Resumption for people who lost their
citizenship as minors
OTTAWA,
May 14 /CNW/ - The Honourable Denis Coderre, Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration, today announced new measures for dealing with
the resumption of citizenship for people who lost their Canadian
citizenship as minors.
The
new measures will apply to people who lost their Canadian citizenship as
children between January 1, 1947, and February 14, 1977, when their
responsible parent ceased to be a Canadian by becoming a citizen of
another country.
"I
have listened to the concerns of former Canadians who lost their
citizenship as minors and I'm willing to apply even more lenient rules to
these cases. The resumption provisions are a practical solution to
balancing the desire of these former Canadians to resume their citizenship
with the government's responsibility to ensure the integrity of our
citizenship program," said Minister Coderre.
"To
this end, I have asked my officials to ensure that these cases are dealt
with as quickly as possible under Canada's current immigration and
citizenship legislation," added the Minister. "The normal
selection criteria for permanent residence will be waived for these
individuals; however, they would still have to demonstrate an ability to
support themselves and meet other admissibility requirements such as those
related to criminal, security and public health checks. I have also
instructed that an exemption from the medical inadmissibility requirement
related to an excessive demand on the health-care system be granted to
these people."
When
applying for permanent residence, people in this situation may include
their immediate family in their application, as can other people applying
for permanent residence.
When
they apply for citizenship, they may include in their application their
children who are under 18 and who are permanent residents of Canada. The
spouse or children 18 and over can apply for citizenship if they meet the
same requirements as other newcomers, including the three-year residency
requirement.
Although
the residency requirement for citizenship will still apply, the proposed
citizenship legislation (Bill C-18) currently before Parliament will
provide greater flexibility for meeting this requirement once it becomes
law.
Instead
of requiring a person to reside in Canada one full year immediately prior
to making an application for citizenship, Bill C-18 will require people in
the above situation to be physically present in Canada for 365 days out of
the two years preceding their application.
Though
some individuals have questioned the need for applying for a permanent
resident visa, the requirement is necessary to fulfil the government's
responsibility to safeguard all Canadians by allowing the Department to
screen people and undertake criminality, public health and security
checks. The residency requirement for resumption of citizenship provides
these people with an opportunity to demonstrate their attachment to
Canada.
"I'm
pleased that both our current and proposed legislation allow us to
carefully weigh all these factors while also facilitating the return to
Canada of former Canadian citizens," said Minister Coderre.