I am not advocating use of ATIP reports
Good. That is appropriate, prudent, and is worth emphasizing.
The point, after all, is to reassure qualified applicants who visit this forum that there is no need to unnecessarily worry something has gone awry in their case. The routine, qualified applicant has no need to make an ATIP request for a copy of the selected GCMS notes which IRCC will share with applicants.
That is,
unless there is a reason. And I have made clear that if indeed there is a reason to believe something is
awry or there is a
problem, the ATIP process is an available tool.
Likewise making a telephone call to help centre. Which brings up scenarios in which an applicant sees information in eCas but does not get the corresponding email or paper mail. That is indeed a reason to make the telephone call, to take the time and make the effort to get through, and to politely persist in getting the call centre agent to actually access the applicant's file to see if there is an issue and what that issue is . . . for example, if eCas is indicating notice was sent BUT no notice has been received, then that is time to make the call.
And hopefully that day there are not too many applicants making frivolous, unnecessary calls making it too difficult to actually get through.
Ascertaining if there is a reason to make a telephone call to the help centre, or a reason to make the ATIP request, is of course
a very personal decision. As I have oft observed, those who have a reason warranting either almost invariably know it.
If something is awry there is almost always some clue something is awry. In contrast, of course a large bureaucracy is going to have some wrinkles in the process, so sure some things may go slightly awry in the ordinary course of processing (i.e. a FP request sits a bit before actually being sent out), BUT the vast majority of the time these will be corrected without any need for intervention by the applicant, and that will most likely happen just as soon, or nearly so, as would be accomplished due to efforts by the applicant to discover it and intervene . . . the appearance of an intervention having an impact will
usually (obviously not always, but usually) be no more than that, an
appearance (acknowledging there are contrary views about this).
If there is a problem, the applicant will almost invariably know about it and why, or at least should know about it and why if the applicant has objectively examined his or her application and circumstances.
Problems are a different and more complicated kettle-of-fish. Most of my time and posting in the forum, for several years now, has focused on a few common and thorny problems, especially problems relating to contested presence or residency (for the PR RO as well as citizenship), including why this happens and, in particular, what constitutes proof of presence, with only passing reference to problems derived from security concerns (there are a few other issues I stay abreast of, like the impact of cessation proceedings on certain citizenship applicants). When problems are at a stage for which an ATIP request is a good idea, that usually calls for a
customized ATIP request, which is not easy to compose, which requires real homework and an investment of time and effort, but otherwise (without the extra, diligent effort) the response to the ATIP request will be the same old useless, uninformative copy of GCMS notes for which IRCC has obviously created a generic report template in order to more efficiently handle scores of nuisance, unnecessary requests.
Problem cases are more thoroughly addressed in those threads in which the subject itself is the particular type of problem. Example: RQ'd cases are discussed in a number of topics specifically about RQ and proof of presence/residence.
As to clues about when there might be something awry, clues suggesting it might be a good idea to make an ATIP request:
The major reason why I have addressed this issue is that much of the discussion about obtaining generic ATIP generated GCMS notes tends to encourage or advocate doing so
unnecessarily, tends to give the impression that it is a good idea to do this even if there is NO clue, no hint, anything is awry, tending to suggest that this is something important to do, bearing with it the implicit suggestion that it is likely there is something amiss and unless the applicant does this, the applicant's case is in trouble or will suffer an inordinately longer timeline.
That is, I apprehend there is an implicit (and some here more explicitly) message there is cause to worry and worry enough to encourage applicants to make
just-in-case ATIP requests. That message is misleading. Qualified applicants need not worry.
Thus, again, I appreciate and I believe many other participants will appreciate contrary messages like this:
I am not advocating use of ATIP reports . . . [in effect, unless the applicant perceives a reason to do so]
Moreover, I absolutely agree and concur with encouraging applicants to at least periodically check eCas (albeit once a week should suffice, and twice a week is plenty), and so I also applaud messages like this:
it's very useful to check the ecas because sometimes emails just don't arrive or go to spam and your ecas could help you know something you might miss
To my view the most important aspect of this discussion is the reminder that generally, overall, the qualified applicant who accurately and appropriately provided information in the application, and who has notice the application being received (AOR), does NOT NEED to WORRY.
Watch for notices or correspondences (including periodically checking eCas), prepare for the test (if required), and WAIT. That's it. That is it
unless along the way something suggests things have gone awry (applicants with known risk of a problem are a separate deal).
Relationship to timeline hysteria:
The other way-over-the-top incendiary discussions in the forum involve an excessive, virtually obsessive timeline watch including timeline comparisons. The fact that other apparently very similar applicants (such as same date of application, same local office) have made it to the next step sooner is NOT a clue something is awry. The timeline varies, and varies considerably, and there is virtually
NOTHING an applicant can do to accelerate his or her own timeline. It will take as long is takes. And that will vary a lot from one applicant to another, even for applicants who applied on the same day and are processed in the same local office. This is true notwithstanding the rare report in which this or that applicant claims an ATIP request led to getting to the next step faster; except in very isolated, peculiar circumstances there is
NO support for the proposition an applicant can save time by making a generic ATIP request. The fact that another similar applicant was scheduled for the test two or three months sooner is NOT a reason to worry or obtain an ATIP report. The fact that another similar applicant got the oath two or four months sooner after the test is NOT a reason to worry or obtain an ATIP report.