Adult grant eligibility
When can a permanent resident apply?
A valid PR card is not required; valid permanent-resident status is. Marriage to a Canadian does not create citizenship or reduce the requirements.
Physical presence
How the 1,095 days are counted
The eligibility window is the five years immediately before the application is signed.
At least 730 credited days must be after becoming a permanent resident. Each eligible day physically in Canada before PR—as a lawful temporary resident or protected person—counts as one-half day, to a maximum credit of 365 days. Up to 730 pre-PR calendar days can therefore produce the maximum credit.
Protected-person time generally counts only from the approval of protection to the day before PR; time awaiting a refugee decision does not. Time in prison, on parole or probation normally does not count. Narrow Crown-servant rules may credit specified time outside Canada.
Example730 eligible pre-PR days × ½ = 365+730 days after PR=1,095 days
Do not apply on the mathematical minimum.
Travel errors, status gaps and documentary discrepancies can remove days. A reasonable buffer lets the case withstand corrections. All requirements must continue to be met until the oath.
Proving physical presence
Build a record that can be verified.
- Passports and travel documents
- Entry/exit records, tickets and itineraries
- Complete address and work history
- PR and temporary-status documents
- Tax assessments and filing records
- Employment and school records
- Leases, mortgages and utilities
- Provincial health records where relevant
- Evidence explaining missing stamps
- Foreign border records where useful
- Consistent absences and chronology
- Corrected calculation if an error appears
IRCC may compare immigration records and request fingerprints, documents, an interview or a residence questionnaire. No single document proves every day; the objective is a coherent chronology supported by independent records.
Language, knowledge and oath
Age on the application date controls key requirements.
Language
Show speaking and listening ability in English or French at approximately CLB/NCLC 4. Proof can include accepted tests or qualifying education, and officers may assess communication during processing.
Citizenship test
Pass a test on Canada’s history, geography, government, laws, symbols, rights and responsibilities. An interview or hearing may follow.
Oath
Approved adults take the oath at a ceremony; minors 14–17 also take it. Accommodations and limited discretionary waivers may be available.
Citizenship by descent · Rules effective December 15, 2025
Some people born abroad are already Canadian.
Born before December 15, 2025
The 2025 amendments restored or extended citizenship to many people born abroad in the second or later generation who were excluded by the first-generation limit or older laws. A person who became Canadian automatically generally applies for proof—a citizenship certificate—not a grant as a PR.
Born on or after December 15, 2025
Where the Canadian parent was also born or adopted abroad, the parent must generally show a substantial connection: at least 1,095 cumulative days physically in Canada before the child’s birth or adoption.
Adoption abroad
Special grant and integrity requirements apply. The adoption date, parent’s citizenship history, child’s generation and the parent’s physical presence may all matter.
Proof application
Evidence may include long-form birth records, parents’ and grandparents’ citizenship records, marriage and name-change documents, adoption records and proof of the parent’s 1,095 days where required.
Family history determines the route.
Birth in Canada generally creates citizenship except for narrow diplomatic exceptions. Birth abroad requires a generation-by-generation review of citizenship, birth, adoption and legislative dates.
Criminality and other prohibitions
The day count is not the entire test.
Citizenship cannot normally be granted while an applicant is imprisoned, on parole or probation; serving certain foreign sentences; charged with, on trial for or appealing an indictable offence or foreign equivalent; under a removal order; or involved in specified war-crime, security or fraud matters.
A Canadian indictable conviction—or a foreign conviction equivalent to one—during the four years before applying can prohibit a grant. A conviction while processing is underway can also prevent the oath. Time in prison, on parole or probation generally does not count toward presence.
Citizenship misrepresentation can create a five-year prohibition; prior revocation for fraud can create a ten-year prohibition. A discharge, pardon, record suspension, foreign amnesty, hybrid offence, stayed charge or pending appeal requires legal review.
Application process
From eligibility review to oath
Audit eligibility
Confirm PR status, presence, tax filing, language evidence and prohibitions.
File the record
Submit the correct route, calculation, documents, translations and explanations.
Verification
IRCC may request fingerprints, evidence, a test, interview or residence proof.
Decision and oath
An approved applicant completes the ceremony and receives a certificate.
We can assess, prepare and represent your case.
We reconstruct travel histories, assess physical presence and prohibitions, prepare grant and proof applications, analyze citizenship by descent, respond to residence questionnaires and procedural fairness letters, and advise on refusals and Federal Court review.
General information only—not legal advice. Citizenship rules are date-sensitive and fact-specific. Reviewed September 22, 2026.