten citizenship for the past 20 years. Delaying it by a few months would be throwing a little sop to PRs that might ease the sting; or they might want to implement it on Canada Day; or they might want to implement it at the same time the new EOI model for FSW starts; or they might want to implement it well before the new EOI model so they aren't dealing with two huge screw-ups at the same time; there's just no way to know. But I seriously doubt that implementation is a priority in the same way that passage is.

And, I probably shouldn't mention this because of the danger of sparking a gigantic amount of circular speculation on it, but it seems to me that there is a real chance of the bill being immediately challenged in court, perhaps in several venues and for different reasons. If this happens, I don't know if a Canadian court would stay implementation or not; in the U.S., such stays are normal (e.g. several gay marriage rulings), and prevent confusion while things are worked out.

 

[polarbear]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to come back to what you said about the intent to reside in Canada.

Someone who states that they intend to reside in Canada, becomes a citizen and leaves Canada to live abroad could not be accused of having made a false statement to acquire their citizenship. Their citizenship cannot be revoked because they left Canada shortly after acquiring it. Did I understand correctly?




4:25 p.m.

Conservative



Chris Alexander Ajax—Pickering, ON

Absolutely. Under the new bill, the declaration of intent to reside in Canada applies to the period of four years out of six when the individual must live here to be eligible for Canadian citizenship.




4:25 p.m.

NDP



Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC

So that does not apply after they become citizens.




4:25 p.m.

Hello folks check this out:

Conservative



Chris Alexander Ajax—Pickering, ON

That's correct.

Of course, we will continue to promote residing in Canada, as that is the objective of our immigration system and our citizenship program. However, we recognize the global nature of our economy and we know that a Canadian company could offer a new citizen a job in Berlin, Hong Kong or Kinshasa.

 

[Desert Lion]

When I said the bill will be effective law as of June, but certainly before new year, every one was laughing and thought I am pessimistic