You are eligible for a Permanent Resident Card only if you have entered Canada through the immigration process and have been granted permanent resident status. If you become a Canadian citizen, you do not need a Permanent Resident Card.

Please see the bellow links for morre information about Permanent resident Cards in Canada and Becoming a Canadian Citizen

Permanent Residence Card

  • Residency requirement
  • Applying to renew your PR Card
  • PR Cards for Permanent Residents abroad

Applying for Canadian Citizenship

  • Eligibility to become a Canadian citizen
  • Citizenship Applications where the 3-year residency has not been met
  • Citizenship Appeals

 

Permanent Residence Card

Permanent Resident Cards with a five (5) year validity are issued to those who successfully obtained permanent residence in Canada. PR cards can be renewed every five years if the permanent resident respects the residency requirement.

The requirement to maintain permanent residence is to live in Canada for at least 730 days in every five (5) year period. Few exeptions to this rules apply in certain circumstances.

Permanent residents abraod with expired PR cards will have to apply for a travel document to re-enter Canada. If found ineligible for either a travel document or PR card renewal, applicants can apply to appeal the officer’s decision. When an appeal process is started, a one (1) year PR card can be issued to the appellant to allow him/her to enter and/or stay in Canada to attend the appeal hearing and can be extended for the same duration if needed.

 

Canadian citizenship

Eligibility to become a Canadian citizen

To be eligible to become a Canadian citizen, you must meet the requirements in all of the following areas:

Age

You must be at least 18 years old to apply for Canadian citizenship.

To apply for citizenship for a child under 18, the following conditions should be met:

  • the person applying is the child’s parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian
  • the child is a permanent resident, but does not need to have lived in Canada for three years and
  • one parent is already a Canadian citizen or is applying to become a citizen at the same time. This also applies to adoptive parents.

Permanent resident status

To become a Canadian citizen, you must have permanent resident status in Canada. You must not be the subject of an immigration investigation, an immigration inquiry or a removal order (an order from Canadian officials to leave Canada).

Time lived in Canada

To become Canadian citizens, adults must have lived in Canada for at least three years (1,095 days) in the past four years before applying. Children do not need to meet this requirement.

You may be able to count time you spent in Canada before you became a permanent resident if that time falls within the four-year period.

Language abilities

Canada has two official languages-English and French. You need to be able to speak one of these two languages well enough to communicate with people. In other words, you must know enough English or French to understand other people and for them to understand you.

Criminal history

You cannot become a citizen if you:

  • have been convicted of an indictable (criminal) offence or an offence under the Citizenship Act in the three years before you apply
  • are currently charged with an indictable offence or an offence under the Citizenship Act
  • are in prison, on parole or on probation
  • are under a removal order (have been ordered by Canadian officials to leave Canada)
  • are under investigation for, are charged with, or have been convicted of a war crime or a crime against humanity or
  • have had your Canadian citizenship taken away in the past five years.

If you are on probation or are charged with an offence and are awaiting trial, you should wait until after the probation has ended or the trial is over to apply for citizenship.

If you have spent time on probation, on parole or in prison in the last four years, you may not meet the residence requirement for citizenship.

Time in prison or on parole does not count as residence in Canada. Time on probation also does not count as residence in Canada if you were convicted of an offence. If you have spent time on probation from a conditional discharge, it may be counted toward residence.

Knowledge of Canada

To become a citizen, you must know the rights and responsibilities of citizens, such as the right and responsibility to vote. You must also know some things about Canada’s history and geography, and about its political system.

Exception:

In case where a person has not met the 3 in 4 years residence requirement, this person may still apply as “De Facto resident” if they believe they maintained strong ties to Canada (Family, property, business, recurrent visits). The judge will decide on each case based on its own merits.

In case where an application for citizenship is refused, the person concerned may file an appeal within 60 days before the Federal court of Canada if they believe the Judge made an error in Facts or Law when making his decision.