What happens if you dont apply for citizenship after the 5 years?

[ihaveadog]

Hi All,

I have a question regarding the citizenship time frame.

I have a family member who's entitled to apply for their citizenship, but they refuse as they don't need it as they are all set(don't ask me why I'm questioning it myself.)

My question is if 5 years do pass since you got your PR and don't apply, can you still apply later on?

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Hi All,

I have a question regarding the citizenship time frame.

I have a family member who's entitled to apply for their citizenship, but they refuse as they don't need it as they are all set(don't ask me why I'm questioning it myself.)

My question is if 5 years do pass since you got your PR and don't apply, can you still apply later on?

Nothing will happen and life will move on just fine. Applying for citizenship is a choice, not an obligation. They can still apply later on if they change their mind.

 

[harirajmohan]

Hi All,

I have a question regarding the citizenship time frame.

I have a family member who's entitled to apply for their citizenship, but they refuse as they don't need it as they are all set(don't ask me why I'm questioning it myself.)

My question is if 5 years do pass since you got your PR and don't apply, can you still apply later on?

Eligibility is based on last 5 years from the date of application. So everyday we loose one day in residency qualification.
Also one should be on PR status till oath, not only just meeting 3 years out of 5 years, also to be maintaining 2 years out of 5 years till oath.

 

[ybjianada]

No you can't. You have only one chance. If you miss it, that's it!

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

No you can't. You have only one chance. If you miss it, that's it!

LOL. I hope that was intended as humor (or sarcasm).

 

[CaBeaver]

Hi All,

I have a question regarding the citizenship time frame.

I have a family member who's entitled to apply for their citizenship, but they refuse as they don't need it as they are all set(don't ask me why I'm questioning it myself.)

My question is if 5 years do pass since you got your PR and don't apply, can you still apply later on?

They could, but only the last 5-year period from the date of applying are considered. So, if 5 years passed and they were eligible but didn't apply, and then another 5 years passed, they could be not eligible to apply if they didn't meet the requirements in these last 5 years.

 

[salem10]

They could, but only the last 5-year period from the date of applying are considered. So, if 5 years passed and they were eligible but didn't apply, and then another 5 years passed, they could be not eligible to apply if they didn't meet the requirements in these last 5 years.

Not exactly correct or not explained correctly. Any PR can apply for citizenship as they meet residency requirements in the past 5 years no matter how old PR. Even your pr is 20 years old and you apply now , it okay. No hurry to apply for citizenship.

 

[CaBeaver]

Not exactly correct or not explained correctly. Any PR can apply for citizenship as they meet residency requirements in the past 5 years no matter how old PR. Even your pr is 20 years old and you apply now , it okay. No hurry to apply for citizenship.

That's what I said, though, and I think it was explained clearly.

 

[popek90]

That's what I said, though, and I think it was explained clearly.

It was not, it made me think that you lose your right to apply after some time.
And now I am super confused, as I thought you can do it any time if you are still PR and planning to be in Canada.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

They could, but only the last 5-year period from the date of applying are considered. So, if 5 years passed and they were eligible but didn't apply, and then another 5 years passed, they could be not eligible to apply if they didn't meet the requirements in these last 5 years.

That's what I said, though, and I think it was explained clearly.

Sorry but your post wasn't very clear and it was confusing.

Anyone can apply for citizenship if they meet these factors :

They are currently a PR of Canada.
They have a physical presence of 3 years in the past 5 years in Canada.
They have filed tax returns for the years they were supposed to file a return in the past 5 years.
They are not prohibited from applying for citizenship.

"So, if 5 years passed and they were eligible but didn't apply, and then another 5 years passed, they could be not eligible to apply if they didn't meet the requirements in these last 5 years"

The statement above is confusing.

 

[CaBeaver]

Sorry but your post wasn't very clear and it was confusing.

Anyone can apply for citizenship if they meet these factors :

They are currently a PR of Canada.
They have a physical presence of 3 years in the past 5 years in Canada.
They have filed tax returns for the years they were supposed to file a return in the past 5 years.
They are not prohibited from applying for citizenship.

"So, if 5 years passed and they were eligible but didn't apply, and then another 5 years passed, they could be not eligible to apply if they didn't meet the requirements in these last 5 years"

The statement above is confusing.

What I am saying basically is that in the next 5 years period I was talking about, they could leave Canada for example, and not meet the requirements, or may have a criminal record that prevents them from being eligible even if they stay in Canada all the time, although they might have been eligible in the first 5 years period.

 

[CaBeaver]

It was not, it made me think that you lose your right to apply after some time.
And now I am super confused, as I thought you can do it any time if you are still PR and planning to be in Canada.

I said they "could be" not eligible. It's a possibility that they wouldn't meet the requirements after some time, and thus not bein eligible, even if they were eligible before but they didn't apply.

In summary, if you are eligible to apply now but you didn't, doesn't mean you will be eligible in the future, because only the last 5 years period before applying is considered. That all I am saying.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

What I am saying basically is that in the next 5 years period I was talking about, they could leave Canada for example, and not meet the requirements, or may have a criminal record that prevents them from being eligible even if they stay in Canada all the time, although they might have been eligible in the first 5 years period.

But that was not the context in which the OP was asking the question. The OP simply wanted to know if one can apply for citizenship at a later time if they don't apply for it within 5 years of establishing Permanent Residency and the answer to that is "Yes". The applicant will obviously have to satisfy the eligibility criteria whenever they apply.

Anyway, cool, now that the answer has been clarified to the OP, we can move on.

 

[CaBeaver]

But that was not the context in which the OP was asking the question. The OP simply wanted to know if one can apply for citizenship at a later time if they don't apply for it within 5 years of establishing Permanent Residency and the answer to that is "Yes". The applicant will obviously have to satisfy the eligibility criteria whenever they apply.

Anyway, cool, now that the answer has been clarified to the OP, we can move on.

Actually, it was precisely what the OP asked about. They asked

My question is if 5 years do pass since you got your PR and don't apply, can you still apply later on?

and my answer was

They could (i.e., yes!!!), but only the last 5-year period from the date of applying are considered. So, if 5 years passed and they were eligible but didn't apply (which was what the OP about about above), and then another 5 years passed, they could be not eligible to apply if they didn't meet the requirements in these last 5 years.

Now move on

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Actually, it was precisely what the OP asked about. They asked



and my answer was



Now move on

Multiple people were confused with what you said. Not just me. So, yeah, may be it was actually confusing but you are convinced it wasn't. Nothing more to say there.

Anyway, thanks for your attempt at assisting others. That's good.