Canadian Citizenship Application Question 10.b

[sreeraj115@gmail.com]

Hi,

While filling Citizenship application form, Question 10.b asks whether in past 4 years you were in a country other than Canada for 183 days or more in a row. I have been a Permanent Resident for 3 years and 6 months. I lived in India, my home country for 2 months before moving to Canada. Prior to that, I lived in Qatar for 5 years. If I am applying in August 2021 and consider past 4 years starting from August 2017, technically I lived in Qatar for 4 months i.e. 120 days. Can I opt 'No' in that case? Or do they consider from January 2017 onwards when they say past 4 years? I can wait until January 2022 to submit my application and avoid this whole confusion though.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Hi,

While filling Citizenship application form, Question 10.b asks whether in past 4 years you were in a country other than Canada for 183 days or more in a row. I have been a Permanent Resident for 3 years and 6 months. I lived in India, my home country for 2 months before moving to Canada. Prior to that, I lived in Qatar for 5 years. If I am applying in August 2021 and consider past 4 years starting from August 2017, technically I lived in Qatar for 4 months i.e. 120 days. Can I opt 'No' in that case? Or do they consider from January 2017 onwards when they say past 4 years? I can wait until January 2022 to submit my application and avoid this whole confusion though.

For this particular case : If the 4 year period is from August 2017 and you haven't lived in any country for more than 180 days in a row starting August 2017, you can answer "No" and you would not have to submit a PCC IMO.

 

[BreakingBad]

I am in the exact same situation. I will have 5 months for 4 years period, dont know what to do with it. As of now I am planning to put yes and include PCC. If someone can confirm from personal experience it will be a lot more helpful.

@sreeraj115@gmail.com

 

[Seym]

@BreakingBad If you can easily provide the PCC, then great, do so if you want, doesn't harm. If not, well, the IRCC rule is quite clear, 5 months in the past 4 years doesn't require one, and you don't have to provide one given your situation.
If IRCC deems necessary to ask for an additional document (PCC or something else) down the line, they will ask for it at some point, but that's not something that happens for the vast majority of applicants.

 

[sreeraj115@gmail.com]

I think I will proceed by opting 'No' and see how it goes. Since they are counting days, not months or years, I don't have any reason to opt 'Yes'. Since I had already submitted PCC from Qatar as part of PR process and I never went back to that country after moving to Canada, as per the examples they have given, there is no reason for them to ask for PCC again. IRCC can anyways ask for PCC no matter what I opt. So waiting for completing 4 years might not help.

 

[sreeraj115@gmail.com]

For this particular case : If the 4 year period is from August 2017 and you haven't lived in any country for more than 180 days in a row starting August 2017, you can answer "No" and you would not have to submit a PCC IMO.

Thank you for your response. So if I lived in Qatar since 2013, while entering address details for past 5 years, I can use the starting day in Qatar as August 2016? My eligibility period starts in August 2016 and hence I believe I don't have to mention where I lived before that

 

[sreeraj115@gmail.com]

You don’t need to provide a police certificate if

• you were in your country of origin immediately prior to becoming a permanent resident and landing in Canada, and
• this time falls within the past 4 years

Does this means that you don't have to provide PCC from any countries you resided before you came back to your country of origin, provided this condition is true? Or is it that you don't have to provide PCC from your country of origin? So confusing.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

You don’t need to provide a police certificate if

• you were in your country of origin immediately prior to becoming a permanent resident and landing in Canada, and
• this time falls within the past 4 years

Does this means that you don't have to provide PCC from any countries you resided before you came back to your country of origin, provided this condition is true? Or is it that you don't have to provide PCC from your country of origin? So confusing.

Well, there is an "and" between the two conditions so it shouldn't be confusing. This exemption applies only to the country you were residing in right before you established Permanent Residence in Canada.

For any other country you've stayed in for 183 days or more in a row in the past 4 years (except for the aforementioned "country of origin"), you'll need to provide a PCC.

 

[ReginaSK008]

Hi Sreeraj, I am in the same boat. Please text me at (306) 596 3884