Rosebelle wants to become a Canadian Citizen. She approached our office early in 2020 to seek help with her application. She became a Permanent Resident on March 3, 2018 but had been in Canada since 2007. At the outset she appears to have put in enough time to fulfill the residency requirement of being physically present in Canada for 1,095 days 5 years before her application date.
However, after going over Rosebelle’s immigration records it was determined that she has not met the residency requirement for Citizenship naturalization. She would need 10 more months to be compliant with this requirement.
Becoming a Canadian Citizen
Under the Citizenship Act 2017, an applicant for Canadian Citizenship must be a Permanent Resident, as defined under immigration laws, who has been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days during the last five years before his/her application.
This residency requirement as stated in Citizenship Act 2017 5 (1)(c)(i) is calculated as follows:
The applicant is credited with one day of physical presence in the country for every day that he / she spends in Canada since becoming a PR.
The applicant is further credited with half day of physical presence , up to a maximum of 365 days, for every day he / she spends in Canada as an authorized temporary resident or protected person.
Unfortunately for Rosebelle, she was without status when she applied for 
Prior to obtaining her PR status on March 3, 2018, she could only be credited for residency after she received her open work permit from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on Jan. 2, 2018.
After obtaining her PR status Rosebelle also left Canada to visit family in the Philippines for a total of 4 months further lessening her days of residency.
This is how Rosebelle’s residency was calculated:
First Entry to Canada: November 2, 2007
Visitor Record Expiry: August 9, 2009
Date Open Work Permit was obtained: Jan. 2, 2018
Date PR was obtained: March 3, 2018
Date of application for Citizenship: July 30, 2020
Days physically present as PR : 880 days
Days physically absent as PR: 114 days
Total credit: 766 days
Days physically present as temporary resident: 59 days
Credit: 29.5 Days
Days spent serving a sentence: 0
Days absent: 0 days
Total Credit: 29.5 days
Total Physical Presence: 795.5 Days
The link below show’s Robelle’s residency calculation using the IRCC’s physical presence calculator.
More examples of how residency requirement is calculated is found here.
There are other requirements to become a Canadian Citizen through grant or naturalization. First and foremost, a Permanent Resident of Canada needs to submit a formal application and request for citizenship in order for the legal process to start.
Enumerated below are the criteria that an applicant must meet to obtain Canadian citizenship:
- Must be a PR of Canada as defined under immigration laws, and has no unfulfilled conditions pertaining to his / her PR status
- Must be at least 18 years old; or in included in the application of a parent who is over 18 years old
- Must provide photos
- Must meet the residency requirement of physical presence in Canada of at least 1095 days during the 5 years before the the application is made
- Must file a return of income within 3 taxation years that’s within the 5-year eligibility period of the application
- show adequate knowledge of English or French (for applicants between 18-54 years old)
- Pass the citizenship test (for applicants between 18-54 years old)
- take the citizenship oath
The requirements for language profiency, citizenship test and oathtaking may be waived for compassionate reasons for applicants who are mentally and physically unable to comply with them.
You may be eligible for citizenship grant if you have been a PR of Canada for 2 years and had an authorized temporary resident status prior to obtaining your PR. Contact us today for professional help on how to become a Canadian citizen through the naturalization process. Simply fill out the form below. What may look like a straightforward application may actually be complicated like in Rosebelle’s case.
