July 2024 - Citizenship Application
- Thread starter joban_92
- Start date
Update:
Got invitation e-mail today, virtual ceremony. Big disappointment, but can't risk rescheduling due to travel.
Got invitation e-mail today, virtual ceremony. Big disappointment, but can't risk rescheduling due to travel.
congrats;
its not disappointment tbh.
you should have been waiting for security screen for 10-15-20 months and then you would have accepted what ever they offer you.
be happy, blessed and celebrate for what you have got. it was fast and you should be happy not disappointed because of Virtual ceremony!
Thanks for you words. Yeah, I'm thankful that I didn't have to wait as long as some other people. I feel for them. But I have mixed feelings. I thought citizenship ceremonies were mainly held in person, as I've seen many people get invited to those. I thought online ceremonies were only a thing during COVID and that they rarely scheduled people for them now. I dont understand why IRCC is still sticking to this online format. Even in the email, they state its because of COVID, but the pandemic has been over for a long time. This is a big day for us. I've been waiting for so long and honestly, yes, I feel a bit disappointed. Sorry to say that.
I think the simple reality is that scheduling them online is easier and less staff intensive, and more frequent oath ceremonies (particularly in places where there are just not enough to have them often). It also makes managing getting the e-certificates sent out a bit easier for them.
And most people just want to have them sooner after waiting so long.
I wish they simple gave those ready for the oath ceremony option of online at some fixed time and one-three nearby dates/times and let them choose. Yep, they'd fill up quickly, but they'd get a better idea too of how many people would prefer in-person.
But it's clear in a situation where they give the impression an in-person oath ceremony could be months away or an online one rather soon, many will just choose the online.
Whereas it's clear in a city like Toronto they could probably have one a day of 100 people or more.
Yes, I agree with you. We should have the option. In our case, my partner has to travel soon, and we simply can’t risk rescheduling because it’s uncertain.
It’s really sad what you’re saying that they hold these virtual ceremonies because it’s cheaper and they don’t care about new citizens having a proper ceremony where a judge personally hands them a real certificate. That’s what I wished for.
I also think that if they gave people the option to choose, most would prefer an in-person ceremony. They could hold larger ceremonies, like on Canada Day, in stadiums, etc.
To be clear, I don't think they're doing it this way BECAUSE (or mostly because) it's cheaper, but that it's easier to organize in volumes/priority that people want.
My guess is that the blockage is not so much money, but that they would have to radically change the planning and processes for the in-person ceremonies (compared to the pre-pandemic scheduling for in-person, which I think is at core of how their system works now). There's no reason the rescheduling as they have it now should take so long, for example.
Or put differently: I think they'd have to rip apart the two-track system now and re-build it, using the lessons from the pandemic and all; and they just don't have the bandwidth / prioritization (unless a minister or the public demands it). It wouldn't have to be all that expensive necessarily - just different.
For example: they could issue everyone who gets all the approvals (ready for oath) a number they can use to get in to a ceremony and a 'default' ceremony online six to eight weeks away. Then they set up regular large ceremonies in population centres (Toronto/Montreal/Calgary/Vancouver could probably have every day, or several a week, or run five or six one day a week). If it's 100-200 per ceremony, 80% of them reserved in advance, 20% 'day of' (be there an hour in advance to register and show your ID etc.) Rent a theatre in Toronto and do 600 people at a time, once a week - whatever. Make it regular and a mass event.
anyway, not going to happen unless a lot of people tell the government they want it (and even then probably not right away)
Well, my friend, it’s more than likely that this is all about money. At least, that’s how it seems based on what you’re saying. It’s cheaper if they don’t have to rent or maintain a venue, and less staff.. During COVID, this was understandable. But now, it just feels like a slap in the face to new citizens, at least to me.
You say it won’t change unless a lot of people speak up to the government. But who would speak up? PRs who don’t even have voting rights?
Besides, the $600+ fee that every applicant pays could easily cover the cost of an in-person ceremony.
Your plans are good, and I wish things were that way, or that they would change in the future so that future applicants could have a proper ceremony, one they can remember years later and look back on through photos.
I know it may seem like about money. (Perhaps it is, or partly). But I think the bigger constraint is bandwidth and time to re-think. It woudl require simplification of some steps and changes to procedures.
I personally believe govt would listen to PRs in this case, because they are about to become voting citizens.
I think eventually they'll move to some more balanced model.
But I'd also say: 80% of prime interest/priority for a lot of applicants is (relative) speed (even though I think part of the 'speed' demand is about certainty, as the process feels random to many). So they won't change to more in-person oath ceremonies unless they can deliver equivalent or better speed, and they can't do that unless they rethink the oath/scheduling process.
And for a government department like IRCC, simplifying is the hard part. THey can do it - they do the online procedures because they had to. Simple in some ways and they can do them quickly. Now they would have to apply that to an existing procedure, and that's hardest of all for them.
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What is going on? So I had an update on Jan 14 showing everything completed except for citizenship ceremony. Then on Jan 23 I get a ghost update. I haven't seen anything that the ghost update did, I haven't gotten any emails. What do you think is happening?