07 June, 2013

Improving the Citizenship Application Process.

Citizenship applicants who fail their first citizenship test will now have the opportunity to rewrite the test rather than wait for an appointment with a citizenship judge, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced.

"The Government of Canada remains committed to maintaining Canada's tradition of high numbers of permanent residents taking up full citizenship, and this is one of many recent improvements that have been made to the citizenship process to ensure the timely welcoming of new citizens," said Minister Kenney. "Since 2006, Canada has welcomed the highest sustained levels of immigration in Canadian history. Accordingly, the demand for citizenship has increased by 30 percent, with Canada averaging approximately 200,000 new citizens each year."

As of today, applicants will be informed of their results immediately following their test. Individuals who fail but have met all other criteria will be provided with a date to rewrite the test a few weeks later. Those who pass their test will be scheduled for a citizenship ceremony. These changes means shorter wait times for some citizenship applicants.

The Government of Canada announced an investment of $44 million over two years to put toward improving citizenship processing. These funds will enable CIC to better tackle the growing demand for citizenship grants and proofs, and assist in processing the existing inventory.

Source www.cic.gc.ca