To become a Canadian citizen, you must fulfil certain conditions, including age, permanent residency status, time spent in Canada, language skills, criminal history and knowledge of Canada. This article will take time to explain all the requirements for each category.
Table of Contents
Age
To apply for citizenship yourself, you must be at least 18 years old. If someone asks for someone under the age of 18, he will have to:
The parent or legal guardian of the child
The child must be a permanent resident, but he does not need to live in Canada for three years.
The parent must be a Canadian citizen or in the process of applying to become a citizen at the same time as the child.
Permanent Resident Status
To qualify as a Canadian citizen, you will need to obtain permanent residency in Canada and must be in good standing. To be in a good position, you cannot be part of an immigration investigation, interrogation or removal order.
Time spent in Canada.
To apply for Canadian citizenship, you must have lived in Canada for at least three years, or 1095 days, during the past four years. As mentioned earlier, this is only true for adults and not for children under 18 years old. The time you spend in Canada before becoming a permanent resident can also be calculated if this happens over the past four years.
Language Skills:
There are two official languages in Canada: French and English. If you want to become a Canadian citizen, you will need a relatively good knowledge of one of them. Measuring these skills will be evaluated during the Citizenship Knowledge Test as well as during your interactions with Citizenship and Immigration officials. To be considered having sufficient knowledge, you will have to answer simple questions, and demonstrate that you can communicate in English or French. You may be asked to tell a story or even give directions or directions.
Criminal history
Regarding your criminal history, the following will prevent you from becoming a Canadian citizen:
You are convicted of a criminal offence or crime under the Nationality Law in the three years before your application.
You are accused of a crime under the Nationality Law.
You are in prison, on parole or probation.
Canadian officials have asked you to leave.
You are under investigation or accused of a war crime or a crime against humanity.
You have already lost your Canadian citizenship during the past five years
Knowledge of Canada
There will be a test of your knowledge of Canada before becoming a Canadian citizen. There are many elements of Canadian history, values, responsibilities and rights that must be understood. The study guide is free for those taking the test.
