Federal Court Decisions

     T-2631-95

     IN THE MATTER OF the Citizenship Act,

     R.S.C. 1985, c. C-29

     AND IN THE MATTER OF an appeal from the

     decision of a Citizenship Judge

     AND IN THE MATTER OF

     ISAAC JACQUES KADOCH

     Appellant.

     REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

PINARD J.

         This is an appeal, by way of a trial de novo, from the decision of a Citizenship Judge, communicated to the appellant by way of a letter dated September 7, 1995. The Citizenship Judge found that the appellant had failed to satisfy the conditions in paragraph 5(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-29 (the "Act"), which requires an applicant for citizenship to have accumulated at least three years of residence in Canada within the four years immediately preceding his or her application.

         The appellant was born on August 15, 1971 in Rabat, Morocco, and he is a citizen of that country. The appellant, along with his parents, brother and sister, were granted permanent residence status in Canada, and arrived in Canada on February 15, 1991.

         The appellant applied for Canadian citizenship on August 12, 1994. The residency requirements of paragraph 5(1)(c) of the Act are the following:

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5.(1) The Minister shall grant citizenship to any person who

...

(c) has been lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence, has not ceased since such admission to be a permanent resident pursuant to section 24 of the Immigration Act, and has, within the four years immediately preceding the date of his application, accumulated at least three years of residence in Canada calculated in the following manner:

(i) for every day during which the person was resident in Canada before his lawful admission to Canada for permanent residence the person shall be deemed to have accumulated one-half day of residence, and

(ii) for every day during which the person was resident in Canada after his lawful admission to Canada for permanent residence the person shall be deemed to have accumulated one day of residence;

         Between his arrival in Canada on February 15, 1991 and the date of his application for Canadian citizenship, on August 12, 1994, the appellant was absent from Canada for a total of 1,050 days. The Citizenship Judge found him to be short 873 of the required 1,095 days needed to satisfy the residence requirements in paragraph 5(1)(c) of the Act.

         The appellant was away for such prolonged periods of time because he was completing his medical studies in Paris, which he began in 1989.

         There is jurisprudence which does not require the physical presence of an applicant for citizenship in Canada for the entire 1,095 days, when there are special or exceptional circumstances. However, in my view, too long of an absence from Canada, albeit temporary, during that minimum period of time, as in the present case, is contrary to the purpose of the residency requirements of the Act. Indeed, the Act already allows a person who has been lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence not to reside in Canada during one of the four years immediately preceding the date of that person's application for citizenship. (See Re Pourghasemi (1993), 62 F.T.R. 122; Re John Ting Min Hui (1994), 75 F.T.R. 81 and Re Kam Chuen Lau (February 15, 1996), T-1508-95 (F.C.T.D.)).

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         I find, therefore, that in spite of the appellant's sympathetic situation, the latter does not meet the residency requirements of the Act. Consequently, the appeal must be dismissed.

OTTAWA, Ontario

January 16, 1997

                                                                          JUDGE