Post
by Kayalami » Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:40 pm
The prerequisite for Canadian Citizenship are that you hold PR status. The fastest route to PR is in the spousal/ dependent child category of Canadian Citizens or PR...usually 6- 12 months. The Citizenship Act then requires 3 years of residence in the 4 years prior to the application date.
Since the Citizenship Act does not define residence there is an aspect of the Act which applies 'ties/connection' to Canada e.g, paying taxes, having a home in Canada etc - the Federal Court has ruled consistently on this and the chances of a success here where the person has spent more than 2/3 of the time outside Canada in the 3 out of 4 year period are pretty slim. That the Act also requires PR status to be held at application date and that the Immigration Act has also been amended to define residence further adds to this.
Most people thus must meet the 3 out of 4 yrs rule. Note Children do not need to meet the 3 in 4 years rule but must hold PR - they can be included in their parents application for citizenship. Citizenship applications are currently taking around 18 months to be determined. I am not sure where your informant got the 1 year timeline from.