A Certified Specialist in Immigration Law by the Law Society of Ontario, Kevin Beigel serves as the senior lawyer of Beigel Law, a law firm based in Toronto. In this capacity, Kevin Beigel provides legal representation to multinational and institutional corporate clients as well as individual clients on matters that pertain to US and Canadian immigration and nationality laws. One example of these legal services is helping clients obtain Canadian citizenship through the process of naturalization.
The process of naturalization in Canada is covered by the Citizenship Act of 1985 and subsequent amendments thereto. This legislation defines a naturalized citizen as a resident who has been granted or has obtained citizenship under Subsection 5(1) of the Citizenship Act and who has taken the oath of citizenship. Subsection 5(1) enumerates the requirements for acquiring Canadian citizenship by naturalization.
One of these requirements states that the applicant must have accumulated at least three years of physical presence in Canada as a permanent resident within four years prior to the date of the application. This three-year period is calculated as follows.
1. Every single day that the applicant has resided in Canada before his or her lawful admission as a permanent resident is counted as one-half day (to a maximum credit of one year).
2. Every single day that the applicant has resided in Canada after his or her lawful admission as a permanent resident is counted as one day.
3. Every single day that the applicant lived with a spouse or common-law partner who is a Canadian Citizen and who was employed outside Canada or with the Canadian armed forces, is counted as one day.
