Date: 19981204
Docket: T-2053-97
BETWEEN:
| IN THE MATTER OF the Citizenship Act, |
| AND IN THE MATTER OF an appeal from the decision of a Citizenship Judge |
WAI MING MELANIE MAK
Appellant
JUDGMENT AND REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
NADON, J.
[1] The Appellant is appealing a decision of Citizenship Judge Elizabeth Willcock dated July 21, 1997 pursuant to which her application for Canadian citizenship was denied.
[2] The judge concluded that the Appellant had not met the residence requirements under paragraph 5(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act. In my view, the judge made no error.
[3] The Appellant became a permanent resident of Canada on January 1, 1993. She applied for Canadian citizenship on July 15, 1996. During that period of time, the Appellant spent 548 days outside of Canada. In Re Chia [T-2879-96, decision dated January 21, 1998] Muldoon, J. comes to the conclusion that paragraph 5(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act clearly requires that a person who seeks Canadian citizenship must physically reside in this country for at least three years in the four years preceding the application for citizenship. Put simply, the applicant must spend a minimum of 1,095 days in Canada in order to qualify. I agree entirely with the opinion expressed by Muldoon, J.
[4] For the reasons given by Muldoon J., the Appellant does not qualify for Canadian citizenship.
[5] I wish to conclude by saying that since paragraph 5(1)(c) of the Act makes no exceptions for students, I obviously cannot make such an exception.
[6] For these reasons, the appeal is dismissed.
(Sgd.) "Marc Nadon"
Judge
Vancouver, British Columbia
December 4, 1998
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