How does my wife prove she has been in Canada, to become a Canadian citizen?

[canadaguy123]

My wife has finally obtained her permanent residency. I read somewhere for her to become a Canadian citizen at some point, she needs to prove she has been physically been in Canada for that amount of time. What kind of documentation would she need to prove that?

Also does it take 3 years before she is allowed to apply to become a Canadian citizen?

 

[Bs65]

First the current rule is physical presence as a PR 4 years out of previous 6 years.

Check out here for physical presence calculator https://eservices.cic.gc.ca/rescalc/resCalcStartNew.do?&lang=en&_ga=1.9929139.76285247.1469944572 with instructions.

There is a bill in process to reduce the presence requirement to 3 years but no idea if or when that will become law. Plenty of discussion on this forum about that so no need get back into that here. http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/need-urgent-help-with-physical-presence-calculator-t440736.0.html

 

[canadaguy123]

Thank you.

Yeah, from what I've been reading there are all kinds of new immigration laws coming in the fall.

I know that they want to take away the law of staying with your spouse for 2 years (or face deportation), and that they want to do away with stripping people of their citizenship.

 

[scylla]

My wife has finally obtained her permanent residency. I read somewhere for her to become a Canadian citizen at some point, she needs to prove she has been physically been in Canada for that amount of time. What kind of documentation would she need to prove that?

Also does it take 3 years before she is allowed to apply to become a Canadian citizen?

Note that as of now, any pre-PR time cannot be counted towards citizenship. So under current rules, your wife will need to wait at least four years from the time she became a PR before she will qualify to apply for citizenship.

Assuming the new rules pass, she will be able to use pre-PR time towards up to one year of the three year residency requirement. This means she will need to wait at least two years from the time she became a PR before she will qualify to apply for citizenship.

 

[Alias]

Hi,

One of my friend received an RQ (for his wife) where CIC asked proof of her post -PR stay in Canada. The wife was a stay at home mom and was not working. So to prove her residency my friend submitted all her doctor/dentist visit details, credit card statements, etc. This documentation was accepted and she got her citizenship. So if your wife is not working, then it may be worthwhile for a doctor's visit every 3 months and some monthly spend on her credit card. Keep the documentation as required. Hope this helps,

Thanks,

 

[canadaguy123]

scylla and alias, this was perfect information. Thank you everyone for the help. I will take the advice.

 

[susann]

What worked well for proof is to take a course that is offers by government.

The English Link classes are great for proof of being in Canada and they are accepted as a language proof as well. So you get two birds with one stone. They are free of charge for PR for 5 years and sometimes CIC will provide funding for them.

Theses causes are offered as part time or full time and some places even have daycare on site.

There have been no questions about residency even with only a few days over the requirements and never worked in Canada.

Susann