September 28, 2012
New Language Rules Announced for Citizenship Applications
As of November 1st, 2012, a formal result of language ability will need to be present at the time of submitting am application for citizenship. Minister Jason Kenney announced today that the changes would help to demonstrate the proficiency of individuals beyond their interactions with Canadian and Immigration Canada staff, and a citizenship knowledge test. He defends that a key factor of success in Canada would be to communicate well in the official languages of French and English. A thorough understanding and proficiency in the two languages would help to ensure a successful contribution to Canadian economy and society. The change is meant to help with demonstrating language proficiency in more ways than just interaction and language tests, and to help pull focus onto processing applicants that already provide this type of information with their submission.
Under this new rule, applicants must submit objective evidence outlining their language abilities. They will be able to provide this through a CIC approved third party test, evidence of completion of secondary or post secondary education in English, or evidence of achieving language level in certain government funded language training programs.
Click here to learn more about Citizenship applications