I wanted to write this post to share our experience, as we found ourselves desperately googling for information on how to proceed when we first received the invitation for my husband's oath ceremony back in January 2024.
Timeline:
He received an email from IRCC back in January 2024 inviting him to his oath ceremony. It was about 2 weeks before the date of the ceremony when we got the notice. At the time, his PR card was just about to expire and we are currently living/working in the UK. We also weren't in a financial position to book a last-minute flight to Canada, so we opted to request that the ceremony be rescheduled.
We sent an email right away to let them know the situation, that the PR card was about to expire and my husband is currently abroad. We also requested to change the date of the ceremony to a later date so we would have time to apply for a PRTD, which has a 2-8 weeks processing time.
We sent an email almost every day until the ceremony, without ever receiving more than an automated response. We also filled out the form online to contact IRCC.
My husband joined the Zoom meeting on the day of his ceremony, assuming that perhaps he could let IRCC staff know that he was abroad and had requested a rescheduled ceremony, but the Zoom meeting detected your location and he wasn't allowed to join at all.
Absolute silence from IRCC until April, when he was invited for a rescheduled ceremony on May 1st. The notice made it very clear that this was his final invitation and if he didn't show, the application would be assumed to be abandoned.
Our mistake was not applying for the PRTD earlier than we had intended. We were in a bit of a chicken and egg situation, wondering if it was better to wait for IRCC to confirm the rescheduled ceremony before applying for the PRTD or not. If you are looking to reschedule, I advise applying to PRTD right away!
Once again, we didn't trust that the PRTD would come back in time. My husband booked a flight to Burlington, VT instead, where a family member picked him up and drove him across the border. He had his expired PR card on his person. He said the officer spoke to him for less than five minutes, asked him when his ceremony was, and waved him in without any issues.
Timeline:
He received an email from IRCC back in January 2024 inviting him to his oath ceremony. It was about 2 weeks before the date of the ceremony when we got the notice. At the time, his PR card was just about to expire and we are currently living/working in the UK. We also weren't in a financial position to book a last-minute flight to Canada, so we opted to request that the ceremony be rescheduled.
We sent an email right away to let them know the situation, that the PR card was about to expire and my husband is currently abroad. We also requested to change the date of the ceremony to a later date so we would have time to apply for a PRTD, which has a 2-8 weeks processing time.
We sent an email almost every day until the ceremony, without ever receiving more than an automated response. We also filled out the form online to contact IRCC.
My husband joined the Zoom meeting on the day of his ceremony, assuming that perhaps he could let IRCC staff know that he was abroad and had requested a rescheduled ceremony, but the Zoom meeting detected your location and he wasn't allowed to join at all.
Absolute silence from IRCC until April, when he was invited for a rescheduled ceremony on May 1st. The notice made it very clear that this was his final invitation and if he didn't show, the application would be assumed to be abandoned.
Our mistake was not applying for the PRTD earlier than we had intended. We were in a bit of a chicken and egg situation, wondering if it was better to wait for IRCC to confirm the rescheduled ceremony before applying for the PRTD or not. If you are looking to reschedule, I advise applying to PRTD right away!
Once again, we didn't trust that the PRTD would come back in time. My husband booked a flight to Burlington, VT instead, where a family member picked him up and drove him across the border. He had his expired PR card on his person. He said the officer spoke to him for less than five minutes, asked him when his ceremony was, and waved him in without any issues.
