#PinoyCanada Dream.Believe.Achieve
A bill to change Canada’s Citizenship Act was drafted and passed by the House of Commons in June 2016. This has set the things in motion for bringing the legislation closer than ever to becoming law. Once amended, the bill will allow immigrants to Canada to apply for Canadian citizenship earlier and easier than before.
Earlier today, the Bill C-6 passed the Senate with votes of 45 for, 29 against, and zero abstentions. More than anything else, the bill must receive royal assent before becoming law.
Bill C-6 will change the Canadian Citizenship Act in a couple of ways. One, it reduces the amount of time permanent residents have to live in Canada as an eligibility to apply for citizenship. From four out of six years, it will then become three out five years. Another, the applicants who spent time in Canada on temporary status (i.e. work or study permit) would be able to have a portion of this time considered towards the three-year requirement.
After passing the House of Commons, the Senate read it and the Senators passed a number of amendments to the bill. First, the language proficiency requirements was amended from having an age range of 18-54 exempted for language testing to 18-60 in the Senate following an amendment tabled by Independent Senator Diane Griffin. Second, they added a provision requiring the Immigration Minister to inform individuals who have their citizenship revoked due to fraud or misrepresentation that they have the right to appeal the decision in Federal Court. Lastly, tabled by Conservative Senator Victor Oh, they decided to allow minors to apply for citizenship without help from their parents.
This is definitely a great news for all. Stay tuned to see the latest updates on more of the Canadian Immigration News.
