Citizenship applications for Canada are now open for people, anywhere in the world.
On August 11th, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) launched a tool for immigrants who wish to submit their citizenship applications online.
The online application is available to only a single applicant as of now. No family applications nor representatives will be accepted.
The single applicant must be above the age of 18 years.
However, by 2022 IRCC intends to open applications online for families and minors below of 18 years. Representatives can only apply on behalf of their clients. On the contrary, crown servants declaring residence outside the country can apply.
If an applicant has already submitted their citizenship application on paper, they must not reapply online, says IRCC in a media release.
IRCC had aimed to modernize immigration as a part of their initiative. Later in 2020, it released a tool that tested the platform’s capacity.
The new portal has features that help the applicants to partially save their data while filling applications and then conveniently resume the completion of the application later on. The latest feature also permits users to upload supporting documents, proof of payment, a print option for the PDF, and a confirmation receipt.
The modernized immigration system
Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino believes in making Canada’s immigration system paperless.
The pandemic pushed the IRCC to initiate the process of modernization to allow the immigrants to continue applying amid the pandemic crisis. Canada has successfully developed citizenship testing available online, and also initiated holding citizenship ceremonies virtually.
Among all of these, the department also started doing virtual landings for permanent residents who have arrived recently. Apart from this, several paper-based programs are starting to go digital for immigrants applicants.
