Immigration To Citizenship – Adults

 

An adult applicant’s eligibility for citizenship will be assessed on the basis of standard determinants as below:

•    The permanent residence status of the applicant must not be subject of any immigration investigation or removal proceedings at the time of filing the citizenship application.
•    The applicant must have lived in Canada for more than 1095 days in a 4 years span retroactively starting from the date when the applicant signs the application for citizenship. Any applicant who was in Canada prior to becoming a permanent resident, can count his/her prior physical presence divided by two up to a maximum of one year and can still be eligible for citizenship if lived for at least two years after the date of landing in Canada.
•    The applicant must have knowledge of either English or French language that should be sufficient to communicate with other people.
•    Any adult permanent resident of Canada who has been convicted in the last three years of or currently charged with an indictable offense or under the Citizenship Act is prohibited to apply for citizenship. Similarly, if the applicant is in prison, on parole or on probation, he/she is not eligible to apply for citizenship.
•    An applicant who is under removal proceedings or any other immigration investigation or he/she has his/her citizenship taken away during last five years is not eligible to apply for citizenship.
•    An applicant, who is convicted of, currently charged with or under investigation for committing a war crime or an offense against humanity is not eligible to be naturalized as a citizen.
•     The applicant must demonstrate adequate knowledge of Canadian political institutions, citizens’ rights and responsibilities and Canadian history as a necessary step towards citizenship.

While reviewing a citizenship application, if the citizenship officer notices any lapses in the information or even otherwise apprehends a misrepresentation of any fact by the applicant, the officer will refer the file to a Citizenship Judge who would make the final determination on the application after asking for more supporting documentation and/or a personal hearing with the applicant.

Adults who are older than 54 are not required to write citizenship test; however, any adult applicant who is older than 18 and younger than 54 are required to write the citizenship test and attend the citizenship oath ceremony.