Need to leave Canada for a year.

[Xavier7]

Hello friends,
I need your advice regarding my situation.

My wife and I have been Canadian PR holders since 2018. We applied for citizenship 1.5 months ago and decided to go back to our home country for 3-4 months to visit our family members and get some help with our 2-year-old son. However, we have to stay longer than four months due to family-related issues. I wonder if I should somehow let CIC know about our situation, or maybe it's not a good idea to leave the country for that long?
We are ok to return to Canada if we are required/asked to attend testing/interviewing.

I really appreciate any advice you can give.

 

[marika89]

Do you still have an address in Canada? We are in a similar situation and I have not informed CIC because I view this as an extended vacation and still have the same home address I used when submitting the application. In my opinion you're fine.

 

[Xavier7]

Do you still have an address in Canada? We are in a similar situation and I have not informed CIC because I view this as an extended vacation and still have the same home address I used when submitting the application. In my opinion you're fine.

We do not have an address in Canada, we provided our friend's address in the application in case they return it or want to contact us.

 

[lifein360]

You will need to come back to Canada to take your oath, receive your citizenship certificate and apply for passport and - if needed - apply for visa for your home country again. This may take 4-6 weeks possibly to complete at minimum.

I dont think IRCC will resume in person testing in 2022 with all that is going on. Online testing can be done anywhere - need not be Canada

Since you applied only 1.5 months ago - I think you can expect to travel back to Canada maybe in the fall of next year, or even winter as 12 months is just an average. So plan for that.

 

[Xavier7]

You will need to come back to Canada to take your oath, receive your citizenship certificate and apply for passport and - if needed - apply for visa for your home country again. This may take 4-6 weeks possibly to complete at minimum.

I dont think IRCC will resume in person testing in 2022 with all that is going on. Online testing can be done anywhere - need not be Canada

Since you applied only 1.5 months ago - I think you can expect to travel back to Canada maybe in the fall of next year, or even winter as 12 months is just an average. So plan for that.

I thought I'll have to physically be present in Canada for testing even though it can be online. But before all that happens, do you think I should inform CIC about my situation?
I don't have a Canadian address right now, however, the friend's address I provided is reachable.

 

[lechunayar]

Hello
Can I apply for canadian citizenship from USA. I was physically present in canada for 1095 days. But moved to US. I did not get a chance to apply for citizenship while i was in Canada.

 

[CDN1234]

You can leave Canada after you've applied.
https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=911&top=5
Yes. You can leave Canada after we receive your application.
If you need to leave Canada and want to stay eligible for Canadian citizenship, you must:

• make sure that you live in Canada long enough to keep your Permanent Resident (PR) status
• be a permanent resident (when you apply)
• not lose PR status before you take the Oath of Citizenship
• bring your PR card with you when you leave Canada so you can return easily

Re: lechuanayar, I was temporarily away and applied from the US. You just need to make sure you fulfill the requirements stated above. You might need a Canadian address.

 

[lechunayar]

You can leave Canada after you've applied.
https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=911&top=5
Yes. You can leave Canada after we receive your application.
If you need to leave Canada and want to stay eligible for Canadian citizenship, you must:

• make sure that you live in Canada long enough to keep your Permanent Resident (PR) status
• be a permanent resident (when you apply)
• not lose PR status before you take the Oath of Citizenship
• bring your PR card with you when you leave Canada so you can return easily

Re: lechuanayar, I was temporarily away and applied from the US. You just need to make sure you fulfill the requirements stated above. You might need a Canadian address.

Thank you so much for your replay.

So in the physical presence calculator (PPC), they are asking for the date returned to canada. Since I am not there in Canada right now, I wont be able to fill that date. The only thing I can do is while filling the PPC, i can put my last day in canada as elibile period. But then I need to sign putting the same old date on PPC (nearly 4 months back dated). I can put only that date on the main application form as well. So basically 4 month old application. Can I do that?

Once again thank you

 

[Esi1979]

How do they check PR status in the oath ceremony