Canadian Citizenship

PR Card

Who can apply for Canadian citizenship?

To be eligible to become a Canadian citizen, you must:

  • Be a Permanent Resident (PR) of Canada.

  • Lived in Canada as a Permanent Resident for a minimum of 1,095 days within the period of 5 years before the application.

  • All your taxes must be filed for the minimum of 3 years within the period of 5 years before the application. Also, you must pay any unpaid income tax that you have pending.

  • If you’re 18 to 54 years of age on the day you sign your application, you must show that you can speak and listen at a specific level at least one of two official languages in Canada – English, and French. To become a citizen, you need to meet the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) Level 4 or higher.

  • Pass a citizenship test. If you’re 18 to 54 years of age on the day you sign your application, you need to take the citizenship test.

If you have been in prison or you are currently in prison, you cannot obtain a Canadian citizenship. Also, you cannot become a citizen if you are on probation, parole, you are serving a conditional sentence or you were charged or convicted of an indictable crime. In addition, you are not able to apply if you are under a deportation order.

Who can apply for PR Card?

Permanent residents (PR) of Canada must carry and show their valid PR Card or permanent resident travel document (PRTD) when boarding a flight to Canada, or travelling to Canada on any other commercial carrier.

If you do not carry your PR Card or PRTD, you may not be able to board your flight, train, bus or boat to Canada.

It is your responsibility to make sure your PR Card is still valid when you return from travel outside Canada and to apply for a new PR Card before your current card expires.

To be eligible for a PR Card, you must:

  • be a permanent resident of Canada;

  • be physically present in Canada;

  • meet the residency requirement;

  • not be under an effective removal order;

  • not be a Canadian citizen; and

  • not be convicted of an offense related to the misuse of a PR Card