“Ow! That’s a really strong Canadian citizenship you got there, mate!”

ExpatForum published a story yesterday about the strengthening of rules around access to Canadian citizenship. Here’s some highlights:

“Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Alexander said that reducing the decision-making process from three steps to one will vastly reduce the average processing time for citizenship applications to under a year by 2015/2016. The current backlog will also be reduced by more than 80%.”

“More applicants will now be required to meet language requirements and pass a knowledge test to ensure that new citizens are better prepared to fully participate in Canadian society.”

“As a way of recognizing the important contributions of those who serve Canada in uniform, permanent residents who are members of the Canadian Armed Forces will have quicker access to Canadian citizenship. The Act also stipulates that children born to Canadian parents serving abroad as servants of the Crown are able to pass on Canadian citizenship to children they have or adopt outside Canada.”

“Citizenship applicants will need to be physically present in Canada for a total of four out of their last six years. In addition, they will need to be physically present in Canada for 183 days per year for at least four of those six years. These provisions will come into force in approximately one year.”

Full story here.