Physical Presence

V

vineet_a

New Member
I took permanent residence in Canada on 6th June, 2004. I have been absent from the country for family as well as official (tour) reasons for about 160 days.

Question:
1. Can I apply for citizenship now or should I wait for the completion of physical presence days i.e. 1095 days?

In case I apply now, my physical presence days will be completed by the time I am called for citizenship formalities. Will there be a problem in this case?

Thanks
VA
 
vineet_a said:
I took permanent residence in Canada on 6th June, 2004. I have been absent from the country for family as well as official (tour) reasons for about 160 days.

Question:
1. Can I apply for citizenship now or should I wait for the completion of physical presence days i.e. 1095 days?

In case I apply now, my physical presence days will be completed by the time I am called for citizenship formalities. Will there be a problem in this case?

Thanks
VA
Click to expand...

It is in your best interest to wait for the completion of 1095 days of physical presence. It's not worth taking the chances (haste is waste!)
 
I don't think you can apply now. Please see the application for details. For normal application, the date you sign on application should be atleast 1095 days of physical presence.
I am not commenting on any exceptions (I am not an expert in that area).
 
With 1095 days you can apply without any undue risks. If the total is slightly less than that, you may still apply. However your case will go via an immigration judge and it will slow it down for sure. It may even be denied. Since it is only 160 days, I would advise you to wait them out. When I applied for Canadian citizenship in 2000, I was shy by 72 days. At that time, there was a general assumption among applicants on the usenet group "misc.immigration.canada" that 30 days per year are overlooked since people do leave Canada for vacations. Since my total was less than ninety, I applied and it went through smoothly. Things may have changed now.
 
vineet_a said:
I took permanent residence in Canada on 6th June, 2004. I have been absent from the country for family as well as official (tour) reasons for about 160 days.

Question:
1. Can I apply for citizenship now or should I wait for the completion of physical presence days i.e. 1095 days?

In case I apply now, my physical presence days will be completed by the time I am called for citizenship formalities. Will there be a problem in this case?

Thanks
VA
Click to expand...

I seriously advise waiting. The immigration judges have become very strict in the last 5 years interpreting "residence" as "PHYSICAL" residence.

Besides, if you are scheduled to appear in front of immigration judge keep in mind that you may wait up to 3 YEARS (yes, 3 YEARS) for an appointment to appear. This is what CIC letter to my friend said. He actually waited 5-6 months.

The time you will be "waiting" for your immigration hearing does NOT count and will NOT be counted toward your citizenship case. Only the time BEFORE the application date counts.
 
vineet_a said:
I took permanent residence in Canada on 6th June, 2004. I have been absent from the country for family as well as official (tour) reasons for about 160 days.

Question:
1. Can I apply for citizenship now or should I wait for the completion of physical presence days i.e. 1095 days?

In case I apply now, my physical presence days will be completed by the time I am called for citizenship formalities. Will there be a problem in this case?

Thanks
VA
Click to expand...

1. You should wait. If you apply too early and have to appear in front of the judge, you will have to wait for up to 3 years to get an appointment with immigration judge. In addition, 160 days may be too much of a stretch for judge to accept. 160 days= 4 months.
 
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