jagota_j said:
Not sure if you have heard about any developments of when would CIC be counting the pre PR Canadian residency time (on work permit/student visa) towards applying for citizenship?
Thanks
To restore credit for pre-landing time, the
Citizenship Act will need to be revised/amended. This requires the tabling and adopting of an Act of Parliament. While the Liberals have indicated they will make such revisions to the
Citizenship Act, at least for students (per mandate letter from PM Trudeau to Minister McCallum), so far there is no particular proposal for this. Thus, there is not even a concrete plan, as yet, to table the required legislation. Might happen later this year, or not for a year or two. If it happens. Once the legislation is tabled, do not expect the Liberals to ram the legislation through like the Conservatives did when Harper was PM. The Liberals have vowed to fully engage in the democratic process, which means consultations and studies and debate and consideration given to proposed amendments by other members of Parliament. In other words,
it will take a considerable amount of time for this to happen.
Otherwise guessing when it will happen (assuming it will happen . . . a fairly tenuous assumption itself) would be no more than a wild guess. It is safe to say, I'd venture, that the restoration of pre-landing credit will not happen and be effective for many months . . . my guess is not this year, although it is possible that the Liberals could move on this in time to get it done toward the end of the year.
I would further note that doing this is not so simple as some think. How it would work, in any way that would really be of practical use, under the 4/6 rule and the 183 days X 4 CY rule, is likely to complicated. To change these, however, in a way that would effectively go back to the prior scheme (pursuant to which the pre-landing credit provided a real benefit to those who qualified it), is something the Liberals have not hinted they are likely to do. Which is to say, an effective restoration of credit for pre-landing time is likely to involve extensive study and consultations and consideration of various approaches.
It is going to be a long while, at best, before this happens.
