Date: 20000105
Docket: T-205-99
BETWEEN:
DONGXIA ZHU
Applicant
-and-
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
REED J.:
[1] I have been persuaded that this appeal should be allowed. The citizenship judge did not consider the nature and quality of the applicant"s residence in Canada during the whole of the relevant time period.
[2] The applicant came to Canada on a student visa on 16 December, 1990. Her student visa was extended in December 1992 and again in December 1993. In July of 1993 she had married a Canadian citizen. She was granted landed immigrant status in March 1994 and applied for citizenship in May 1997. In April of 1995 she left Canada to accompany her husband to New York. He had been given a scholarship to study at N.Y.U. The applicant was thus outside Canada for much of the time immediately preceding her application for citizenship.
[3] The citizenship judge did not give the applicant any credit for the days she was physically present in Canada preceding the grant of landed immigrant status; credit is required by section 5(1)(c)(i) of the Citizenship Act. Absence abroad for the purposes of study, often being temporary in nature, has been held on some occasions, by the jurisprudence, to constitute deemed presence within the country for citizenship purposes. The applicable principles should apply to an accompanying spouse as well as the student himself or herself. The citizenship judge did not consider whether the applicant"s absence from Canada was temporary in nature and the effect this might have on the applicability of the relevant jurisprudence.
[4] For the reasons given the decision in question will be set aside and the applicant"s application referred back for reconsideration by another citizenship judge.
"B. Reed"
J.F.C.C.
TORONTO, ONTARIO
January 5, 2000
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
| COURT NO: T-205-99 |
| STYLE OF CAUSE: DONGXIA ZHU |
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
| DATE OF HEARING: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2000 |
| PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO |
| REASONS FOR ORDER BY: REED J. |
DATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2000
| APPEARANCES: Mr. W. Lloyd MacIlquham |
| For the Applicant |
| Mr. Brian Frimeth |
| For the Respondent |
| SOLICITORS OF RECORD: W. Lloyd MacIlquham |
Barrister & Solicitor
| 5859 Yonge Street |
Suite 103
| Toronto, Ontario |
| M2M 3V6 |
| For the Applicant |
| Morris Rosenberg |
| Deputy Attorney General of Canada |
| For the Respondent |
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 20000105
Docket: T-205-99
Between:
| DONGXIA ZHU |
Applicant
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP |
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER