Residence/physical presence

This section describes how to determine if an applicant for a grant of citizenship meets the residence/physical presence requirement of the Citizenship Act. The purpose of the residence/physical presence requirement is to ensure that an applicant for citizenship has had enough time to become familiar with Canada and become integrated into Canadian society before they apply for Canadian citizenship.

These instructions apply to applications received before and after the coming-into-force of changes to the residence requirement on June 11, 2015, unless otherwise indicated.

Calculating residence/physical presence

• How residence/physical presence is calculated
• Calculating residence/physical presence for certain family members of a Canadian citizen of permanent resident living abroad

Verifying permanent resident status

Paragraph 5(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act stipulates that an applicant must be a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

• Acceptable documents to establish permanent residence
• Voluntary renunciation or relinquishment of permanent resident status
• Conditional permanent residence
• Processing a grant or resumption of citizenship for registered Indians

Making decisions on residence/physical presence

• Referring applications to a citizenship judge

Validating income tax filing

• Income tax filing (applies only to applications received on or after June 11, 2015)