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New Citizenship Reform in Parliment on February 2014 - Chris Alexander

polarbear

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Sep 17, 2012
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Temporary pause of citizenship applications are possible ???

Read this:

Although reducing the wait times for citizenship applications is a desirable goal, McCallum said, it is possible the Conservatives will go about it the wrong way, just as they did in 2012 when they stopped accepting applications for the federal skilled worker program.
 

Dejaavu

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Aug 17, 2013
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I do not think there will be any pause to citizenship applications.

Until we see an actual bill with proposed reforms/changes, it is all speculation what the reform entails.

Let us stay positive :)
 

us2yow

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Dec 15, 2010
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This will go through a lot of debate when it is introduced. Then there's the RCMP investigation of Duffy gate and other stuff which will pick up full speed in Parliament with ruling party being grilled on the scandal - no smoke screens there !

This is becoming like the Bush era down South. Really not the Canada that used to be. Very sad.
 

scylla

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There will certainly be some debate - however it's not in the interests of any opposition party to lobby too hard against these changes since the vast majority of voting Canadian support tougher citizenship laws. Just look at the comments on articles such as the one above to get a flavour for how many people feel. With an election coming, no party is going to want to take a stance against tougher citizenship laws - it will cost them votes.

I agree that I don't think we are going to see a pause on citizenship applications (that's just the opposition party's way of making noise before the bill is actually introduced). However we are certainly going to see changes to the criteria to qualify - likely a longer / stiffer residency requirement.
 

polarbear

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Sep 17, 2012
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But, what about people who have already applied and got their file number and In-Process ? Will their applications will be returned ?
 

informatics

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Aug 3, 2009
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polarbear said:
But, what about people who have already applied and got their file number and In-Process ? Will their applications will be returned ?
It seems unlikely ,however it depends upon the cut-off date such as the Pre-feb 2008 change to FSW was announced only in Nov/Dec 2008 ,having said that,the cut-off date was set at 28th Feb 2008.

In my opinion the only important change could be as said by the Minister ,"the longer residency period for citizenship qualification".


Alexander said the conditions for eligibility will also change.

"That means making sure that people who are becoming citizens have really lived here, and have lived here for enough time to really understand what citizenship is about, what the country is about
 

wadelmaki

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Sep 17, 2013
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Dejaavu said:
I do not think there will be any pause to citizenship applications.

Until we see an actual bill with proposed reforms/changes, it is all speculation what the reform entails.

Let us stay positive :)
Dejaavu,
It will really be unfair if they decided on rejecting the in process applications (especially for someone who lives in AB, MB or BC where the process is taking longer now comparing to other areas). I applied for CS in July and there are others who applied at the same time with me who got their CSs, because they live in GTA or Windsor etc.

I think they will be getting the pause since most people who ready to apply will have to wait for another year (once the new rule get in effect), or so before they apply based on the new rule.

Do you guys think they will extend the validity of the PRs after they extend the citizenship, or they will offer 10 years PRs. For example if someone lived in Canada for three straight years and applied for citizenship they might not need to renew their PR, but if you have to wait for four or five years with the introduction of the new rule, one has to renew their PR. US for example you get 10 yr GC knowing you have to wait five years (in most cases) before you apply for citizenship.

Do you guys know what did they mean by this “The federal government will introduce several changes to Canada's citizenship rules after members of Parliament return to Ottawa next Monday following a six-week hiatus, says Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander.” Does this mean they are going to decide and introduce the bill next Monday?

I am trying to stay positive!
 

jerodkillick

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You are always a PR, as long as you live here within the guidelines. Your card itself expires and it is smart to renew as travel can be a pain across the boarder. The GC in the USA is not "permanent". It requires a easier renewal process.
 

wadelmaki

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Sep 17, 2013
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jerodkillick said:
You are always a PR, as long as you live here within the guidelines. Your card itself expires and it is smart to renew as travel can be a pain across the boarder. The GC in the USA is not "permanent". It requires a easier renewal process.
The GC in USA is permanent provided you abide by the residency requirements. You don't have to renew it unless expires. My point was the 10 yrs rule give you the chance to live with one card before you obtain your citizenship.
I agree to your point that you are always a PR as long you live in Canada within the guidelines.
 

george123

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Jan 24, 2014
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If the law changes, I assume it won't affect in-progress applications. I sent my in December - however, I realized now that I am a situation where my application may be sent back due to incomplete information. If it is sent back, and I need to include another document and return it, and the law changes in the interim, is the date that matters for me:

a) When I signed the documents (which probably wouldn't change when I resend).
b) The date they received or opened the documents the first time
c) The date they received or opened the documents the second time (after I resent them)
 

ramsfe

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Hello everyone,

Let's not start speculating before really knowing what bill the torries will come up with.

According to me, and only to me, they can't touch applications that are in process, they can say however, applications received after this or that date will have to comply with the new rules ( they will have to Table the law, create a new procedure, create new forms etc...). If they had the intention to make a sharp cut quickly, they would have blocked everything administratively from now. I mean, if an applicant fulfills the requirements today, then he can apply, pay the fees, send the documents etc...and Sydney will have to receive the application and process it according to the current law, It would be really weird to say " well, we changed our mind!" we are talking about equality of treatment, about fair applications processing... people who live in Montreal or in Vancouver have the same rights as those who live in Windsor or Hamilton... CIC is still opening and processing applications they are receiving till further notice.

Landed immigrants are not exactly "foreign workers" that you can play with as you please, we are part of the canadian society and we have protected rights that temporary residents dont have. Again, according to me, they can't just throw away our applications because they have decided to do so, however, once the new rules will get adopted, that's another story and all those who will apply after this moment will have to comply with the new rules.... otherwise, this would be a huge waste of money and valueable time, think of it this way : If they have the slightest intention of returning our applications after the new law gets adopted, why would they spend money and ressources on processing them now ?

However, nobody will know for sure until the torries decide to communicate correctly, they have been doing an awful job in communicating their intentions and this is why a lot of people are LOST and are asking very valid questions ! If they decide to go the wrong way, we still live in a democracy and tribunals are there for such cases... litigations will cost millions of $ and much more in reputation, so if I was them, I wouldn't go this way!
 

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george123 said:
If the law changes, I assume it won't affect in-progress applications. I sent my in December - however, I realized now that I am a situation where my application may be sent back due to incomplete information. If it is sent back, and I need to include another document and return it, and the law changes in the interim, is the date that matters for me:

a) When I signed the documents (which probably wouldn't change when I resend).
b) The date they received or opened the documents the first time
c) The date they received or opened the documents the second time (after I resent them)
It will be c).
 

txboyscout

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Let's not panic :)

First of law it takes a decent amount of time to get a bill through Parliament. Even if we are looking at a Feb tabling, it will easily be the summer before it can be enacted if it is all smooth sailing for the bill. And that is saying a lot. Noting in politics is smooth sailing. The oppostion parties will oppose and want to debate the bill just because.

Secondly, this particular govt like to introduce massive overhauls seemingly overnight. The way Chris Alexander has been blabbing about it for months now makes me think that is a going to be nothing but a watered down version of the changes that his party's base demanded.