How to become a Canadian citizen
Dear Miss Powell,
THANK you for taking the time to read my letter. I hope it will be one of the answers published. I am a nurse in Jamaica and I have been offered a job as a caregiver in Canada. I am interested, but I would need to know that I can become a citizen if I take that job. Would I be allowed to take my daughter? Can she attend high school? What are our options to become citizens?
– M.K.
Dear M.K.,
Thank you for contacting us. The pathway to citizenship in Canada is usually a two-step process for most immigrants and in some cases, three, depending on the route you take to come to Canada. Since you indicate that you have a job offer as a caregiver, I will outline the current most common pathway to citizenship for individuals with a valid job offer as a live-in caregiver.
STEP ONE – WORK PERMIT
You indicated that you have a job offer to come to Canada as a caregiver. To come to Canada as a caregiver, you will first need to prove that you have a valid job offer from a qualified Canadian employer. This means that you will need to get a Labour Market Impact Assessment Report (LMIA) from your perspective employer. You will need the information from that to submit with your application for a work permit. You may also apply for your child to accompany you, if she is under 21 years old and dependent on you for support.
Once you have been granted a work permit, you could be on a pathway to receiving permanent residence in Canada. The work permit and Canadian work experience must be valid and legitimate for the duration of time that you are permitted to be in Canada. To proceed to the next step, you will need evidence that you have at least 24 months of full-time, authorised work experience in Canada as a home childcare provider, home support worker, or a combination of the two types of work experience. The work experience must be for full-time work of at least 30 hours of paid work per week. This is equivalent to 3,900 hours of authorised, full-time employment. The evidence of these number of hours must be within a minimum of 22 months. This can include up to 390 hours of overtime work.
The key is to ensure that your work does not fall outside of the non-qualifying work. This could include any period of unemployment, any extended time outside Canada, including vacation period or even vacation with your employer outside of Canada. If you work as a live-out caregiver, then that period could be exempted from certain pathways to permanent residence.
STEP TWO – PERMANENT RESIDENCE
You will need to examine the various programmes available to ensure that you apply to become a permanent resident under the programme that suits your qualification and experience. There is the Caregiver Programme, Caring for Children, or the Caring for People with High Medical Needs Programme.
Individuals who have been working in Canada for a minimum of two years and are able to demonstrate that they have a valid job offer, education, skills and work experience, among other things, may be eligible to become permanent residents of Canada under one of the programmes mentioned above.
You should bear in mind that when it is time to apply for permanent residence, you will be required to provide a copy of your employment contract, proof of the number of hours you have worked, your tax returns, record of employment, police record and medical check-ups, to name a few.
Once you satisfy all the relevant criteria, you will be able to add your spouse and dependent children to the application for permanent residence.
STEP THREE – CITIZENSHIP
You should be able to submit an application for citizenship, after you have lived in Canada for a minimum of three years as a permanent resident and able to satisfy the other requirements for citizenship. The key is that you need to clearly demonstrate that you have been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days during the five years right before the date you sign and submit your application.
This is a major life-changing decision, and there may be other options available to you, depending on your age, education, and work experience. I recommend that you book a consultation with an authorised Canadian immigration lawyer to look at the various options to become a permanent resident and, ultimately, a citizen of Canada. Deidre S. Powell is an immigration lawyer, mediator and notary public in Ottawa, Ontario. Submit your questions and comments to info@deidrepowell.com or call 613.695.8777/ 876.922.4092. You can also find her on Facebook.com, Twitter and Instagram. Visit her website at www.deidrepowell.com to book a telephone meeting with her.