Bill C-24

[kamborekek]

Hi I read an article about Bill C-24 and I'm worried it stated there " For all naturalized citizens, a federal government official can revoke your citizenship if he believes you never intended to live in Canada. This could happen if you decide to study in, accept a job in, or reside in another country. In contrast, Canadian citizens born in Canada cannot lose their citizenship by living outside of Canada". After becoming naturalized Canadian I had to go back to my country of birth and they allow Dual Citizenship, I needed to take care of my parents in order to do that I'm currently working here and I don't know when will I be back in Canada we are talking about maybe more that 5 years I'm worried due to changes in the political landscape in the west that I might lose my canadian citizenship.

 

[John Immanuel]

Hi I read an article about Bill C-24 and I'm worried it stated there " For all naturalized citizens, a federal government official can revoke your citizenship if he believes you never intended to live in Canada. This could happen if you decide to study in, accept a job in, or reside in another country. In contrast, Canadian citizens born in Canada cannot lose their citizenship by living outside of Canada". After becoming naturalized Canadian I had to go back to my country of birth and they allow Dual Citizenship, I needed to take care of my parents in order to do that I'm currently working here and I don't know when will I be back in Canada we are talking about maybe more that 5 years I'm worried due to changes in the political landscape in the west that I might lose my canadian citizenship.

A controversial provision of Bill C-24 recently came into effect, allowing the government to revoke Canadian citizenship from dual citizens who are convicted of terrorism, high treason and several other serious offences.

Is it true that citizenship can be revoked “arbitrarily”?
The new revocation provisions states that Canadian citizenship can be revoked from a dual citizen if the person:

• Obtained citizenship by false representation or fraud
• Served as a member of an armed force or organized armed group engaged in an armed conflict with Canada
• Was convicted of treason, high treason, spying offences and sentenced to imprisonment for life
• The person was convicted of a terrorism offence or an equivalent foreign terrorism conviction and sentenced to five years of imprisonment or more

However, Canadian citizenship will not be revoked if that would lead to an individual becoming stateless. That’s because Canada must comply with the UN’s 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

But I am highly doubtful whether staying away for more that 5 year doesn't provoke your Canada citizenship after naturalization. I suggest you to bring your parents along with you either on tourist visa or family sponsorship visa and stay at-least 2-3 months a year in order to keep your Canada citizenship intact.

 

[Riley Haas]

As John noted, there are only very specific circumstances in which you could lose your citizenship. So if none of them apply to you, there's nothing to worry about.

Living outside of Canada is not enough to threaten your citizenship. There is no residence requirement for citizenship once you have it.

Also, having your citizenship revoked for the above stated reasons is a very long and difficult process, FYI.