Citizenship rule change for 2016

[Avi0304]

Hey all
Does anyone know if the 2 year after pr to apply for citizenship rule coming back in 2016 or is it still going to stay the same as now (4years)?

 

[scylla]

We don't know.

 

[keesio]

Hey all
Does anyone know if the 2 year after pr to apply for citizenship rule coming back in 2016 or is it still going to stay the same as now (4years)?

making changes in major government policy takes time. It took the conservatives like 3 years to get C-24 passed. It took CIC like another year to implement the changes. Expecting changes so soon is optimistic.

 

[itsmyid]

Hey all
Does anyone know if the 2 year after pr to apply for citizenship rule coming back in 2016 or is it still going to stay the same as now (4years)?

2 years after PR? When was that a rule?

 

[cprak0]

2 years after PR? When was that a rule?

You could have got a years worth if you were in Canada before you became a PR... but the complications of calculating
residence with all those options is probably what called for long processing time...

 

[amazingTOO]

if they use 4/6 rule, 0.5 days TR time make let you credit 2 year maximun for citizenship, 4year tr+2 year pr= 4 years in 6 years for citizenship.
good for all the university students, and they all can vote for liberal in 2019 ;D

 

[dpenabill]

Hey all
Does anyone know if the 2 year after pr to apply for citizenship rule coming back in 2016 or is it still going to stay the same as now (4years)?

While I agree with scylla, that we do not know, it is safe to say this is not likely, and my sense is that it is not at all likely (very little if any chance).

Indeed, even if the Liberals quickly restore credit for pre-PR time, that is not likely to be done in a manner which reduces the minimum PR time to merely two years.

But as keesio observed, even if such changes are going to be made by the Liberal government, it will take time.



Regarding the old rule which had a 2 years minimum as a PR element:

Even that rule required a minimum three years residency, and thus the 2 year minimum really only applied to PRs who were entitled to credit for time in Canada prior to becoming a PR.

The rule is now a minimum of FOUR years, and that is based entirely on time in Canada after landing, time while a PR.

There is no indication that the Liberals plan to restore the three year residency rule (the 3/4 rule). Perhaps they might tackle this, but it does not appear on their current to-do list.

Just what a credit for pre-PR time will look like, if and when that happens, is an unknown. Perhaps it will allow a half credit for up to the two years prior to becoming a PR, thus potentially allowing up to a year's credit. Under the current physical presence requirements that would reduce the minimum time in Canada, after becoming a PR, to three (rather than four) years. But when this would take effect is also an unknown, and 2016 is probably a long shot.



Generally, for PRs planning relative to their individual path to citizenship:

Current law is the biggest indicator of what will be required. Currently the minimum is four years physically in Canada after becoming a PR.

That said, PRs now can only roughly plan based on the current law. The law is always subject to being changed. But it does take time for laws to be changed. Depending on how important it is to become a citizen sooner rather than later, the best an individual can do is to be aware of the current law, plan on that law governing, but have contingency plans in event the law changes and watch for those changes. Even when changes are set out in a formal Bill tabled in Parliament, that is no guarantee those changes will be adopted, let alone as to when they will take effect. If they pass the second reading, the likelihood they will become law increases significantly (a lot of Bills never pass a second reading), but until a final version is fully adopted there is no guarantee and in particular when the changes will take effect can still be very much an open question (for example, we did not know for sure when the physical presence requirements, changed by Bill C-24 which was adopted in June 2014, would take effect until the end of May 2015, literally days before they did take effect).

if they use 4/6 rule, 0.5 days TR time make let you credit 2 year maximun for citizenship, 4year tr+2 year pr= 4 years in 6 years for citizenship.
good for all the university students, and they all can vote for liberal in 2019 ;D

There are many possibilities regarding the restoring of credit for pre-PR time, including this one, but my guess is this one is, at best, a long shot.

In any event, unless and until there is an actual Bill tabled in Parliament, to amend section 5.(1) of the Citizenship Act, there is no point speculating . . . nothing to count on, nothing to base planning on. And the very soonest we will see a Bill tabled regarding this is not until well into 2016 (and more likely not then, and not for quite awhile beyond that).

 

[mumbai1985]

Even if pre-pr credit is restored - how would they calculate the number of days? According to the new rule you should be physically present for 183 days. If pre- pr credit is half day, then one must have spent no days outside Canada during that year. Unless they change the rule completely (I.e , remove 183 days per year rule), pre-pr time does not make much sense to most folks.

 

[itsmyid]

Even if pre-pr credit is restored - how would they calculate the number of days? According to the new rule you should be physically present for 183 days. If pre- pr credit is half day, then one must have spent no days outside Canada during that year. Unless they change the rule completely (I.e , remove 183 days per year rule), pre-pr time does not make much sense to most folks.

Pre-PR credits are mostly for people on student visa or work permit, so most of them would have no problem spending at least 10 months in canada every year if they want to stay in school or keep their job

 

[mumbai1985]

Pre-PR credits are mostly for people on student visa or work permit, so most of them would have no problem spending at least 10 months in canada every year if they want to stay in school or keep their job

10 months is not equal to 183 days, if each day is counted as half day. You've to be in canada for all 365 days.

 

[screech339]

10 months is not equal to 183 days, if each day is counted as half day. You've to be in canada for all 365 days.

Actually 183 days means you need to be in Canada 366 pre-PR days. There are 365 days in a year. So how can you count pre-PR days if you can't even get 183 days. What's the point?

Counting pre-PR half days would work in the year you land as PR, since 1 day counts as PR and adds to 183 per year requirement.

 

[dpenabill]

Even if pre-pr credit is restored - how would they calculate the number of days? According to the new rule you should be physically present for 183 days. If pre- pr credit is half day, then one must have spent no days outside Canada during that year. Unless they change the rule completely (I.e , remove 183 days per year rule), pre-pr time does not make much sense to most folks.

The mandate letter to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, John McCallum, specifically reiterates what the Liberal platform said (except for omitting reference to temp workers in addition to students), which is that the Liberals intend to provide for a pre-PR time credit toward qualification for citizenship. This is a subject already addressed in multiple other topics, where I have gone into some depth regarding the IF and WHEN this will actually happen, both largely unknowns.

It seems quite likely to happen, but it probably will not happen soon, not happen in time for applications in 2016 (if, however, the legislation was part of the same Bill to repeal revocation provisions, which has been promised to happen by the spring of 2016, it is possible the credit could be available by late in 2016).


How the credit will actually work:

Aside from the IF and WHEN questions, regarding how the credit will actually work I stated above that "Just what a credit for pre-PR time will look like . . . is an unknown."

This is far more an unknown than the if/when questions.

As I further noted, above, regarding the prospect of a credit as described by amazingTOO, there are many possibilities BUT until there is an actual Bill tabled in Parliament, there is NO point in speculating what it will look like, how it will actually work.

In the discussions taking place in other topics about this, I specifically discuss some of the complications involved. Including how a credit will work in conjunction with the current physical presence requirements, especially the 183 X 4CY requirement. I did so not to speculate about what sort of credit the Liberals will restore, but to illustrate that the legislation to do this is not a simple fix, and thus is reason to anticipate it could take a significant period of time for the Liberal government to study and collaborate and do consultations toward drafting the legislation which will reinstate a credit for pre-PR time.

To some extent, we might anticipate that restoring credit for pre-PR time might also involve amending the physical presence requirements themselves, either the 4/6 rule, or the 183 X 4CY requirement. But again, this would be speculating, and the possibilities are so many that any such speculation is really, utterly worthless.

I would bet a lot that even Minister McCallum does not yet have a concrete idea about what restoring the credit will actually involve. This is something which will require study and consultation. The Liberals are not likely to just decide an outcome and march ahead to implement that, but rather are likely to study the issue, consider input from many sources, especially government and non-government stakeholders, and strive toward an informed, reasoned solution which will give temporary residents a valuable credit toward attaining eligibility for citizenship. But how that is actually done is totally unknowable at this stage, not at all predictable.

Current PRs can really only rely on what the current requirements are, and go by those unless and until there are specific concrete changes actually being acted on by Parliament.

 

[bestmbaman]

I have just heard today that there would be changes to the previous rules that were put in effect dring Harper's. These include the change in no. of yrs for citisenship returning to 3 yrs (from 4 yrs) and the 183 days/year be removed. Also there is another one about students PR applications which I am not sure but heard that has been in effect since Harper's time that will be also changed. So, anybody have news on these?any comments?

 

[keesio]

These include the change in no. of yrs for citisenship returning to 3 yrs (from 4 yrs) and the 183 days/year be removed

Is this confirmed? All I heard about was the "second class citizen" things (can revoke Canadian citizenship for dual citizens) and the time spent in Canada before PR counting for citizneship. All the other ones were unconfirmed. Do you have a link to an article somewhere?

 

[itsmyid]

Is this confirmed? All I heard about was the "second class citizen" things (can revoke Canadian citizenship for dual citizens) and the time spent in Canada before PR counting for citizneship. All the other ones were unconfirmed. Do you have a link to an article somewhere?

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?mthd=tp&crtr.page=1&nid=1036049&crtr.tp1D=930