FAQ
How to become a permanent resident of Canada?
What are the benefits of becoming a Canadian permanent resident?
What are the first steps, I don’t know where to start?
Canadian citizenship requirements?
Who Can Apply for Canadian Citizenship?
Are you in the U.S. Without Status?
How to become a permanent resident of Canada
The question of “how to become a permanent resident of Canada,” differs from candidate to candidate. Arriving at this answer is a matter of finding the Canadian immigration program that suits you best, as the prerequisites for Canadian permanent residency depend on the stream under which an individual qualifies. Canada has created a myriad of immigration streams based on various factors including age, education, work experience, net worth and willingness to invest as well as ties to Canada.
What are the benefits of becoming a Canadian permanent resident?
Canadian permanent residents and their dependents are entitled:
1) To receive almost all social benefits that Canadian citizens are entitled to, including Canadian health care.
2) To live, work and study in any Canadian province or territory.
3) To eventually apply for Canadian citizenship.
4) To protection under Canadian law and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
What are the first steps, I don’t know where to start?
There are many different ways that one can qualify themselves and their family for Canadian permanent residency. In fact, there are over 60 categories of Canadian immigration. The best way to proceed is to have a qualified expert assess your qualification for a Canada immigration visa.
For a assessment please fill out the form above.
What are Canadian citizenship requirements?
Age
Candidates must be at least 18 years of age at the time an application is submitted (or have a parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian apply on there behalf).
Time In Canada
In order be eligible for Canadian citizenship, a candidate must have lived in Canada for at least three years (1,095 days) out of the past four years as a permanent resident before submitting an application. Children under 18 do not need to meet this requirement.
Official Languages
English and French are the official languages of Canada. You need to demonstrate proficiency in at least one of these two languages in order to become a Canadian citizen.
Criminal History
Certain convictions will render you criminally inadmissible to Canada. Please contact FWCanada for information on how your criminal conviction might affect your application.
Canadian permanent resident requirements are different from citizenship requirements:
The elements required to become a Canadian permanent resident vary depending on the stream through which you are accepted. Once you are a permanent resident of Canada you must remain in Canada for 2 of 5 years in order to maintain it. To apply for Canadian citizenship, you must have permanent resident status and it must not be in question. To be clear, you must not be the subject of an immigration investigation, an immigration inquiry or a removal order.
Who Can Apply for Canadian Citizenship?
Candidates must be at least 18 years of age in order to begin the application process for Canadian citizenship.
In order to apply for citizenship on behalf of a child under 18, the following conditions must be met:
• the individual applying for Canadian citizenship is the child’s parent or legal guardian
• the child in question must be a permanent resident of Canada, but is not required to have lived in Canada for three years; and
• one parent is already a Canadian citizen or is applying to become a citizen as well. This stipulation also applies to adoptive parents.
Are you in the U.S. Without Status?
There are approximately 12 million people living in the U.S without legal status, a situation that is unsettling and exposes foreigners to abuse and a life without certainty. Canada is an attractive alternative because Canadian employers value North American work experience and life in Canada is not significantly different from life in the U.S. Most people assume that their illegal status in the US is grounds for automatic disqualification but this is not the case. Each year thousands of individuals without status in the United States find the home they were looking for in Canada.
