Bill kills two-tier citizenship
The passage of Bill C-6 marks the end of two-tier Canadian citizenship, says Toronto immigration lawyer Robin Seligman.
The bill, which received Royal Assent in June, reverses a number of controversial changes made to the Citizenship Act over the last decade during former prime minister Stephen Harper's time in office.
Seligman, principal at immigration law boutique Seligman Professional Corporation, says one of the key changes involves the repeal of the federal government’s ability to strip Canadian citizenship from dual citizens convicted of offences relating to national security, including terrorism, treason or spying. This could occur if they obtained their Canadian citizenship legally, or even if they were born in Canada with dual citizenship from another country.
Under the new law, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada said dual citizens living in Canada who are convicted of those crimes will face the Canadian justice system, “like other Canadian citizens who break the law.”
“It was really important to make the changes around revocation,” Seligman tells AdvocateDaily.com. “A citizen is a citizen, and we should all be treated the same in front of the law. That means you don’t get deported for criminality unless your citizenship was obtained by fraud.”
Other amendments that come into force immediately include the repeal of provisions forcing applicants to declare their intention to live in Canada after receiving citizenship; and allowing minors the ability to apply for citizenship without a Canadian parent.
“That’s another great addition because it has been a problem for children who found they were out of luck if their parents never applied for citizenship on their behalf,” Seligman says.
Various changes under Bill C-6 will take effect in stages over the next year or so. For example, new residency rules will cut the requirement for physical presence in Canada for permanent residents applying for citizenship from four out of the last six years before the application, to three years out of the last five before the application. But they are expected to come into force in the fall.
Another "very significant" change according to Seligman is the return of appeals to the Federal Court in all citizenship revocation cases, but not until early 2018.
“These are all good changes. I would have liked it if the appeals went to the Immigration Appeal Division and if all of the changes came into force immediately,” she says.
Other changes include allowing applicants to count some of their time spent as a temporary resident towards the physical requirement for citizenship and exempting people under-18 and over-54 from the language and knowledge tests for citizenship.
"These are also positive and important changes," Seligman says.