Bill C-6: Senate stage

[Bs65]

Sorry guys. I'm just trying to reach to a conclusion here hence debating.

1. Canada Visa is a well known immigration and citizenship forum and lawyer is credible as well. I don't think they can afford NOT to implement the recent changes into their calculator. If you look at the wording at the start of their page, it clearly says that

"Did you know that Canada's citizenship laws have changed, and that permanent residents now have a quicker and easier pathway to Canadian citizenship? This calculator allows you to gauge when you may be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship under the new laws."

which means that they HAVE updated the calculator on their website after the bill passed regardless of the effective date hence credible to use.

http://www.canadavisa.com/citizenship-wizard.html

2. CIC news letter also doesn't mention about the 5 year Pre-Credit time limit. Wording is

"C-6 will also:

• Allow permanent residents who had spent time in Canada on temporary status, such as on a work or study permit, to count up to 365 days of this temporary status towards the residency requirement."

https://www.cicnews.com/2017/06/bill-c6-become-law-june-19-changing-canada-citizenship-act-069243.html

3. This news letter also confirms that they have updated their Citizenship Calculator according to the new law. Wording is

"A new law, a new calculator
With C-6 to become law on June 19, readers can find out if they are eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship under the new law by completing the CanadaVisa Citizenship Calculator."

https://www.cicnews.com/2017/06/bill-c6-become-law-june-19-changing-canada-citizenship-act-069243.html

4. Comparison of the old and new law also does;t mention about the 5 year time limit for Pre-Credit. Wording is

"Previous act: Time spent in Canada prior to becoming a permanent resident did not count towards the physical presence requirement for citizenship.

New act: Applicants may count each day they were physically present in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person before becoming a permanent resident as a half-day toward meeting the physical presence requirement for citizenship, up to a maximum credit of 365 days."

https://www.cicnews.com/2017/06/bill-c6-passed-giving-immigrants-smoother-pathway-canadian-citizenship-069248.html

5. CIC website also doesn't mention about the 5 years pre-credit time limit. Again the wording is

"Previous Citizenship Act: Time spent in Canada prior to becoming a permanent resident did not count towards the physical presence requirement for citizenship.

Citizenship Act with Bill C-6 Amendments: Applicants may count each day they were physically present in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person before becoming a permanent resident as a half-day toward meeting the physical presence requirement for citizenship, up to a maximum credit of 365 days."

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2017/06/bill_c-6_receivesroyalassent0.html

If anybody has any AUTHENTIC proof of 5 year limit for pre-PR credit then please share. Thanks

you are correct that there is nothing official but all assumption until CIC publish revised guidelines and effective dates.

However if you think about it the new guidelines require someone to show 3 years physical presence in the five years preceeding the date of application. On that basis people might assume they can only include a period post PR and a period pre PR but greater than the 5 years preceeding application would not count as that might be an unfair advantage in any case.

Agreed it is open to interpretation as are many guidelines from CIC but logically I guess people do not see the sense in having a 3 out of 5 rule where someone might for example claim half days say from 8/9 years ago but they were not even present in between time until they became PR.

People who can claim pre PR time come out on top anyway with the rule change given they can show 2 years post PR and then if they were present 2/3 years pre PR in effect they can apply for citizenship a year earlier than someone who cannot claim pre PR.

As said all speculation based on what seems to make common sense but will have to wait and see when actual guidelines are published but until then probably will be extensively debated here.

And as you probably know neither canadavisa or cicnews are official immigration sites.

 

[Wash an]

you are correct that there is nothing official but all assumption until CIC publish revised guidelines and effective dates.

However if you think about it the new guidelines require someone to show 3 years physical presence in the five years preceeding the date of application. On that basis people might assume they can only include a period post PR and a period pre PR but greater than the 5 years preceeding application would not count as that might be an unfair advantage in any case.

Agreed it is open to interpretation as are many guidelines from CIC but logically I guess people do not see the sense in having a 3 out of 5 rule where someone might for example claim half days say from 8/9 years ago but they were not even present in between time until they became PR.

People who can claim pre PR time come out on top anyway with the rule change given they can show 2 years post PR and then if they were present 2/3 years pre PR in effect they can apply for citizenship a year earlier than someone who cannot claim pre PR.

As said all speculation based on what seems to make common sense but will have to wait and see when actual guidelines are published but until then probably will be extensively debated here.

And as you probably know neither canadavisa or cicnews are official immigration sites.

Full text from the bill (which passed on June 17) in the house of commons say that

"(7) Section 5 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

Length of physical presence — calculation

(1.‍001) For the purpose of subparagraph (1)‍(c)‍(i), the length of physical presence is calculated in the following manner:

(a) for every day during which the person was physically present in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act before becoming a permanent resident, the person accumulates half of a day of physical presence, up to a maximum of 365 days; and

(b) for every day during which the person has been physically present in Canada since becoming a permanent resident, the person accumulates one day of physical presence."

http://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-6/third-reading

There is no mention of 5 years. I'm damn sure that 5 year rule for pre-PR credit doesn't apply unless someone comes up with any other AUTHENTIC source.

 

[Bs65]

Full text from the bill (which passed on June 17) in the house of commons say that

"(7) Section 5 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

Length of physical presence — calculation

(1.‍001) For the purpose of subparagraph (1)‍(c)‍(i), the length of physical presence is calculated in the following manner:

(a) for every day during which the person was physically present in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act before becoming a permanent resident, the person accumulates half of a day of physical presence, up to a maximum of 365 days; and

(b) for every day during which the person has been physically present in Canada since becoming a permanent resident, the person accumulates one day of physical presence."

http://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-6/third-reading

There is no mention of 5 years. I'm damn sure that 5 year rule for pre-PR credit doesn't apply unless someone comes up with any other AUTHENTIC source.

Look you are obviously yourself convinced there is no 5 year rule applying to gain pre PR credit so rather than prolonging a debate on the subject lets all wait and see what the guidelines will say with the revised application documentation and whether someone can claim credit for any time since birth which am sure was not the intention of the rule change maybe it was maybe it wasnt so lets wait and see

 

[Redfield]

Well the Press release explaining the new changes to C-6 states:
- Applicants must be physically present in Canada for three out of five years before applying for citizenship.
- Applicants may count each day they were physically present in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person before becoming a permanent resident as a half-day toward meeting the physical presence requirement for citizenship, up to a maximum credit of 365 days.

So overall yes you can count any day prior to becoming PR at 1/2 day, BUT those accounted days have to go toward your physical presence requirement which is to stay in Canada for 3 years out of 5 years. So let's say you stayed 2 years or Pre-PR then left 3 years and came back a PR and stayed an additionnal two years. That means you got two years of PR and 1 year of Pre-PR, but you do not meet the criteria of 3 years out of 5 years. Because out of 5 years you only got 3 years of absence and 2 years of PR, so they will not grant you your citizenship. Same thing applied prior to C-24.

 

[alternatehero]

Look you are obviously yourself convinced there is no 5 year rule applying to gain pre PR credit so rather than prolonging a debate on the subject lets all wait and see what the guidelines will say with the revised application documentation and whether someone can claim credit for any time since birth which am sure was not the intention of the rule change maybe it was maybe it wasnt so lets wait and see

Here is my 2 cents. In the way it worked before c24 with was 3/4 with pre-PR credit, the credit was never limited to just the 4 years as that wouldn't really make sense because there would be no need to limit the credit to a year because the maximum you could get then would be a year anyway.

So unless this new 3/5 rule is explicitly changing that, then you will be able to count ANY time spent as a worker/student/refugee towards citizenship, not just the last 5 years. In fact, since it's not explicitly written in the law that the pre-PR credit is limited to the 5 year period, it makes it open to challenge. So I'm 99.9% sure that there isn't that limit.

I'll go dig into the wording of the pre C-24 act to find the wording if I have time.

 

[Redfield]

Actually prior to C-24, there was no limit of 365 days because that's as you said all you could get, two years of pre-PR and two years of post-PR and that's exactly why C-6 limits it to 365 days. Because now it has to be 3 out of 5 years so technically the max you could get is 730 days of pré-PR if it wasn't limited to 365 days (4 years pré-PR and 1 year post-PR, accounting for 3 full years of residency requirement).

And as a matter of fact, I'm a 100% sure that no days pré-PR or post-PR were counted outside of those 4 years, all the days you could count had to be within that 4 years limit before C-24 came into force.

 

[alternatehero]

Actually prior to C-24, there was no limit of 365 days because that's as you said all you could get, two years of pre-PR and two years of post-PR and that's exactly why C-6 limits it to 365 days. Because now it has to be 3 out of 5 years so technically the max you could get is 730 days of pré-PR if it wasn't limited to 365 days (4 years pré-PR and 1 year post-PR, accounting for 3 full years of residency requirement).

And as a matter of fact, I'm a 100% sure that no days pré-PR or post-PR were counted outside of those 4 years, all the days you could count had to be within that 4 years limit before C-24 came into force.

Looks like I was wrong.

You are correct about before C-24 I have gone to look up the act here in the archives http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-29/20140801/P1TT3xt3.html and it states:

Grant of citizenship

• Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and has, within the four years immediately preceding the date of his or her application, accumulated at least three years of residence in Canada calculated in the following manner:
  • (i) for every day during which the person was resident in Canada before his lawful admission to Canada for permanent residence the person shall be deemed to have accumulated one-half of a day of residence, and
  • (ii) for every day during which the person was resident in Canada after his lawful admission to Canada for permanent residence the person shall be deemed to have accumulated one day of residence;
• (d) has an adequate knowledge of one of the official languages of Canada;
• (e) has an adequate knowledge of Canada and of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship; and
• (f) is not under a removal order and is not the subject of a declaration by the Governor in Council made pursuant to section 20.

So if they use the same logic for 3/5 then it has to be time within that 5 years

 

[alternatehero]

Also http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-29/ has not been updated with the latest changes which should happen soon. Then i'll look at the full text again

 

[Pulak]

Hi friends, I need your advice. I lost my and my wife's COPR. What to do now? How I can get a copy from CIC or what should asked for. Thanks

 

[screech339]

Hi friends, I need your advice. I lost my and my wife's COPR. What to do now? How I can get a copy from CIC or what should asked for. Thanks

You will have to apply for a verification of status (VOS) as a replacement of your COPR.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/certcopy.asp

 

[Pulak]

You will have to apply for a verification of status (VOS) as a replacement of your COPR.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/certcopy.asp

Thanks a lot.

 

[Ashwani95]

Hi Experts,

Need your expertise. My son's passport didn't have surname (indian passport authority mistake) and that is why Landing form, PR card and SIN number is blank in front of First name however Surname has complete name as XXXXX Kumar.

Now he has got new passport with correct details. Do I need to change his PR card and SIN number before applying for Citizenship alongwith me?
What should me my next action, if any?

Can anyone help me on this query?

 

[badar14]

Can anyone help me on this query?

Its better to change it Ashwani to avoid any confusion in future. Only some Govt. Rep can reply exactly what you need to do.

Syed

 

[matanglawain]

Hi Guys,

I need some advise. I had my middle name omitted on my most of immigration document as well as on my PR card. Is there any way i could have it back? I'll be applying for citizenship once the new bill comes into effect.

Thanks!

 

[hfinkel]

I know people who have submitted 1 year diplomas from Canadian Career colleges and they have been accepted. However I am not sure what you mean by a 12 month certificate? If you mean you have not completed the course, then they will not accept it.

The credential in question is the successful completion of a 12-month programme in computer aided design, a 1-year diploma was issued.