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| Neeraj Mathur |
 Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:12 am |
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Guest
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<phippsmartin@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1110759727.519344.164960@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
[quote:45a5001c74]Indeed, the ability to speak either official language is not a
requirement to obtain citizenship in Canada. (In the United States,
you are asked to take a test to become a citizen. The test is not
designed to test English proficiency but the test is in English and
anyone who could not read English would not be able to pass. There is
no such requirement in Canada.)
[/quote:45a5001c74]
That's not fully accurate. There is a test needed to become a citizen in
Canada, available after a certain number of years of living there as an
immigrant. The test is available, as far as I know, in English and French.
It has to be written by one member of the family (my father wrote it on
behalf of the four of us while my sister and I were still in school; my mom
didn't have to write it separately, however). Again, if you could not
understand either official language your chances would be aleatoric in this
test.
Speaking at least one of the official languages is also a major help in
immigration. Immigration to Canada is controlled by a 'points system': every
candidate is given a rating in various categories (such as age, education,
work experience, etc.) designed to see how easily they could settle in
Canada and integrate into Canadian society. If you meet a minimum number of
points, you are granted the right to immigrate. There is a category for
'Official Language'; last time I checked, there were fifteen points
available in this category, and you got ten if you were competent in at
least one language, and fifteen if you were competent in both.
Neeraj Mathur |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 7:08 am |
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Neeraj Mathur wrote:
[quote:9b759078cd]phippsmartin@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1110759727.519344.164960@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
Indeed, the ability to speak either official language is not a
requirement to obtain citizenship in Canada. (In the United
States,
you are asked to take a test to become a citizen. The test is not
designed to test English proficiency but the test is in English and
anyone who could not read English would not be able to pass. There
is
no such requirement in Canada.)
That's not fully accurate. There is a test needed to become a citizen
in
Canada, available after a certain number of years of living there as
an
immigrant. The test is available, as far as I know, in English and
French.
It has to be written by one member of the family (my father wrote it
on
behalf of the four of us while my sister and I were still in school;
my mom
didn't have to write it separately, however). Again, if you could not
understand either official language your chances would be aleatoric
in this
test.
[/quote:9b759078cd]
Would it have been alright for the children to take the test on behalf
of the parents? The children of immigrants usually speak better
English than their parents.
[quote:9b759078cd]Speaking at least one of the official languages is also a major help
in
immigration. Immigration to Canada is controlled by a 'points
system': every
candidate is given a rating in various categories (such as age,
education,
work experience, etc.) designed to see how easily they could settle
in
Canada and integrate into Canadian society. If you meet a minimum
number of
points, you are granted the right to immigrate. There is a category
for
'Official Language'; last time I checked, there were fifteen points
available in this category, and you got ten if you were competent in
at
least one language, and fifteen if you were competent in both.
[/quote:9b759078cd]
I'm curious. How many points do you have to get? My understanding was
that you could get Canadian citizenship if you have unique skills or if
you invest over a certain amount (a few hundred thousand dollars? a
million?) into the economy.
Martin |
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| Sericinus hunter |
| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 9:59 am |
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phippsmartin@hotmail.com wrote:
[quote:4be1eb3e91]Neeraj Mathur wrote:
....
'Official Language'; last time I checked, there were fifteen points
available in this category, and you got ten if you were competent in
at
least one language, and fifteen if you were competent in both.
I'm curious. How many points do you have to get? My understanding was
[/quote:4be1eb3e91]
In 90s it was 70 if I remember correctly.
[quote:4be1eb3e91]that you could get Canadian citizenship if you have unique skills or if
you invest over a certain amount (a few hundred thousand dollars? a
million?) into the economy.
[/quote:4be1eb3e91]
These are just different categories of immigration, point system
being one of them. You can also add political asylum. So, if you
have some $500000 available, you can try to go through this category,
not through the point system (which I think is called 'independent
category').
And to be precise: this is not about citizenship, this is
about permanent resident status. |
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| Neeraj Mathur |
| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 2:29 pm |
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Guest
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<phippsmartin@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1110802086.642962.11820@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
[quote:fd0e18e69b]Neeraj Mathur wrote:
Would it have been alright for the children to take the test on behalf
of the parents? The children of immigrants usually speak better
English than their parents.
[/quote:fd0e18e69b]
I'm not really sure, but I don't believe it can be done. It was kind of
funny, because my dad was agonizing over the sorts of facts about Canadian
history and things that I'd been learning in class at the time (Grade 7!). I
helped him study, but I couldn't write it in his place. I was his dependent;
it wouldn't make sense then for me to be leading him in this regard. Does
that make sense? But I'm not certain about the exact rules.
[quote:fd0e18e69b]I'm curious. How many points do you have to get? My understanding was
that you could get Canadian citizenship if you have unique skills or if
you invest over a certain amount (a few hundred thousand dollars? a
million?) into the economy.
[/quote:fd0e18e69b]
We need to be clear about a distinction here: the points system is for
assessing applications to immigrate to the country as an independent; the
test mentioned above is for gaining Canadian citizenship once you have been
an immigrant and lived in the country for a certain number of years.
Immigrants become citizens only in this manner, as far as I know:
1) Live in the country as immigrants for a number of years.
2) Take the test outlined above about Canadian history and geography and the
government and legal structure.
3) Pay a small fee (I believe the fee is for the test itself).
4) If you pass, you and your family take the Oath of Citizenship in a court
ceremony.
As for becoming an immigrant, there are several routes. First, of course, is
refugee / asylum, which as far as I know doesn't carry 'immigrant' status
with it (the rights are different). Then there is the Family Class, which is
for people who are dependents of somebody already living in Canada (usually
a spouse or a dependent parent or child). Then there is the Business Class,
which is a bit like you described, for people who intend to invest in Canada
(I think you can apply as an entrepreneur with a net worth of $300k, or as
an investor with either a direct investment in Canada of $400k or a net
worth of $800k). Finally, there's what used to be called the Independent
Class (I think it's called Skilled Worker or something like that now) which
uses the point system as described above. Here you just need to show that
you have enough money to get yourself settled; the points themselves are
basically based on how quickly you'll be able to find work in Canada.
A quick look at the relevant government site produces this for the current
point system: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/qual-5.html. It seems
from this that you need 67 out of 100 points to qualify; language skills are
siginificantly higher than they were when I studied the system (it's now a
maximum of 24 points; it was 15 before) - a reflection, probably, of the
need for language skills in getting a job in the country.
Neeraj Mathur |
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