Citizenship Eligibility & Bill C24

Hello All,

Edited by swapnac - 05 Jun 2015 at 2:16pm

swapnac wrote: I am new to this forum and was referred by a very good friend. I have a few questions and would really appreciate if someone could guide me regarding those: 1. As per the residency calculator, I am eligible to apply for citizenship on May 22nd 2015 but my husband has frequent international travels (India, US & Argentina) which make him eligible late in the year (December). I was wondering if it is wise for me to file my citizenship independently? 2. Secondly, with the impending probability of Bill C24, I am afraid that we will not be eligible to file for citizenship after July, so is it advisable that at least I get my application through? 3. Third, regarding the Language Requirement, IELTS & CELPIP are the only method where I can get this eligibility fulfilled, am I right?

While there is no certainty, as yet, as to when the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act (SCCA and previously referred to as Bill C-24 in Parliament) revisions of the qualifications for grant citizenship will take effect, July is as good a guess as any. If you personally do not apply before the SCCA provisions come into force, you will need to meet the four years within six requirement, plus the 183 days in each of four calendar years within the preceding six. That would add another year of actual presence to the requirement.

So you probably do not want to wait.

Thus, while in some contexts separate applications by spouses can lead to a non-routine case (requests for additional documents or RQ), that risk is probably worth taking rather than having to wait until the summer of 2016 to apply or until sometime in 2017 if you wait to apply as a family with your husband (assuming that if he did not travel at all it would be December 2016 before he meets the four year qualificiation, but apparently he will be traveling, so it will not be until 2017). We do not know the current risk of RQ for separate applications, but it seems to be down considerably from what it was, and for many if not most qualified applicants, RQ is manageable, inconvenient, a delay, but manageable.

The alternatives for proof of meeting the Language Requirement are fairly well specified in the Guide for the application, and the CIC website has a wizard for checking to see if your proof is acceptable (follow the "eligibility" links at the pages for citizenship). There are additional options IF applicable (such as proof of completing a secondary or post-secondary program conducted in French or English; completing the LINC or CLIC course), which again are spelled out in the guide. Of course, taking the appropriate test, IELTS or CELPIP, is the fastest way, but if you do not yet have your proof of language, even scheduling to take the test can take some time, and you are running against an unknown deadline (the implementation date for the SCCA (Bill C-24) changes). So you do not want to delay getting that done.

Edited by ski - 31 May 2015 at 12:34pm

You are wrong harrikon about a nation of immigrants.

Hi dpenabill,