Are you too old to become a Canadian citizen?
A 92-year-old Ontario woman, who immigrated to Canada in 1947, finally became a citizen this month, the Globe & Mail reported:
For more than 64 years, British-born Cynthia England has called Canada home: She’s worked here, raised children, paid taxes and now collects a pension.
But thanks to a bureaucratic quirk, she was never a citizen.
The 92-year-old crossed the pond with her husband, a Canadian army officer, in 1947, but arrived a few days late to qualify for the automatic citizenship conferred on war brides.
She took the citizenship oath in her home, in a special ceremony that Citizenship and Immigration Canada arranged.
According to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website, you must be at least 18 to apply for citizenship, but no maximum age is given. The CIC site also states that prospective new Canadians must take the citizenship test if you’re between the ages of 18 and 54.
(So does that mean that if you’re 55 or older when your citizenship application is approved, you don’t have to write the test? Can anyone confirm?)
Either way, if you’re thinking about applying for Canadian citizenship, it’s never too late!
And as Ms. England said, “…where else are you going to have a better life than in Canada?â€
Canadian passport photo by Jason Spaceman (flickr)
