Citizenship Application For Minor

[ddnatt]

I would like to submit an application for my 11 year old daughter given the circumstance outlined below and would like your advice on whether it is wise and prudent to do so at this time, given the direction from the CIC which says "You must have resided in Canada for at least three years (1,095 days) in the past four years before you apply. This does not apply to children under 18."

I applied and have been granted Citizenship this year, having become Landed PRs with the wife and daughter in 2009. My wife hasn't clocked the required 1095 days for Citizenship but has met the 730 days required for PR card renewal and so will be doing so.


My daughter started attending a very good school in the UK where we immigrated from just before we Landed in Canada and we decided it was best she continued and finish primary schooling before coming over, so she is out of Canada for over 6 months at a time schooling in the UK and comes back 1 - 2 times a year on holidays and we go visiting with mum spending longer periods than I do, which helps towards daughter's RO days from being out of the country with a PR parent.

When I applied for citizenship I noted my daughter's details (supplying school records from the UK) but did not include her in my application because I wasn't sure if Residency Obligations applied to her, I was worried I ran the risk of a RQ if I did and didn't want to take the chance.

So given the above and my daughter's PR card is up for renewal in Sept 2014, please advise if, as a parent now with citizenship, if it wise to make a citizenship application and/or Permanent Residency card renewal application now for my daughter who is a minor or if not what are my options.

 

[screech339]

I am not so sure about your daughter qualifying for canadian citizenship. I still think she will required to meet her 3/4 years in order to qualify. Time abroad for studies despite main residency is in Canada will not count towards qualification.

There was a court case of a daughter applying for Canadian citizenship and claimed that despite herself being in US for studies, her days of official residency counts towards citizenship qualifications. She lost the case and got denied canadian citizenship since she was not physically inside Canada thus didn't meet the residency requirement as it was intended for.

Screech339

 

[Msafiri]

1. Minors do not have to meet the 1095 days requirement so in your fear of an RQ you made the mistake of not including your daughter in your application which was the best option to have taken.

2. Accompanying a PR parent abroad doesn't count towards your RO unless the parent is working for the Canadian Government (Armed Forces/Diplomatic service) or is posted overseas on a full time basis by a bona fide Canadian Business.

3. All citizenship applicants must not be under report as at oath date so the problem your daughter now has is maintaining the RO of 730 days in the relevant 5 year rolling period. At PR Card renewal CIC will examine her RO and if she is reported then forget about the citizenship application. I haven't done the math but you may wish to reconsider her studying in the UK and for her to relocate back to Canada.

 

[PMM]

Hi

1. Minors do not have to meet the 1095 days requirement so in your fear of an RQ you made the mistake of not including your daughter in your application which was the best option to have taken.

2. Accompanying a PR parent abroad doesn't count towards your RO unless the parent is working for the Canadian Government (Armed Forces/Diplomatic service) or is posted overseas on a full time basis by a bona fide Canadian Business.

3. All citizenship applicants must not be under report as at oath date so the problem your daughter now has is maintaining the RO of 730 days in the relevant 5 year rolling period. At PR Card renewal CIC will examine her RO and if she is reported then forget about the citizenship application. I haven't done the math but you may wish to reconsider her studying in the UK and for her to relocate back to Canada.

You should note that the daughter has to be in Canada to apply for citizenship.

 

[screech339]

I thought the children would be exempt from the residency requirement if the children was not given canadian citizenship due to one of the parents being 2nd generation Canadian. Once the child gets PR and in Canada, only then they can immediately apply for Canadian citizenship.

It doesn't seem fair for PR children to be exempt from RQ if one of the parents wasn't Canadian at time of birth.

Screech339

 

[ddnatt]

Thanks guys for the replies.

According to the CIC directions on determining one's eligibility to become a citizen, I tried including the CIC link but kept getting a site validation error, it is in a thread on a similar topic with the following heading:

Do minors have to be physically present in Canada for 2 out of 5 years?

It says that a parent can make an application on behalf of a child under 18, as long as the parent is either - "a Canadian citizen or apply to become a citizen at the same time" and for the requirement for time lived in Canada (i.e. 1,095 days in the past four years before you apply) - "does not apply to children under 18".

Guys, correct me if I am wrong here, I read this to mean: a parent who is eligible to make an application for citizenship can include his children under 18 in that application OR when a citizen can apply for his children under 18 AND in either scenario, the residency obligations doesn't apply to minor's application? Surely, now that I am a citizen, I can now still submit the application for my child who is a minor if I could have done so when I was making my application, I would have think?

My daughter is 11 years old, so I can swear the oath on her behalf and I will only make the application on an occasion when she is physically present in Canada.

I wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to make up for my previous error of judgement Grin!!

Please advise, Thanks!!

 

[Msafiri]

......It says that a parent can make an application on behalf of a child under 18, as long as the parent is either - "a Canadian citizen or apply to become a citizen at the same time" and for the requirement for time lived in Canada (i.e. 1,095 days in the past four years before you apply) - "does not apply to children under 18"....

You are confusing 2 issues - minors do not have to have 1095 days of physical presence as required for adults but under the Citizenship Act any PR under report is not eligible for citizenship. Even minors can and do get reported if they breach the RO. CIC already know your child lives abroad - your problem is if this is an issue when she is renewing her PR Card in Sep 2014. If CIC report her then no dice on the citizenship!!

 

[ar_fabrics]

For PR card renewal 730 days physically presence in Canada are required even in case of children.But for citizenship 1095 days are not necessary for Minors but their PR status should not be in doubt.

 

[Aminanuorfarida]

Thanks guys for the replies.

According to the CIC directions on determining one's eligibility to become a citizen, I tried including the CIC link but kept getting a site validation error, it is in a thread on a similar topic with the following heading:

Do minors have to be physically present in Canada for 2 out of 5 years?

It says that a parent can make an application on behalf of a child under 18, as long as the parent is either - "a Canadian citizen or apply to become a citizen at the same time" and for the requirement for time lived in Canada (i.e. 1,095 days in the past four years before you apply) - "does not apply to children under 18".

Guys, correct me if I am wrong here, I read this to mean: a parent who is eligible to make an application for citizenship can include his children under 18 in that application OR when a citizen can apply for his children under 18 AND in either scenario, the residency obligations doesn't apply to minor's application? Surely, now that I am a citizen, I can now still submit the application for my child who is a minor if I could have done so when I was making my application, I would have think?

My daughter is 11 years old, so I can swear the oath on her behalf and I will only make the application on an occasion when she is physically present in Canada.

I wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to make up for my previous error of judgement Grin!!

Please advise, Thanks!!

I am just wondering if you ever went through with applying for your daughters citizenship and if you managed to get it or was she rejected