Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:21 am
You need to be physically present in Canada for three years in five, doesn't matter where.
Good question as to how Canada proves it, I'm sure there are people who fudge it, the application form asks for details of all absences and residences in the last five years but how they verify that is an open question. Obviously it looks more suspicious if you don't have support for it, DL etc. They are empowered to investigate the claim. How closely they check is an interesting question, but a Canadian citizenship application currently takes 14 months, whereas in the US it is 5 months, so even if you lie it's going to be a tough lie to maintain for 14 months given that there are other requirements to complete before it is granted that require a Canadian address, such as the citizenship test.
Steve.