Requirements To Immigrate From Kenya To Canada

Immigrating to another country is usually not a walk in the park. In this article, you will learn how to immigrate from Kenya to Canada. Canada has the highest rate of naturalization in the world; 85% of eligible permanent residents become Canadian citizens. After immigrating to Canada, you only become a permanent resident for three years and then apply to become a Canadian citizen if you meet language and residence requirements. This is a shorter period considering that in the U.S, you have to be a permanent resident for 5 years before filing an application for citizenship.

Below are some of the ways you can use to immigrate to Canada as a Kenyan Citizen

1. Through a Study Permit 

If you get sponsored to study in Canada, or if your parents can afford to school you in Canadian universities or colleges, then that’s a golden chance to immigrate. Canadian provinces offer permanent residence streams for graduates of post-secondary institutions. A job offer after graduation can help you to get a permanent residence as a graduate.

2. Spousal Sponsorship

This is by far the easiest way one can immigrate to Canada. If your wife or husband is a Canadian citizen, you can use them as leverage to immigrate to Canada.

• You can bring your spouse to Canada on a visitor visa and then file their sponsorship application within Canada.
• You can marry your spouse in Kenya or any other country outside of Canada, then file the spousal sponsorship application at the Canadian visa office in your spouse’s home country.

The sponsorship processing time is 8 months while the sponsor assessment takes 11 months.

3. Work Permit

This comes in handy with a job offer, you can’t get a work permit if you don’t have a job offer in Canada. Getting a work permit is an easy way of immigrating to Canada but you have to look for a Canadian employer and convince them to give you a job over a Canadian citizen.

Required Documents To Apply For Canadian Citizenship 

• 2 size 50×70 photos printed on photo paper – matte or glossy
• ID page of all passports you have used in the past 5 years
• For minors, copy of the applicant’s long-form birth certificate
• Valid or expired permanent resident card, if you have one
• For minors, proof that at least one parent is a Canadian citizen
• IMM1000 Record of Landing document
• Two provincial IDs such as driver’s license or health card (one must have a photo)

Canada Residence Requirements:

• The applicant must have been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days out of the last 5 years he/she has stayed in Canada.
• If you were working, you must have filed all tax returns and complied to all the available requirements in three out of five years.
• Declare the dates you have been in Canada using the online residence calculator.
• If you have a minor under 18 years when applying for citizenship, the minor doesn’t need to adhere to these requirements.

After meeting all the listed requirements, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) may give you a Residence Questionnaire (RC) to probe you further. Being given a Residence Questionnaire will automatically add a minimum of 6 months of processing time to your citizenship application. In your questionnaire response, you will be required to provide evidence of being in Canada i.e tax and income documents, bank statements, mortgage/lease documents, copies of your full passport, insurance documents and even membership cards.

Language Requirements

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) requires applicants for Canadian citizenship to provide a proof of speaking fluent English or French as a requirement to get citizenship. The proof must be in the form of a high school certificate/diploma or a copy of a college or university diploma or both.

In case you don’t have a high school certificate or a college/university diploma or degree, you can take one of the acceptable language tests. Some of the acceptable languages which you can sit for a test are;

• Spanish
• Norwegian
• English
• French
• Samoan

There are many language test providers made available by IRCC which act as proof of knowing the required languages.

Citizenship Test

If you are between 14 – 54 years, you will be required to take a test to show that you know the Canadian government, laws and culture. The test has 20 questions, all with multiple choices which you are required to answer a minimum of 15 correctly.

Results for the test are released immediately. If you fail the test, you are usually scheduled to take the test again in the next six months or even more. If you pass the test and meet all the other requirements, you will receive a notice of taking an Oath of Citizenship. The notice tells you the date, time and the place of your citizenship ceremony.

At the ceremony, you will take the oath of citizenship, sign the oath form and receive your Canadian citizenship certificate. You are allowed to bring your family and friends during this ceremony.

Canada Visa Application Centre Contacts