Canadian Citizenship

Appeals for Immigration Refusal in Canada

Permanent residents of Canada may apply for Canadian citizenship after residing in Canada for a minimum legally-specified period of time. The children of naturalized Canadian citizens will also automatically obtain citizenship even if they are born abroad. When that process is complete, they take loyalty oaths pledging their commitment to the responsibilities and privileges of Canadian citizenship. Canada recognizes dual citizenship. You are not required by Canada to give up your previous citizenship once you become a Canadian citizen.

To be eligible to become a Canadian citizen, one must:

• Be a permanent resident
• Have lived in Canada for 3 out of the last 5 years
• Have filed your taxes, if you need to
• Pass a Canadian citizenship test (if you are between the ages of 18-54)
• Prove your language skills (if you are between the ages of 18-54)

Permanent resident status

You must be a permanent resident to apply for Canadian citizenship. Your Permanent Residence (PR) card does not need to be valid at the time of your application and still apply with an expired PR card. Holding permanent resident status one must not be under review for immigration or fraud reasons, not being subject to a removal order, and not having unfulfilled conditions relating to your permanent resident status (e.g., you have yet to complete a medical screening), in order to apply for canadian citizenship.

Canada’s physical presence requirements

You must have lived in Canada for at least three years (1095 days) out of the past five years before applying for Canadian citizenship (unless there are exceptional circumstances). Children under 18 must also have permanent resident status, but do not have to satisfy the three-year requirement.

If you lived in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person before becoming a permanent resident, you can calculate some of that time towards your physical presence requirement. Each day you spent in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person in the last five years can count as a half day. You can use a maximum of 365 days as a temporary resident or protected person towards your physical presence requirement.

File your taxes (if necessary)

If applicable to you, you may need to file taxes in Canada for at least three years within the five years before you submit your Canadian citizenship application.

It may be a requirement to file an income tax return, even if you lived in Canada for only part of a year, if you:

• Need to pay tax for the year
• Want to claim a refund
• Want to get benefit and credit payments

Pass a Canadian citizenship test

If you are between of ages of 18 and 54 on the day you signed your Canadian citizenship application, you will need to take a Canadian citizenship test. The test is 30 minutes long and contains multiple-choice and true or false questions. You can complete the test in English or French. The pass mark is 15 out of 20.

The test will ask questions on the rights and responsibilities of Canadians, Canada’s history, geography, economy, government, laws, and symbols.

Prove your language skills

Those between the ages of 18 and 54 also need to show they can speak English or French at a CLB level of 4 or higher. IRCC assesses your language skills in a variety of ways, such as

• Review the evidence you submit demonstrating your language skills
• IRCC may take note of how well you communicate with citizenship officials during the application process
• IRCC may assess your language skills during a hearing with a citizenship official, if necessary