Canadian Immigration: Part III

(This is a series of posts detailing my personal journey from work permit to Canadian citizenship. I've included as many details as I can remember. If you found this post using an internet search for Canadian immigration, or if you are a regular reader who is interested in moving to Canada, please bear in mind that things may have changed since I went through the system, and your situation may be completely different from my own. Please consult the Canadian government's website for more information.)

See also:
Part I: the wilderness work permit years
Part II: resident, permanently

Part III: Citizen Cath

Many of my family and friends were astonished to learn that marrying Mr E Man didn't get me automatic Canadian citizenship. In fact, as an existing permanent resident, obtaining a Canadian husband made absolutely no difference at all to my immigration status or timelines. As I mentioned in Part II, marriage (straight, gay, or common law) to a citizen does get non-permanent residents optional access to a faster and cheaper "sponsored" PR application process, but that's it; all PRs who wish to become a citizen apply through the same process, and are subject to the same rules.

As soon as I decided to stay in Canada permanently, I knew I wanted to eventually become a citizen. First and foremost because I love this country and want to be a fully contributing member of its society. That means that I want to vote out the right wing bastards who ru(i)n this country AND this province. People fought long and hard for my right to vote, a right which is sadly granted to so few of the people who live (and have ever lived) on this planet. Besides, if you don't vote, you don't (or at least shouldn't) get to complain about the government... I've voted in every British election for which I've been old enough and resident in the country* - general, local, Scottish, and European parliament elections - and have been incredibly frustrated at not having a say during my seven (and a half) years in Canada.

So that was my primary motivation, but there were others too. For example, I've always wanted a second passport; not only do I now get to avoid the old fingerprint/photograph/interrogation routine that I used to go through at the US border, it's also really fucking cool. A recent rule change was another factor; PR cards are now required in order to enter the country, and the card has to be renewed every five years**, via the same rather frustrating process by which I replaced my stolen card after my honeymoon. So you really may as well apply for citizenship, and just renew your passport instead.

I also get to legitimately support a second team during the Olympics and other sporting events (-> more medals! w00t!).

This is not a decision that everyone can make so easily; the Canadian government allows dual citizenship, but some countries do not. This means that some immigrants have to give up their original citizenship upon becoming Canadian. Luckily for me, the British government basically says "do what you want". If I'd had to choose, I probably wouldn't have given up my British nationality.

Enough of the rationale, what about the methods?

(Yes, it's grant time again).

Permanent residence is the hard part. Once that's in the bag, it's really quite easy to become a citizen. You have to be physically in Canada as a permanent resident for "at least three years (1,095 days) in the past four years before applying". Every day that you spend out of the country counts against you, and has to be accounted for (I used the stamps in my passport and emails I'd sent to my Mum*** to work this out - the single most important piece of advice I can give to an aspiring citizen is to keep excellent records of your travel during this period). You can count time spent in Canada as a non-permanent resident (i.e. on a work permit), but one day with this status only gets you half a day of residency credit, and you can only claim a maximum of one year.

I used the online calculator to pinpoint the exact day on which I would become eligible to apply for citizenship, and completed as much of the paperwork as I could ahead of time. Unlike the behemoth of the PR application package, which took several months to assemble, the citizenship application form is just five pages long. (It's also MUCH cheaper to apply for citizenship than for PR status). I also needed to send photos, and photocopies of my passport, PR documents, marriage certificate, and BC healthcare card. I completed the process, appropriately enough, on Canada Day 2008.

The next step in the process was, of course, the infamous citizenship test. In late 2008 I received the study guide and my test date (8:15am on the day after my birthday, boooooooo). I promptly launched into intensive study put the study guide on a shelf and forgot about it. Massimo and others who'd already taken the test had assured me that it was a piece of cake, no problem at all.

So, when I did crack open the study guide, a couple of weeks before my test, the level of detail took me by surprise. I read through the guide a few times, and then took an (unofficial) online practice test.****

And failed.

I just wasn't prepared for questions about the metals mined from the Canadian shield, or the major industries of Saskatchewan.

Luckily, an email (or two, or three) from Massimo helped to calm me down, as he assured me that the actual test questions would be much easier; more a test of language ability than of knowledge.

And so it proved to be! The test consists of 20 multiple choice questions. You have to get 12 right in total, and you also have to correctly answer two of the three most important questions (the ones about how to vote). There was only one question that I wouldn't have known the answer to without studying, and that one I could probably have guessed. I definitely don't want to put anyone off studying, because it's an interesting and worthwhile thing to do in its own right. And, of course, I benefited greatly from the extensive similarities between the British and Canadian political systems. But really, anyone who pays any attention at all to the news should do OK.

After the test, immigration officials checked the original copies of the documents we'd photocopied and sent in with our applications, and briefly chatted with each person to ensure that we all spoke sufficient English or French. Some people were handed special envelopes and walked out looking perturbed, but I wasn't one of those people, so I can't tell you what that was all about. A few of us speculated that some people were being referred for an additional language test, but I really don't know for sure.

About three months later, I got notification that I'd passed the test. Oh happy day! I was also given my ceremony date; as with the test itself, you're assigned a date and time, and have to apply for permission to change it. I think you can only miss one assigned test date before you get kicked out of the system and have to reapply; if you miss more than one assigned ceremony date, I think you have to appear in front of a citizenship judge in order to be granted citizenship. But luckily this wasn't an issue for me, as I was available on both dates.

You already know all about my ceremony, which was very pleasant and only slightly awkward (luckily no-one else sang the anthem in tune either). And that brings us to the end of my (mostly) smooth dealings with Citizenship and Immigration Canada!

So long, and thanks for all the fish memories!

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Wait, what's that?

You want examples of easy-peasy test questions?

*Sigh*. So demanding.

But, OK.

My favourite question was the first one (on my version - there were at least six different versions distributed around the room, probably to prevent copying). One of the immigration agents gave a short presentation at the beginning of the test, and started off by asking if anyone required the test booklet in French, or if English was OK. The slides he used were in English and French.

Question #1: "What are the two official languages of Canada?"

Apparently, another version asked for the name of the head of state... in a room with a portrait of the Queen proudly displayed on the wall.

Other answer options included "recycling newspapers" as the primary responsibility of Canadian citizens, and "call the police" as the appropriate response to not receiving your voter registration card within a week of an election.

But to see some other examples, you're just gonna have to take the test yourself!

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*I can still vote in the UK as an ex-pat, but I don't think that's right. Especially as I'm a lefty, and therefore likely to vote for tax increases that I wouldn't actually have to pay.

**PR status is still (as the name suggests) permanent, as it always was. But the new cards are not, so if you ever want to leave the country (and get back in), you really need to renew your card. This rule change has finally prompted my mother-in-law to apply for citizenship; I helped her with her application not long after I submitted mine, and discovered that she became a PR in 1960! As my Dad said to her, "well, you don't want to rush into anything". NB she doesn't have to take the test, as she's over the upper age limit, but this does delay her ceremony by a few months.

***She insists on knowing the dates, times, and flight numbers for all my trips, even if I'm not going to the UK. She's a very nervous flyer and has never quite got used to the fact that I fly a couple of times a year.

****There are a few of them out there, but I'm not going to link to them because the bastards freaked me out.