Citizenship Immigration Canada and Splettstoesser

Canada: So eager was Splettstoesser, 35, to get her citizenship that she would not even take a vacation, to ensure she accumulated enough days in Canada to beat the new residency requirement, according to Toronto Star. Every time I called, I was told the new law would take effect on June 19, said Splettstoesser, a Toronto-based marketing and sales director of the German National Tourist Office, who first came to Canada on a work visa in 2009 and became a permanent resident three years ago. Anticipating looming changes of the law by Ottawa, the German native had religiously checked with the government call centre for the exact date when applicants would be required to be present in Canada for four years out of six — rather than three out of four — to qualify. Then on June 5, Citizenship and Immigration Canada posted on its website that the new provision would be implemented on June 11. On June 25, Splettstoesser opened her mailbox and saw her returned citizenship application with the note: You have submitted an outdated version of the citizenship application. On June 6, she sent her application package to the immigration department processing centre in Sydney, N.S., via Canada Post priority service. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.