The Hongcouver | ‘Immigration prison’ sentence for would-be Canadians is about to get longer

There’s a common term in the Chinese immigrant community for the period of residency required before applying for Canadian citizenship.

“Yiminjian”, or “immigration prison” conveys both sentiment and meaning that might surprise non-Chinese Canadians who tend to see residency here as a privilege coveted by those unlucky enough to have been born anywhere other than the Great White North.

Instead, for many Chinese immigrants, the mandatory three years of yiminjian is not something to be enjoyed as the start of a new life in Canada. It’s something to be endured. For these immigrants, the real goal of immigration is a Canadian passport - then it’s back to greater China to get on with making a living.

Now, the “prison sentence” looks like it is about to get longer.

Canada’s conservative government said on Monday it plans to introduce a new Citizenship Act in the current session of parliament, which began this week. Details have not been unveiled, but Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said he wanted to extend the current residency requirement, that immigrants must have lived in Canada for three out of the four years prior to an application for citizenship.

“I think the balance of considerations is in favour of a longer requirement,” Alexander told the National Post last month. “There’s only one way of truly understanding what it means to be Canadian, what it means to participate in Canadian life, and that is by living here.”