Bengaluru
A bill to change Canada’s Citizenship Act has finally been passed by the Senate with amendments, bringing the legislation closer than ever to becoming law. As a result of this bill, immigrants to Canada would be able to apply for Canadian citizenship earlier and more easily than before.
C-6 reduces the amount of time permanent residents have to live in Canada in order to become eligible to apply for citizenship, from four out of six years to three out five years. In addition, applicants who spent time in Canada on temporary status — such as on a work or study permit — would be able to count a portion of this time towards the three-year requirement.
The bill also removes the intent to provide provision, and an increased number of applicants would be exempt from language proficiency requirements. The bill passed by the House of Commons last year placed an age range of 18 to 54 for language testing, but this was amended to 18 to 60 in the Senate following an amendment tabled by Independent Senator Diane Griffin.
