Refusal of Citizenship Application and Appeal
Your application for obtaining Canadian citizenship may be refused for a number of reasons, most important (and common) of which is failure to meet the residency requirement. Upon receiving the judge’s refusal decision, the law provides you with 60 days time within which you can decide whether or not you wish to appeal rejection or refusal of your citizenship application.

The appeal from the refusal of your citizenship application must be made to the Federal Court. Appeals to the Federal Court involve a complicated procedure subject to strict evidentiary and procedural rules. You would therefore be well advised to retain the services of an experienced citizenship and immigration lawyer who is thoroughly familiar with the Federal Court’s decisions interpreting the legal meaning of the word “residence”.

You may think that it is rather straightforward: you either meet the three-year residency requirement or you don’t. However, despite the apparent clarity of the law as to the method for calculating the three-year residency, the phrase "residency" is not a defined word. There are some judges of the Federal Court who have defined “residency” as requiring actual physical presence in Canada. Other judges have, however, interpreted the word in a way that actual physical presence is not necessarily required so long as the applicant can demonstrate significant ties and connection to Canada. The connection to Canada may be demonstrated by such indicators as ownership of property, Canadian bank account, investments in Canada, membership in various social and recreational clubs, drivers’ license and etc. There are therefore people who have been able to obtain Canadian citizenship despite some absence from Canada.   

In addition to the residency requirement (of 1,095 days), there are other potential grounds for rejection of your citizenship application. These may include any, or a combination, of the following grounds:

• If you were under a removal order when you applied;
• If you were charged or convicted of an indictable criminal offence in the past three years when you applied;
• If you were in prison, on parole, or on probation at the time of your application;
• If you were being investigated for or had been convicted of war crimes when you applied; or
• If your Canadian citizenship had been revoked in the last five years.

You must therefore carefully review the eligibility requirements for citizenship before applying. To see further details in this regard please click Obtaining Canadian Citizenship.

To obtain further information and to take advantage of our free half hour initial consultation, please contact our office at (416) 365-9473 or (416) 454-0068.