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what happens if you apply in advance of meeting residence requirements?

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chibiks

Hero Member
Apr 12, 2010
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if you will meet residency requirement in Nov 14 and you apply now to cut down the wait and avert impact of any law changes between now and then, will it work?
 
If you meet the basic requirements, that is you have been a PR for at least 3 years or you have been a PR for 2 years with 2 years of stay on a temporary visa before that, but do not meet the physical presence of 1095 days in the past 4 years, your application would take the scenic route through the system and in a couple of years, you may be asked to attend an interview to explain what makes you so special that you should get citizenship without having to meet 1095 days like everybody else. If the citizenship judge doesn't agree, you will be rejected and may apply again. Having made the 1095 days in between is not going to help as you must meet the requirements before you apply.

If you do not meet the basic requirements, they will not process your application at all.
 
Leon said:
If you meet the basic requirements, that is you have been a PR for at least 3 years or you have been a PR for 2 years with 2 years of stay on a temporary visa before that, but do not meet the physical presence of 1095 days in the past 4 years, your application would take the scenic route through the system and in a couple of years, you may be asked to attend an interview to explain what makes you so special that you should get citizenship without having to meet 1095 days like everybody else. If the citizenship judge doesn't agree, you will be rejected and may apply again. Having made the 1095 days in between is not going to help as you must meet the requirements before you apply.

If you do not meet the basic requirements, they will not process your application at all.
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TRANSLATION: If you sign the application today, the 8th of Jan 2014, they will look to see if you had the 1095 days before today's date. It won't matter that you will have met the 1095 days by the time they look at it. So it won't save you any time as they may just outright reject it at Nova Scotia and send the app back and tell you to apply when you meet the physical presence requirement. Unless they go the Judge route and he rejects your application 3-4 years down the road and tells you to reapply
 
chibiks said:
if you will meet residency requirement in Nov 14 and you apply now to cut down the wait and avert impact of any law changes between now and then, will it work?
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Short answer: NO
 
Here's the real answer:
A friend of mine had the same wonderful idea knowing in advance he did not meet basic residency requirement.
Application got returned to him with an explanation and the date he would meet it.
Cheers!
 
It is in the RQ trigger and you risk an application rejected.
the physical residency is the only condition that CIC check to grant citizenship.
My advise wait until you filled.
 
keesio said:
Short answer: NO
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Funnily, the US allows to apply 90 days in advance to compensate for the processing times and the whole process there is just 5-6 months!

Incredible approach in the US designed with care for the people in mind, isn't it?

"90-Days Early Application Rule

Despite the five years of permanent residence requirement, you are actually allowed to submit your naturalization application to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) within the 90-days before your five-year anniversary has arrived. The reason has to do with timing.

Your application must be submitted by mail, using a form provided by USCIS called an "N-400." USCIS will take a long time to process the N-400, to arrange for you to be fingerprinted, and to call you in for the interview at which it actually reviews your application, tests you on your knowledge of English and U.S. government, and makes a decision on whether to approve or deny you.

In fact, USCIS will in all likelihood take at least 90 days to call you in for your interview, which is why it has officially said that you are safe applying within that time period."
 
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EasyRider said:
Funnily, the US allows to apply 90 days in advance to compensate for the processing times and the whole process there is just 5-6 months!

"You can apply for U.S. naturalization (way of getting U.S. citizenship) up to 90 days in advance of you meeting all other eligibility requirements."

No such privilege created for the people in Canada.
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Yes, they do a lot of funny things in the US.
 
Time to move to US for permanent residence :)

Immigration there is so much easier in terms of processing!
 
Dejaavu said:
Time to move to US for permanent residence :)

Immigration there is so much easier in terms of processing!
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They had slow citizenship processing several years ago, btw, up to 3+ years, but that was fixed with class-action lawsuits.

I wonder how it'll play out in Canada, because lots of people now start to reach 3+ year processing times because of RQ's of 2012 and a number of lawsuits (Mandamus) is going to start increasing very soon.
 
EasyRider said:
They had slow citizenship processing several years ago, btw, up to 3+ years, but that was fixed with class-action lawsuits.

I wonder how it'll play out in Canada, because lots of people now start to reach 3+ year processing times because of RQ's of 2012 and a number of lawsuits (Mandamus) is going to start increasing very soon.
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But if I understand correctly, mandamus can't be the basis for a class action suit. It can only be used to address an individual case. What would the legal basis of a class action suit be? I still wonder if there is room for judicial review of the disparity in waiting times between various offices: 7 months in Windsor, 30 months in Winnipeg for a routine case. This smacks of iniquity due to geography and seems like a possible opening for a challenge.
 
chibiks said:
if you will meet residency requirement in Nov 14 and you apply now to cut down the wait and avert impact of any law changes between now and then, will it work?
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A second bite eh!

Citizenship Act Sec 5 - Special cases

(4) In order to alleviate cases of special and unusual hardship or to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada, and notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Governor in Council may, in his discretion, direct the Minister to grant citizenship to any person and, where such a direction is made, the Minister shall forthwith grant citizenship to the person named in the direction.

So there is hope yet!!!
 
EasyRider,
Good that they did that in the US. My friend got his citizenship in 3 months after his submitting his application in Washington DC.

I heard Canada used to be like that too.
 
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links18 said:
But if I understand correctly, mandamus can't be the basis for a class action suit. It can only be used to address an individual case. What would the legal basis of a class action suit be? I still wonder if there is room for judicial review of the disparity in waiting times between various offices: 7 months in Windsor, 30 months in Winnipeg for a routine case. This smacks of iniquity due to geography and seems like a possible opening for a challenge.
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Seems to be so, because in the US there's a time limit for processing in law which was being broken all the time. But I wonder what options are available in Canada, because 2014 will be critical, all because of a wave of RQ's that has started in May 2012 and lots of people are reaching 3 year mark by now with no resolution. Moreover, there a growing number of people who have been waiting for 3+ years since RQ submission alone. Outcomes of the 1st wave of cases can set precedent how the rest of delayed cases will be handled by the courts. What CIC will do?
 
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