Hi all,
So I had my oath ceremony yesterday!
Here is my timeline:
Application sent: October 2021
Application filed: Dec 16th, 2021
Background complete: Feb 17th, 2022
Test scheduled: April 18th, 2022
Test completed: May 4th, 2022
Test activity updated: May 19th, 2022
Prohibitions, physical and language complete: June 6th, 2022
Decision made: June 6th, 2022
Oath status updated to in progress: June 27th, 2022
Invite email received: July 13th, 2022
Oath ceremony: July 25th, 2022.
My "check-in" meeting was scheduled for 10 AM. I clicked on the "check-in" Zoom link in my email about 15 minutes before 10 AM. Good thing I did because it actually required me to download Zoom even when opening the meeting in a web browser (Chrome on Windows). After downloading Zoom, the meeting window opened on the browser.
We were put into a "waiting room" and we were told what documents we needed. The woman telling us the info actually made a mistake... she said we needed three pieces of ID, that is incorrect. The form you receive in the email says two pieces of ID (PR card and driver's license for example). Each person was then taken into separate meetings with an IRCC officer. The officer confirmed my name, and address and that I have not committed any crimes. She then verified my PR card and driver's license. I was asked if I had travel booked for anytime soon. I do not. She then asked me to cut up my PR card into 4 pieces. They are tough!! Have a strong pair of scissors!! I was then told to come back at 1 pm for the ceremony.
At 1 PM, I opened the ceremony link in my email. I sat for 30 minutes and nothing was happening! I thought my internet had dropped or that I had been forgotten (lol). Finally, the meeting window opened. They had technical issues. There were over 200 of us in this ceremony meeting.
They checked that everyone was present in the ceremony and then it began. The judge spoke about indigenous people and the land we are on. We then watched a quick video about Canada. Then it was time to take the oath. We did it in English and French. We then sang the anthem and we were allowed to take a photo with the judge.
The staff then gave us instructions on how to submit our signed oath form and what to put in the email subject line... again, they gave us mismatched information compared to what was sent in the email instructions. I followed the instructions in the email form for what to put in the subject line as that seemed more complete. The staff seemed a little disorganised when it came to the information to provide us.
One other thing to note, at some points, we were unmuted while the Judge was talking. She had to repeatedly ask families to be quiet, as some were talking over her or children were screaming... some people did not stop or mute themselves when the Judge asked, and honestly, it seemed quite rude. Just be aware that even a whisper is loud on a video call and that everything you say can be heard when unmuted. It can make it hard to hear what is being said.
Overall, the ceremony was enjoyable but I wish they were back to doing in person ones!