If you want to become obtain citizenship in Canada then you must have to live there for a minimum of 1095 days in the five years preceding the day you submit your citizenship application.
Regardless of age, all candidates must meet this requirement. As a temporary resident or protected person, you might be eligible to use some of the time you spent there. One-half of a day will be deducted for each day spent physically in one of these categories before becoming a permanent resident of Canada within the previous five years, up to a total of 365 days.
When a parent or guardian has applied for citizenship on behalf of a child under 18, these requirements do not apply to that child.
To estimate your physical presence and satisfy Canadian immigration criteria, keeping track of all your travels outside of Canada will be helpful.
Other requirements for Canadian citizenship
In addition to having to be physically present in Canada, the following conditions must also be met in order to receive Canadian citizenship:
- Either fluency in English or fluency in French is required to converse in Canadian culture. If your age is between 18 to 54 then you are required to give your language proficiency evidence.
- You cannot be denied citizenship because of a criminal record, as established by IRCC.
- You must be aware of your responsibilities and rights as a citizen and have a basic awareness of the geography, the political system, and the history of Canada.
- To obtain Canadian citizenship applicants have to file taxes for a minimum of three years during the preceding years of their application.
- Additionally, a formal application must be sent to IRCC together with the right of citizenship fee and government processing cost.
Applying for Canadian citizenship is possible if you’ve satisfied the requirements. Candidates have to qualify for a citizenship test to obtain Canadian Citizenship if their age is between 18 to 54. A citizenship ceremony must be attended after which you must swear the Oath of Citizenship and obtain your citizenship certificate. Your citizenship in Canada is then formally established.
Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) applicants and refugees seeking asylum must be present in person.
If a work or study visa is granted to you while your PRRA or refugee claims were being looked into, you were not granted temporary resident status. You are unable to factor this time into your computation of bodily presence as a result.
Only the time frame starting on the day you obtained a definitive conclusion on your application or PRRA application and ending on the day you acquired permanent residency is admissible if you are requesting time as a protected person. The following approval but before attaining permanent status, the day you spend in Canada will count towards your citizenship application in half.
Suppose you were detained in Canada
In Canada, days spent in jail, on probation, or on parole generally cannot be added to the total number of days you were physically present. Some situations are exceptions. Time served on probation following a conditional release may count towards physical presence if you did not violate or disobey the rules of your parole. Furthermore, you are not required to reveal how much time you spent in jail or on probation if you were given a brief term and successfully finished it. In addition, if you were sentenced to a brief term and completed it successfully, you are not obligated to disclose how much time you spent in jail or on probation. It is not necessary to disclose time spent in prison for an offense committed in Canada more than five years ago since it is past the window of time the IRCC uses to determine whether a person is physically present.
