Hi members in this forum. I have two questions and hopefully you can help me out with.
1. When I use physical presence calculator of CIC, it says my eligible period is March 15, 2013 to March 15, 2018. Application date: March 15, 2018.
I would wait for another week from March 15 to submit my application just to be safe. But just out of curiosity, if I'd like, I can sign the application on March 15 and send it to CIC right on the March 15?
2. Am I only required to provide the first page (biographical page) of my passport? No need to provide copy of pages with stamps or visas?
Any insight is greatly appreciated!
The following dates MUST be the same or your application will be returned to you:
- The date you filled in as "day you sign the application" in the physical presence calculator
- The end date of your eligbility period (the calculator automatically chooses the signing date as the end date of the eligibility period)
- The date you signed the main application form
- The date you signed the calculator printout
- The date you signed any additional forms that you had to submit (e.g. name changes, presence outside Canada, representative,...)
Also, note that once you signed there is no point in waiting "to be safe". If you sign on March 15, then this is the date which IRCC will use to calculate your eligibility. If you want to wait some weeks (which is recommended), then make sure that you update the physical presence calculator so that your eligibility period ends on the day you sign.
You can send off your application on the day you sign or later, but not before.
Most importantly: Do not try to be smart by thinking "well the letter will need two days to get to Sydney, so I'll put a date two days in the future".
Thank you for your reply. I have two other questions and unsure if you happen to know.
During eligible periods, I made four trips back to my home country, visiting friends and family. Usually less than 2 weeks each trip. I noticed:
1. Unlike in my home country, when you leave the country, immigration officer will verify your passport and stamp on it. Here in Canada, whenever I leave the country, there is no immigration officer checking my passport and of course, no stamp on it. How can the CIC officer verify my residency?
2. For the two most recent trips back to Canada (Oct last year and February this year), I only filled in custom declaration electronically. Immigration officer no longer stamped on my passport. I assume when I apply citizen, the officer can run their database and see when I returned Canada based on my custom declaration information?
1. They have to believe you, or if they don't, they can ask you for documentation (e.g. flight tickets) which doesn't happen very often though.
2. Canada rarely ever stamps the passports of Permanent Residents anymore these days. But your passport and/or PR card still gets scanned by either the machine or a border officer. In either case, Canada has an electronic record of when you entered Canada.
Most importantly, the customs declaration has absolutely nothing to do with immigration anyways. It is only and exclusively about the goods you bring to Canada and if you are allowed to bring those goods in. At land borders, most of the time you don't even fill such a form. So again, the customs form is completely irrelevant and has always been irrelevant for immigration purposes.
