After spending many years in Canada and obtaining permanent residence permits, millions of people are still unable to obtain Canadian citizenship. In fact, from the Covid-19 to the many refugee crises around the world, Canada's immigration system has accumulated a huge backlog and has been delayed for more than two years.
People have to wait for more than two years to take the oath of citizenship after applying. Prior to Covid, the process took only a couple of months. There are many people who have been waiting for years for their citizenship applications to be approved and still do not have a Canadian passport.
Meanwhile, there are many people waiting for Canadian citizenship who came to Canada in 2010 as international students. Students who received a work permit after graduating in 2011 are eligible for permanent residence. But they had not yet received a call for citizenship. In addition, many students have been up to two years but have not yet received a call for citizenship. Applicants have to wait years to become Canadian because of delays at the citizenship office.
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In fact, after taking the oath of citizenship, immigrants are entitled to many more rights, the most prominent of which is the right to vote. Only after obtaining permanent citizenship are they eligible to vote for the City Council, the State Assembly and the federal government.
More than 453,000 people are currently waiting to know when they will become Canadian citizens, of which about 50,000 are from Punjab alone.