I have a few queries regarding moving to India and how it would affect the application for citizenship...
1. Will there be any issues if I return to India?
2. Are there any reason that CIC will ask me to come back to Canada prematurely?
3. Do I have to update CIC that I have left for India?
4. Based on my understanding if there are no issues it take about 6 months to receive oath taking ceremony? is this correct? if i delay my travel to July can be done with everything?
There are logistical and procedural risks for applicants who are abroad for extended periods of time. As
@akbardxb commented, there are numerous topics and a lot of discussion here about extended stays abroad after applying. Doing this is NOT prohibited. Being abroad after applying does not affect a PR's eligibility for citizenship unless they fail to comply with the PR Residency Obligation.
The nature and scope of the risks vary considerably, depending a lot on the particular circumstances. The logistical risks associated with failing to return to Canada in time to attend a scheduled event, for example, are obviously greater for someone living/staying on another continent, and some locations more so than others, than for a PR who is living a few hours drive away in the U.S. Likewise, the procedural risk of RQ-related non-routine processing will vary considerably, those applying with a very small margin over the minimum and returning to a long-term home or employment abroad, after applying, obviously have a higher risk than someone who applied with a big margin and has gone abroad to attend a particular educational program not available in Canada.
While applying with precisely 1095 days meets the presence requirement, assuming IRCC accepts that without question, that tends to elevate the risk of at least some non-routine requests. And in conjunction with staying abroad for an extended period of time, increases the risk of being required to participate in an interview, while in Canada, if not subject to more robust RQ-related non-routine requests.
BUT it would be mostly guessing for anyone here to say what your particular risks are. If you are interested in understanding the risks better, again there are many topics and discussions here to peruse. Up to you to do the homework. Be aware this subject tends to invite conflicting views and even some controversy, so it requires reading the posts employing critical thinking skills.
2. Are there any reason that CIC will ask me to come back to Canada prematurely?
IRCC (has not been CIC for nearly a decade) will not ask citizenship applicants to return to Canada. They might schedule in-person events which the applicant needs to attend IN Canada, or certain online events which require the applicant to participate in ONLY while in Canada. I already mentioned the possibility of an interview, for example, which if online some have been able to do while outside Canada while others have been required to be in Canada for it, and some are scheduled for an in-person interview which of course requires the applicant to be in Canada.
It is almost certain that you would need to return to Canada for the oath ceremony, whether that is online or in-person.
This is NOT accurate:
You can take Oath ceremony outside of Canada.
While there are isolated instances in which a very small number of citizenship applicants have been given the opportunity to take the oath while outside Canada, this is at most rare and far more likely is extremely rare. The claim by
@kadian that they will be taking the oath outside Canada is not credible.
3. Do I have to update CIC that I have left for India?
This is where the difference between "
travel" abroad versus living or relocating abroad comes into play. In many of the discussions about doing something similar to what you are planning, a significant number of forum participants not only fail to recognize this difference but more or less insist there is no difference. They are wrong. I suspect many recognize this but act otherwise in order to avoid the obvious: a change in residential address is a change in information in the application that the applicant certifies, when signing the application, they will notify IRCC about. Merely traveling away from where one lives, from one's place of residence, is not such a change.
IRCC recommends applicants notify them of travel abroad for more than two weeks. This is primarily to avoid scheduling events which would conflict with the applicant's travel. It is not mandatory. If the applicant has not notified IRCC they will be outside Canada, however, the applicant bears the risk of missing a scheduled event. Missing a rescheduled oath ceremony, for example, can result in the application being deemed abandoned.
A change in address, and when changing where one lives giving IRCC the applicant's true address, is mandatory . . . EXCEPT . . . many do not do this and apparently do so without a problem. Who gets away with it versus who does not, is hard to say. As a practical matter, it seems the
it's-easy-and-OK crowd here is the more prevalent.
4. Based on my understanding if there are no issues it take about 6 months to receive oath taking ceremony? is this correct? if i delay my travel to July can be done with everything?
Timelines are notoriously variable. No way to forecast the odds.
