Citizenship Applications – Temporary Discount

US Citizens Becoming Canadian; Canadian Citizenship application

Kahane Law Office: Citizenship Applications – Temporary Discount

Canadian Citizen By Naturalization

Once you have become a permanent resident of Canada and meet certain conditions, you can apply to become a citizen of Canada by naturalization. The conditions you must meet for a Canadian citizenship application include the following:

  1. Permanent Residency

    You should be a permanent resident. Your permanent resident status in Canada must not be in question.

  2. Time lived in Canada

    You must have been physically present in Canada for at least 1095 days within the past 5 years.

    • Record your trips abroad prior to your application. Note the country, the inclusive dates, and the reason for travel. You will need this information when you fill out the Physical Presence Calculator. You will also need to get a police certificate for each country outside of Canada where you spent 183 days (around 6 months) or more.
    • Days spent physically in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person before becoming a permanent resident within the last 5 years will count as a half day, with a maximum of 365 days, towards your physical presence.
    • There are special considerations about meeting the minimum time lived in Canada if you are a Crown Servant or a family member of a Crown Servant.

  3. Income Tax Filing

    To apply for Canadian citizenship, you must have filed your Income Tax returns in the three tax years within the five years before the date of application.

  4. Language Abilities

    You must show that you can speak and listen in English or French. Applicants 18-54 years old must submit proof of their language abilities. They must be Level 4 or higher in speaking and listening abilities in (Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB). To prove it, you may submit any of the following:

    • Results of third-party language tests such as CELPIP-General or IELTS-General. See a complete list of acceptable language tests here: Third-party language tests.
    • A certificate from a federally funded Language Instruction for Newcomers Course (LINC) or Cours de langue pour les immigrants au Canada (CLIC) program.
    • Completion of a Secondary or Post-Secondary Program in English or French in Canada or abroad. You can send your diploma, transcript, or certificate. The proof must be written in English or in French. If it is in another language, you must also send a certified English or French translation. It should show that the entire program was in English or French, not just a single course.

  5. No criminal convictions

    Individuals who have committed offences in or outside Canada may not be eligible to apply or in certain cases would have to wait a period before allowed to apply. This includes those who have been charged, are on trial, or are convicted for an offence or serving a sentence in prison.

Canadian Citizenship Applications By Descent

In addition to securing Canadian citizenship through naturalization, some people may be eligible to become Canadian citizens by descent.

The process to secure Canadian citizenship by descent is the fastest and easiest route. You’ll also be able to circumvent some of the Canadian citizenship conditions noted above.

You can secure citizenship by descent in the following ways:

  1. You were born outside of Canada, but one of your parents is a Canadian citizen. 
  2. Another option is applying even if your parents live outside of Canada and you have never been to Canada.

The first step in becoming a Canadian citizen by descent is to apply for a Canadian citizenship certificate. To obtain it, you’ll have to submit a paper application with certified documents copies, and pictures attached. Documents that are not in English or French must be translated and submitted with an attached affidavit from the translator.

After you have finished filling out the Canadian citizenship application, you must pay the $75 CAD application fee online. When you mail in your completed Canadian citizenship application with documents and photos, you must also include a receipt proving that you paid the application fee.

Under Canadian law, if you apply for citizenship by descent, you will not need to take the Canadian citizenship test. This is because you are applying to prove that you are already a Canadian citizen.

How Can We Assist You?

Until the end of 2022, we are reducing our legal fees from $2,200 to $1,299 for those applicants eligible to either apply for Canadian citizenship or claim their Canadian citizenship by descent.

The first step is to schedule a consultation to confirm eligibility to apply. This initial consultation is $199 per person. If you decide to retain our services immediately after the consultation, we will apply the initial fees to your retainer fee. The cost of our citizenship retainer is $1,299* less the initial consultation fee. Our fee does not include taxes, government fees, and courier fees.

By retaining our legal services, we will take care of your Canadian citizenship application from beginning to end. We will review the supporting documents (from your country and from Canada). We will also deal with the immigration bureaucracy, and file for citizenship.

To schedule, please email us at [email protected] or call us at 403-225-8810.

*The fee is not applicable to applicants with criminal convictions, criminal charges, under trial or criminal investigation as well as those with previous citizenship refusals and having their permanent resident status questioned.