Canadian Passport Applications

You can apply for a new or renewal Canadian passport based on your citizenship certificate or birth certificate. As per the latest guidelines from government of Canada you must provide Identify proof documents while applying for Canadian Passport.  Under the current rules only the identify proof issues by federal Canadian or Provincial government is admissible for the passport application. The identify proof must clearly provide your name, date of birth, sex, photograph, signature and details should match with your application. If all the details are not provided in a single government issued identify document, then you must provide al least one additional document that can verify your details and together both documents should be able to validate all details. In absence of documents providing required personal information your application will be refused.  If you are applying for new Passport or renewal Passport and after assuming the family name based on your civil relationship and the surname/family name is different from your citizenship certificate or birth certificate than you must also submit legal document as an evidence of your relationship along with your citizenship certificate or birth certificate. This can be one of the following:

• Marriage certificate.
• Court order/judgement confirming separation or divorce issued by a court in or outside Canada.
• Common-law Relationship Certificate.
• Order / Certificate dissolving a common-law relationship.
• Resumption of surname certificate.

You must also provide identify document of your partner/spouse along with the passport application, that must be able to ascertain new assumed surname.

Guarantor: The Canadian Passport application requires you to name a Guarantor who is willing to attest on your passport application.  A guarantor can either be a family member, a known friend who can identify you and validate your application details. The guarantor must be a Canadian passport holder and will be required to sign and attest ‘Declaration of Guarantor’ section on the passport application. Canadian government over the years has relaxed some of the rules governing who can be guarantor.

Applying for Canadian passport while living abroad: If you are applying for Canadian passport while living abroad, you can choose your guarantor based on the following:

• The guarantor must be 16 years old and above.
• The guarantor should either have a valid passport or passport expired within last 12 months.
• You can choose an occupation-based guarantor as well belonging to one of the occupations listed below as long as they are still serving under the same occupation:

• Judge
• Lawyer/notary
• Notary public
• Dean/head of university or college
• Medical doctor
• Dentist
• Veterinarian
• Pharmacist
• Police officer
• An officer in a banking institution

If you are not able to find a eligible guarantor who you have known for last 2 years, you can fill form PPTC 132 and have it attested by an authorized official/administrator. If your passport is lost or stolen, you must notify the Passport Canada as soon as possible.

Appeal for Passport Refusal

If you have been recently refused a new or a renewal of passport or your passport has been revoked, you may appeal against the decision and request judicial or administrative review in Federal Court. We provide legal services to help you appeal against the passport refusal in Federal Court.

Passport Refusals: Passports are issued only after proper authentication of an individual’s identity, confirmation of his/her background and proper checking of documents including police verification and medical result. This is done keeping in view the security of the nation and safety of Canadian nationals. In any case, if the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship finds inadequacies in application form or inconsistencies in an individual’s claims, it has full authority to refuse, cancel or revoke the Canadian passport. Refusal or revocation are not common phenomena but may happen in certain suspicious circumstances. The Minister who declares such a decision presents his case with proper arguments and has sufficient proof to prove his decision, which otherwise can be challenged.

Reasons for Passport Refusal: The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship along with the Minister of Public Safety can refuse a passport in situations where –

1. An individual is not a citizen of Canada
2. An individual is dishonest in filling the application form, or withholds important information about himself/herself, or makes fake claims about his/her background, medical history or criminal history.
3. An individual has ever been convicted for a serious crime either in his/her country of origin, or the country of previous residence.
4. An individual has ever been convicted in Canada for a serious crime leading to his/her imprisonment.
5. An individual has ever been involved in serious offenses like terrorism, espionage, human trafficking, drug abuse, smuggling, kidnapping and abduction, or has ever been found violating court orders or police warnings.
6. An individual has been involved in a passport violation and has been convicted for it.
7. An individual is found to be inadmissible in Canada for financial, medical or criminal reasons.
8. An individual who is seen by the Canadian law as offensive, ill-adapted, or a threat to the country.

In any of the above situations, the Minister of both the counsels may decide to refuse passport of an individual whether an intent is proven or not. Once a decision is made, it is generally held as final. However, an individual can challenge the decision within 30 days from the date of the decision was given with the federal court of Canada.

Suspension of Passport: An individual found guilty of not providing child support or alimony is liable to be subjected to the family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistant Act. The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has the full authority to refuse passport services to such a person even if the intent is not established at the time of refusal. Passport services may be denied to an individual wherever serious irregularities are found in a person’s social conduct.

Cancellation of Passport: Passports can also be cancelled by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and Minister of Public Safety wherever they feel that an individual’s records are unverifiable, fake, invalid, or irregular. If an individual’s passport is cancelled by the designated authorities, they can no longer travel to the country. An individual’s passport may get cancelled for following reasons –

1. The passport will be cancelled by the ministry if the passport holder is deceased.
2. The passport will be cancelled if the passport is lost, or no longer in the possession of the original holder.
3. The passport will also be cancelled in case the holder was asked to return the passport under Section 11 of the Canadian Passport Order, but the holder does not oblige.
4. The passport will be cancelled of any individual found involved in illegal activities, terrorist involvement, sexual offenses, or human trafficking.
5. If the charge against a person is grave, the passport will be cancelled without prior notice to the passport holder. Such an action can be taken when an individual is suspected of committing a serious offense.

Passport Revocation: An individual’s passport can also be revoked for a variety of reasons by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. If a passport is revoked it means that the individual is supposed to return the passport to the Canadian authorities without delay. An individual cannot travel on a revoked passport. The reasons for a passport being revoked can be many, some of which are list below –

1. When the passport holder is not a Citizen of Canada anymore, he/she will be asked to surrender the passport.
2. If an individual used false information and/or submitted fake documents to procure the passport, the passport will be revoked.
3. The passport will be revoked if it is found that the passport holder has been involved in illegal activities, criminal offense, or terrorist activities. Any such person traveling to other countries on a Canadian passport will be perceived as a serious offender by the Canadian authorities.
4. The passport will be revoked if its discovered that it is being used by another person who is not the legal bearer of the passport.
5. The passport will be revoked of any individual found involved in illegal activities, terrorist involvement, war crimes, human rights violation, sexual offenses, or human trafficking.
6. A passport holder stands complete chance of his/her passport getting revoked if he/she is found involved in any kind of anti-national activities such as dispelling state secrets, spreading rumors to threaten Canadian community etc.

How the Investigation is Conducted? When a passport is refused, revoked, cancelled, or passport services are called off, the fundamental investigation involves establishing valid material to justify the claims made against an individual. It is basically a fact- based process. The process is undertaken by both the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness departments. Both of these units have complete authority to refuse, revoke or cancel a passport in cases where they find that the individual is either a suspect of criminal involvement, a serious social offender. There are broadly 2 main categories under which investigations are carried out.

• Category 1 includes investigations done if an individual fills false information, or leaves the application incomplete, or submits wrong documents along with the application form. This also includes those cases where an individual uses his/her passport for illegal activities within Canada or abroad or permits another person to use his/her passport. Anyone found a suspect of sexual, criminal, or social offense is also investigated under this category.
• Category 2 of investigation process includes investigation of those who are not citizens of Canada, or have been convicted in some kind of passport offense under the Criminal Code, or have ever been prevented to keep a passport by court orders.

The investigation process will involve inquiries, information-gathering and collecting valid data. The person against whom the investigation is being held is informed in written form with all charges and offenses against him stated clearly along with all necessary information. The individual is given an opportunity to respond to the charges within a stipulated time frame. If the charges are proved as valid, the passport bearer will have to surrender the passport, and he/she may also be declared ineligible for passport for a total of 10 years at least.

Canadian Citizenship Application

New immigrants to Canada are eligible to become Canadian citizens. Though citizenship is natural, it can also be acquired by those wanting to live in Canada as its rightful citizens. Our highly goal-oriented, committed, and professional team of Canada immigration lawyers has the experience and acumen in Canadian citizenship programs. Our team has a profound insight into all kinds of immigration issues and are proficient in devising solution-based strategies at every stage of application process. As they say, prevention is better than cure, it is best to foresee problems and act accordingly. We aim at working out solutions to anticipated problems, and make your citizenship application error-free, complete, and supported by all valid documents. Citizenship application to Canada needs an extremely close attention to detail, insight into complicated legal procedures of Canada, right documents, and enough knowledge of any objections that your application might face at any of the stages. Always remember that objections once raised can lead to a long hassling process of re-applying, inquiry and unnecessary wait. We advise you to get legal assistance right at the time of application filing so that you may save yourself from unnecessary last hour rush.

Canadian Citizenship Act

The Canadian Citizenship Act represents Canadian citizens, defines their rights and duties, and formulates all procedures and provisions under the Act. The Canadian Citizenship Act was last amended in 2009 to accord citizenship to non-Canadian citizens who have been living in Canada as permanent residents for more than 365 days. The amendment also aimed at granting citizenship to people who had lost their citizenship for some reason, or those who had to be recognized as Canadian citizens for the first time. Under the provisions of this Act, the following people were given their Canadian citizenship -Became citizens when the Act took effect on 1^st January 1957 for the first time.

1947. Those who were born in Canada on or after 1^st January 1947.
1948. Those who became citizens and lost the citizenship on or after 1^st January 1947.
1949. Those who were born outside Canada to Canadian parents in the first generation on or after 1^st January 1947. This includes cases where even 1 parent was a Canadian, or cases where parents acquired Citizenship on immigrating to Canada.

 Canadian Citizenship Eligibility Criteria: There are certain requirements to be fulfilled in order to apply for citizenship of Canada. Applicants must be 18 years old or above at the time of submission. Applicants must be permanent residents of Canada. Applicants must meet the residency obligations i.e., must have lived in Canada for a minimum of 1095 days (3 years). The applicants must prove that they have language proficiency in either English or French and must also validate that by submitting the test results, such as IELTS or an equivalent exam. The applicant must also be able to prove an affinity with Canada and its culture. This means that the applicant must have some knowledge about Canada including information about its history, culture, geography, and civic structures. In certain cases where the applicant is below 18 years old, the applicant must be a permanent resident. His/her parents, single parent, adoptive parent(s) or the legal guardian must be a Canadian citizen. The child does not need to have lived in Canada for 1095 days.

Criminal History Cases: If an applicant is found to be involved in criminal offenses including terrorism, human rights violation, war crimes, organized crime, drug use, human trafficking, money laundering, or any activities perceived as a cognizable offense, he/she is prohibited from citizenship. Such people are declared inadmissible to enter/ or stay in Canada. If they are already citizens of Canada, they have full possibility of losing their citizenship. An applicant cannot acquire Canadian citizenship if –

1. If an applicant has been indicted in a crime 4 years prior to the submission of citizenship form.
2. If an applicant has faced arrest in recent times, or probation or parole.
3. If an applicant has received removal orders.
4. If an applicant is currently accused of a serious crime.
5. If an applicant has been ever been involved in a sexual offense, war crime or organized crime.

Appeal Citizenship Refusals

Has your Citizenship application been rejected by the Canadian government? We provide legal services to help you appeal against the Citizenship Refusal in a very time bound manner. You need to act fast (i.e. within 30 days) to appeal against the Citizenship refusal and seeking help of qualified legal services like ours is very important. Some of the common reasons of Citizenship application rejection are:

• Failed to meet residency obligation(s).
• A conviction or a criminal charge due to a criminal offense during last 3 years.
• Any conviction or an ongoing investigation for an offense related to war crimes or treason.
• Being a member of terrorist group.
• Hiding or Falsifying information in your application.
• Any arrest, parole or deportation order anytime during the application process.

Canada Citizenship is governed under the Citizenship Act and requires applicants to fulfill below criteria when filing for application:

• You must have lived 3 out of last 5 years in Canada and must be a permanent resident at the time of application.
• You must be over 18 years old.
• You must be able to provide proof of language skills in English or French language.
• Pass Canadian Citizenship test.
• You must have filed income tax in Canada.

Steps to appear against the Citizenship Refusal: To seek a review of your Citizenship application rejection, you will need to appeal to the Federal Court of Canada. The initial application called ‘Notice of Application’ must be filed to the Federal Court within 30 days of receipt of Citizenship rejection.  You must adhere to this deadline and ideally should prepare in advance for such eventualities while filing the original application if you have doubt regarding some of your circumstances. Your course of action should be based on the reason of denial of your application. In certain scenarios it might be better to file a new application instead of appealing against the previous application. If you have any new evidence pertaining to the ground of denial of your citizenship, we will advise you on the strength of your case and help you present your case based on your circumstances with the Federal Court.

Citizenship Resumption

Canadian citizens who forfeited their Canadian citizenship in the past willfully for any reason can apply for resumption of Canadian Citizenship. On being granted Canadian citizenship you are expected to take an Oath of Citizenship, which is when your citizenship also becomes effective. Resumption of Citizenship is a highly complicated process and will require you to formulate your arguments convincingly while explaining why you want to resume your Canadian citizenship. For an easy and smooth experience, you will need legal help for an easy processing of the case before the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada officials. We, as a legal consultation firm, of committed and experienced Canada immigration lawyers will simplify for you an otherwise complicated process and guarantee you a robust representation.

Eligibility: You are eligible for resumption of Canadian Citizenship if the following applies to you-

• If you were ever a Canadian citizen in the past.
• If your citizenship was revoked and, hence, you became a permanent resident.
• If you have lived in Canada as a permanent resident for a minimum of 365 days within the last 2 years, as is mandatory to do on a PR visa.
• If you have never been issued removal or deportation orders.
• If you have never misused your passport, given it for use to someone else, or have defied the passport norms in any way.
• If you have complied to every regulation of the Immigration Protection Act as a permanent resident in Canada.
• If you have conceded with all requirements under Income Tax Act like income tax return etc.

In some extreme cases, citizenship will not be resumed such as –

• If your citizenship was ever revoked under any of the Sections defining involvement in suspicious activities or for providing wrong information about oneself.
• If you were ever convicted for a serious crime, organized crime, human rights violation, sexual offense, war crime, human trafficking, drug use etc.
• If you are under removal order or deportation order.

Please note that applications of such people who are serving or have ever served the nation in the Canadian Armed services will be give precedence over others in application processing provided that they have been in service for  at least two years from the date of the submission of citizenship application. These applicants will have to prove their eligibility on all parameters to qualify for resumption of Canadian citizenship.

 Application Process: While the application process is not complicated, sometimes people make errors in filling right information, arranging documents and supporting their claim with valid proofs. Since legal procedures are not everyone’s cup of tea, sometimes even those may fumble who are otherwise well-versed with legal systems.

• It is always best to hire legal help of proficient people who will guide you through the process and will help you in creating a rationale for making your case worthy of representation before the immigration officials. The first step is to submit the Application to resume Canadian Citizenship provided under subsection 11 (1). The application must be complete, truthful and submitted with verifiable documents including – (a) birth certificate or any other equivalent identity proof, (b) proof of former citizenship, (c) proof of citizenship acquired after renouncing Canadian citizenship, (d) all proofs related to your immigration including travel documents and passport, permanent residence record (e) proof of residency obligation fulfillment, (f) naturalization certificate and (g) the fee for application processing.
• When your application is submitted to the Case Processing Center (CPC), it will be reviewed for clearances including criminal, medical, and other. All past records are reviewed to assess the applicant’s personal profile and conduct. The file is then moved to the next level where it is examined for validity of claims. The designated officer will check if the applicant was a citizen in the past, and that he/she really forfeited his/her citizenship, and if the applicant is eligible for resumption of citizenship. If there are no objections with the application, it will be forwarded to the local office and a day for citizenship ceremony will be scheduled. You become a Canadian citizen on the day you take the oath. The oath is taken in front of a citizenship judge if the applicant is within Canada but if the applicant is outside Canada, the oath will be taken in front of the authorized foreign officer.
• However, if something objectionable is found in an applicant’s application or past records, the concerned authorities will then demand additional supporting documents that can prove t the applicant’s physical presence of at least 365 days in Canada within a period of last two years. If the applicant fails to provide the required documents, an abandonment proceeding will be started against the applicant. Another situation might be where an applicant produces the required documents but fails to answer the doubts of the officer, the applicant in such a situation will further be sent to a level 2 officer. If the doubt prevails even after the interview with the level 2 decision maker then the case will be referred to citizenship judge for the last decision.
• Whenever it is sufficiently established that an applicant is denied Canadian citizenship for any reason, or has been issued removal orders, the Case Processing Center (CPC) will launch fairness procedures wherein the applicant can request for a formal hearing. For a final formal in-hearing, the case will be referred to the local office where the case will be finally decided.

Citizenship Revocation Process

Revocation of Canadian Citizenship can happen for a number of factors that prove that you are either a potential threat to the national security of Canada, or if you are found guilty of dishonesty, fraud, concealment of facts or deception in filing the application form. Citizenship revocation is an extremely grave matter with irrevocable consequences for anyone concerned. Revocation orders mean that the person will have to leave the country within a stipulated time frame and will no longer hold permanent residency of Canada. It is very important that you know the procedure and the legalities of the process if you are someone facing revocation. It is advised that you always consult an experienced and committed law firm which would advise you on the matter. It is highly important to realize that even the slightest mistake in the application, appeal or document submission can lead to adverse results. Canadian law is complicated to understand for any foreign national and keeps changing with time and situation of the country. The best solution is to hire a firm that can make legal matters understandable for you and also help you in framing answers to significant inquiry questions.

Reasons for Citizenship Revocation: An individual’s passport can be revoked for a variety of reasons by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. The passport can be revoked on giving false personal information and/or submitting fake documents to procure the passport. Any concealment or misrepresentation of facts will be seen very seriously. Also, if the permanent resident or the Canadian citizen is found involved in illegal activities, criminal offense, or terrorist activities, or it is found that the passport is being used by someone not the original passport holder it will lead to passport revocation. All these offenses are taken extremely seriously by the Canadian government and the Immigration, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has full authority to order the removal of the convicted person from Canada in view of national security.

Consequences of Citizenship Revocation: If you are a permanent resident and your citizenship has been revoked, you will resume your status in Canada as a permanent resident if the reason for revocation is based on some faults in the application filing, In certain cases, people tend to make errors when filing their application form or fail to establish a certain fact with verifiable documents. In such cases, as already mentioned the person will lose citizenship but resume his/her status as a permanent resident.  This return to the permanent residency status in this case will open your application form for an in-depth investigation. There will be an inquiry on the claims made by you and the documents submitted. It will be assessed if you have ever withheld an important information, committed fraud, stated wrong claims about yourself or your criminal, financial record etc. If you are found guilty under any of the charges, you can be declared inadmissible to Canada, or may face other kind of allegations. Then, not only your citizenship will be revoked but you will be given removal orders.

Process of Citizenship Revocation: The first step in the citizenship revocation process is that the Citizenship and Immigration Canada will send a Notice of Intent to Revoke Citizenship. The notice will contain the details of the reasons for the decision for your intimation. If such a notice is received by a permanent resident in Canada, they can make an appeal to the federal court for a review within 30 days of receiving the notice. If the federal court finds that the claims against you are unfounded, you will continue with your status as a citizen. However, if the charges leveled by the CIC are found valid, the Minister arguing your case will submit a report with reasons as to why your citizenship should be revoked. Once you become privy to the charges leveled against you, you will be given a chance to make your own submissions to the Minister giving valid reasons for a reconsideration of your case. At last, it is the Governor in Council who will take the final decision on why your case should be reconsidered, or if the revocation should be carried out. The Governor in Council will take that decision based on the report that you and the Minister submits.