waivers of residency requirement - citizenship with less than 1095 days here

[catteau]

I have applied for citizenship but I have not been here 1095 days in past 4 years, and I will never be able to be here that much until I retire. I'm a freelance consultant working on short-term overseas assignments - almost all my work is abroad. I'm in Canada enough to maintain residency but never enough to meet the 75%-of-4-years requirement.

I explained all this in great detail in my application. Just finished filling out a residency questionnaire in which I explained it all again, in more great detail, provided contracts for all my work in past four years, lots of data on time overseas, plus the usual info on my home here, community contacts, medical care, etc.

Has anyone applied for citizenship under similar circumstances? Any idea of the chances of getting it?

In January I spoke to an immigration lawyer who advised that I apply immediately - she said the chances were better under the old law, so I should get my application in before the new ones goes into effect. I did that.

Just wondering what others' experience is with this situation, if any.



Catteau

 

[scylla]

You should post your question to the citizenship section of the forum. However to answer your questions, the chances of approval are very low (even under the old rules). You can also expect the process to take quite a long time since you will have to appear in front of a citizenship judge. It does somewhat depend on how short you are in days. If you're short a handful of days - you have some chance of approval. If you are short a lot more than that - the chances are pretty much nil.