Becoming a Citizen
To be eligible to apply for Canadian Citizenship, you must meet the following four basic requirements. You must meet all four basic requirements at the time of your application, in order to apply for citizenship.
| 1. Permanent Residency Status | 2. Residency in Canada | 3. Filling of Taxes | 4. Language skills |
Having a valid Residency Card does not mean you meet this requirement. The following people do not qualify for Citizenship, despite having a valid PR card;
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You must be physically present in Canada for a minimum of 1095 days, in the last 5 years.
If any of the following applies to you, contact the immigration specialists at YIC to advise you on how to secure your citizenship:
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You must have filed taxes for at least three of the last five years if you were required to do so.
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If you are between the ages of 18 to 54 years old, you must show that you can communicate (speak and listen) in one of the two official languages; English or French.
Documents accepted as proof of language abilities include;
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Additional and/or different requirements apply to the following categories of applicants, if your application falls within these categories and you are not sure how to proceed, please contact YIC to assist you with your application:
- Applying for Citizenship for a minor.
- A Canadian applying for Citizenship of your adopted child, who was born outside Canada
- A current or former Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) member &;
- A past Canadian citizen who wishes to resume their Citizenship.
You cannot become a citizen:
You cannot become a citizen, despite meeting the basic requirement, if you fall within one of the following Prohibited Categories;
- You are serving a term of imprisonment, or on parole/probation inside Canada.
- You are serving a sentence outside Canada
- You are charged with, on trial for, or involved in an appeal for, an offense under the Citizenship Act or an indictable offense in Canada or an equivalent indictable offense outside of Canada.
- You are being investigated for, charged with, on trial for, have been convicted of, involved in an appeal for, a war crime or a crime against humanity
- You had a citizenship application previously refused, for misrepresentation, within the last 5 years
- You had your Canadian citizenship revoked because of fraud in the past 10 years.
- You have been convicted of an indictable offense in Canada or an offense under the Citizenship Act in a period of 4 years before you applied for your citizenship.
- You were convicted of an equivalent indictable offense outside Canada in the period of 4 years before you applied for your citizenship [even if you were pardoned/ amnesty]
- As a Permanent Resident, you were convicted of terrorism, high treason, treason, or spying offenses or you have served as a member of an armed force of a country or territory, or an organized armed group, that’s engaged in armed conflict with Canada
If you are not sure whether any of these Prohibited Categories apply to you, please contact YIC and we can assist you in the interpretation of the IRCC’s prohibitions. In case you are prohibited under any of these grounds our immigration specialists can also advise you on the next steps to take to obtain your citizenship.
Completing the required forms:
You must;
- Use updated versions of the citizenship application forms;
- ensure that you are using the correct forms applicable to your unique circumstances and
- enclose all the necessary supporting documentation.
If you do not comply with these requirements your application will be returned by the IRCC and you will be asked to re-submit.
If you are not sure how to appropriately complete the applicable forms, reach out to YIC and we will be more than happy to walk you through the process and help you collect all the necessary supporting documentation.
Processing of your application:
The average processing time of a citizenship application is 12 months. While your application is being processed you can leave Canada, but must ensure you keep your PR status and ensure you can return for your test, interview, and ceremony. You must contact IRCC if you leave Canada for more than 2 weeks in a row.
Citizenship test and/or Interview:
If you are between the ages of 18 and 54 years, on the day your citizenship application is signed, you will be required to appear for a citizenship test. You will receive your test and interview date within about 3 weeks of receipt of your application by IRCC.
This is a 30-minute long test, comprising of 20 questions, assessing your knowledge of Canada and the rights and responsibilities of Canadians, on the following subjects:
- history
- geography
- economy
- government
- laws
- symbols
This test can be taken in English or French language, it is typically a written test composed of multiple-choice and true or false questions but this test may be completed orally. In order to pass this test, you must achieve a minimum of 15 correct answers.
Following the test, you must meet with an officer for an interview, this includes adults over the age of 55 years and minors who were not required to appear for the test.
If you pass the test and meet all the other requirements of a citizen you will be invited to take an Oath of Citizenship at a citizenship ceremony.