Your Guide to Canadian Citizenship

To be eligible to become a Canadian citizen, you must:

• be a permanent resident

• have lived in Canada for three out of the last five years

• have filed your taxes, if you need to

• pass a citizenship test

• prove your language skills

There are additional or different requirements if you are:

• applying for a minor (under age 18)

• a Canadian applying for your adopted child born outside Canada

• a current or former Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) member applying under the fast-track process

• a past Canadian citizen who want your Canadian citizenship back (including current and former CAF members)

You can become a Canadian citizen in a few ways. For example, you can be a Canadian citizen without applying to be one if you were born in Canada, received Canadian citizenship as a minor or became a citizen because of changes to the Citizenship Act. To prove you are a Canadian citizen, you need to have a verification certificate from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada called proof of Canadian citizenship.

Also, you can become a naturalized Canadian citizen if you go through a formal process. In this case, there are certain requirements for the applicant who wishes to become a Canadian citizen, and usually, this person needs to become a permanent resident first.

Before you start this formal process of Citizenship and submit the application, the eligibility to become a Canadian citizen needs to be assured. The application process includes the preparation and submission of the immigration forms for the citizenship application. Also, all the required documents, including but not only the proof of compliance with the residency obligation and the proof of your language skills in English or French need to be submitted with an application (some exemptions apply). Once the application is submitted and processed, the applicant (with some exemptions) will be invited for the citizenship test and an interview and after that for the Oath of citizenship and ceremony.

Our legal team will be glad to assist you with this process. We can check your eligibility to become a Canadian citizen and assist you with the application process.

Call us now (905) 370-0484 or complete the “CONTACT US” form and our legal team will contact you.

TEMPORARY RESIDENT PERMITS (TRP)

The individuals who do not meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) or who are inadmissible under the IRPA or lost status in Canada in some cases can be given a special permit to stay or enter Canada if it is justified.

This permit can be given based on Canada’s social, humanitarian, and economic commitments for example. If this applies to you, receive professional legal advice, and contact our legal team.

Call us now (905) 370-0484 or complete the “CONTACT US” form and our legal team will contact you.

ICT – INTRA COMPANY TRANSFERS

Another great option for business owners who either want to remain in their home country and are simply looking to expand their business into Canada or want to immigrate to Canada themselves is the ICT Program. The ICT Program allows a business owner to transfer their key employees to a newly incorporated company in Canada. This program is also a perfect option for a small business owner looking to immigrate to Canada as the company’s key employee. This makes the ICT program a perfect program for any business owner eyeing expansion into the Canadian market.

Work permits that are obtained via this program are not subject to the demand to get a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) but are subject for some restrictions.

For example, to have at least a year of full-time work exposure with the foreign company and be coming to Canada to perform similar tasks for the Canadian affiliate.

The work in Canada must be under one of these three following sections:

Executive – primarily responsible for directing the management

Senior managerial – topmost levels of management in an organization

Specialized Knowledge – employee that demonstrates distinguishing knowledge

Our Law Firm has extensive experience handling Corporate Law cases and immigration cases in Canada. Thus, this experience allows us to apply the knowledge while assisting clients in coming to Canada through the Business Immigration programs as well. We provide a high level of service tailored to our client’s business needs. While assisting clients with opening a new Canadian company we make sure that the new Canadian company incorporated according to the ICT program requirements and in a timely and correct way. After that, we work in collaboration with our client to obtain all the required documents for the Immigration application submission. Once the Immigration application approved, we accompany our clients all the way to success and continue to provide a wide spectrum of legal services in Canada.

Contact our legal team via email info@vblegal.ca or via telephone at (905) 370-0484 to receive necessary help.

INVESTOR IMMIGRATION

With the investment of CAD $800,000 for five years, an immigrate investor and his or her immediate family can obtain Canadian immigration permanent resident with the government of Canada. Applicants are required to live in a Canadian province or territory aside from Quebec.

The government guarantees that your investment will be reimbursed and in full too at the end of five years. It does not attract any interest, so none is paid. The table below summarizes the eligibility requirements for the Federal Immigrant Investor Program.

The eligibility requirements are as follows for the Federal Immigrant Investor Program

• Criteria

• Requirements

• Proposed destination

• Anywhere in Canada aside from Quebec

• Minimum net worth

• Legally obtained CAD $1.6 million

• Management and/or

• Management Experience

• Management and ownership of a qualifying business, as stipulated under the Regulations, or with 5 employees in a business.

• Investment

• CAD $800,000 for 5-year period, with 0% Government interest. Financing is from Canadian banks

• Miscellaneous

• Medical examination and also including a security background check

When making your investment under this program, you can choose one of two options

• CAD $800,000 investment. Meeting the investment requires an applicant may decide to choose to make a guaranteed- investment of CAD $800,000 of his or her fund with the government of Canada. The funds are in government’s custody for a period of 5-years after which they are returned with 0% interest.

OR

• A financing fee Payment. Rather than deposit CAD $800,000, the applicant may decide to pay a one-time financing fee to the approved financial institution by the government. This fee is not returned to the applicant but invested with the government on the applicant’s behalf.

Call us now (905) 370-0484 or complete the "CONTACT US" form and our legal team will contact you.

WORK PERMITS IN CANADA, LMIA

The Work Permit is a temporary status in Canada allowing the holder to work in Canada.

An open work permit allows you to work for any employer in Canada, except for an employer that is listed as ineligible on the list of employers who have failed to comply with the conditions or who regularly offers striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages.

An employer-specific work permit allows you to work only with a specific employer for an assigned period and at a specific location.

In order to get a work permit, the applicant needs to comply with certain conditions, which are different for each case. For example, one of the conditions for the work permit for the student’s spouse is the specific type of program that this student attends.

LMIA

Often the employer needs the approval of Employment and Social Skills Development Canada (ESDC) to hire a foreign worker. This approval also needed for the foreign worker to get a work permit. The process of approval calls Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

During the LMIA process, the government verifies that the foreign workers will not negatively affect the Canadian workforce. The process includes several steps such as an advertisement of the vacant position and then the submission of the LMIA application that includes all necessary documents for assessment.

We assist our clients, the employers, to receive the positive LMIA and guide them all the way through this complicated process until the final decision made.

Once the positive LMIA issued, the potential worker`s application also needs to be summited for consideration; however, this time Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada needs to assess it. It is advisable that this application also will be prepared by a professional in order to fulfill all the requested information.

Call us now (905) 370-0484 or complete the "CONTACT US" form and our legal team will contact you.