Citizenship interviews - Tips, Recent experiencess and impressions

[0ntarian]

Hello folks, I thought I should share my experience of the test and interview that I had in Calgary.

For reference, I applied in November 2017, with 1233 days of physical presence. I also have a ridiculous number of absences - approx. 600 days over 80 trips - mostly due to business trips, and I have been anxious at the thought of getting a RQ. Hopefully the description of events below helps other individuals in similar situations understand what they can expect.

Getting there

Appointment was at 1pm. Drove down to Harry Hays underground parkade at around 12:30pm; parking is expensive, but you just have to bite the bullet. Took the elevator to the 2nd floor and followed the signs to the Citizenship and Immigration area. There was a line-up already, but a colleague of mine advised that you don't really need to be an eager beaver - the test only starts when everyone is in the room.

The test

The staff member shows us inside and we wait in a hallway that has old black and white images of past immigrants. There are three desks with staff members who call people one-by-one to check your invitation letter. They give you the answer sheet, instructions on filling out the top box, a pencil, and directions to the examination hall.

The exam hall is not as formal as one would imagine; it appears to be the same hall that they use for citizenship ceremonies. As you enter, you're asked to sit at any chair with a table-top. These are spaced out in the room. At this point, you may have to wait 10-15 minutes until everyone makes their way into the hall. There were about 25-30 people writing the test.

After everyone is seated, a staff member up front reads out the instructions, procedures and rules of the test. They advised us to identify any dates that we're not available for the citizenship ceremony, on the side of the answer sheet. They then come around to give you the questions. Once everyone has a question sheet, they start the exam. When you're done, you can hand in your answer sheet, question sheet and pencil and take a seat on the side. My recommendation is to finish your exam as quickly as you comfortably can and hand in your answer sheet. The line-up for the interviews can be long. However, re-check your answers once or twice as you don't really want to fail the test. The staff member said if you fail the test, you'll be invited for another test in 6-8 weeks. I don't know if that's true, but it's a scary thought.

The interview

I was third to finish the test so I didn't have to wait long for them to call my name. A staff member led me back to the original line leading up to the three desks. The desks are separated by dividers, so don't expect any privacy. While in the line, you can hear all the interview questions being asked to the folks ahead of you.

They call your name, you go up to the desk. I was greeted by a friendly lady who asked me to take out all my passports (including expired passports), PR card, driver's license, and proof of language ability. I asked her if she really needed to see my expired passports as they were outside the range of residency in Canada. She said yes; so I dug out those old passports and handed them over. For those who had doubts about this, now you know. She reviewed just the biographical pages of the old passports and handed them back to me.

She then told me that the CBSA had requested an entry log for me and she had it in front of her. It appears that prior to the interview she had cross-referenced every entry record on the CBSA log against the trips/dates that I declared in the Physical Presence Calculator print-out. With great relief, I saw the check-marks against every record and she even commented that she had never seen such a long list of absences so perfectly recorded! In her words, I was "spot-on". I said "phew thank God, I brought all my boarding passes just in case". But she was happy enough with the information she had so she didn't want to see my boarding passes. She did not flip through the pages and stamps in my passport either. I assume this is because she was already confident that my dates were accurate.

She then asked me to review the prohibitions list and sign to indicate that none of them apply and that all the information provided is accurate. Some people have commented that the officer generally covers the top-half of the sheet when asking you to sign; I did not have this experience. She gave me the whole sheet, asked me to read it and then sign. In the mean-time, she was looking through my application.

After I signed the sheet, she reviewed the dates that I indicated I was going to be away and asked me where I was going (this is in order to schedule the oath). I have one international trip followed by a domestic trip. She said she would schedule the oath after my international trip and clarified that I do not need my PR card for my domestic trip. She was quite amused by the excessive travel I do for work. She asked me what I do for work and the company I work for. She noted this down in a sheet in a file. Then she started giving me advice on how to apply for a passport after my oath. She was concerned that I may not get a new passport in time to meet my work travel obligations! She also mentioned that the citizenship ceremonies are currently being scheduled for mid-August to September.

Finally she says - "everything checks out, your application looks good, you passed your test so congratulations" and then lets me know that I will receive an e-mail with my oath date. At that point, I collected my documents and left. Overall I had a good experience with a very friendly officer.

Key takeaways from my experience:
1. Take all expired passports.
2. Ensure all your dates in your physical presence calculator print-out are accurate. (I took a copy with me).
3. The officer is trying to establish the credibility of your application during the short interview and has also done their home-work ahead of time. If you think that one of the dates you declared is incorrect, it wouldn't hurt to take some evidence to back it up. Provide that evidence if they bring up the discrepancy. I was very nervous so I took my entire stack of boarding passes with me, cross-referenced to each of the trips in the physical presence calculator print-out.

Let me know if you have any questions; and apologies for the wordy post!

Great! Congrats

 

[welovehockey]

Mine was not nearly as formal as OPs. We chatted very informally, she asked why I moved provinces, was very impressed with my work experience and asked if I was liking my new city, asked "how do you think you did on your test?" very jokingly and I replied "oh man, I hope I did well" and she revealed I scored 20/20. She asked why I didn't travel so much, I said every time I saved money I ended up spending with something else, like a new computer (I work in tech) and she said "Yeah, in your field that makes sense". She asked about my family and congratulated me on my recent wedding... Anyways, while checked the documents she was very chatty and friendly. I was super relaxed from the get go as well, so I guess that helped.

 

[jumon563]

Mine was not nearly as formal as OPs. We chatted very informally, she asked why I moved provinces, was very impressed with my work experience and asked if I was liking my new city, asked "how do you think you did on your test?" very jokingly and I replied "oh man, I hope I did well" and she revealed I scored 20/20. She asked why I didn't travel so much, I said every time I saved money I ended up spending with something else, like a new computer (I work in tech) and she said "Yeah, in your field that makes sense". She asked about my family and congratulated me on my recent wedding... Anyways, while checked the documents she was very chatty and friendly. I was super relaxed from the get go as well, so I guess that helped.

THIS GUY WORK IN TECH

 

[welovehockey]

THIS GUY WORK IN TECH

I'm a girl.

 

[jumon563]

Now make sense. Tech guy never buy new fancy computer every month. lol. One of my aunt is good at typing and her english is good too. Her friends think she is a computer engineer.

 

[welovehockey]

Now make sense. Tech guy never buy new fancy computer every month. lol. One of my aunt is good at typing and her english is good too. Her friends think she is a computer engineer.

lol who said anything about buying a new computer every month? Don't know what your problem is with me, dude, but whatever. I was just sharing my experience and providing context. Have a nice day!

 

[jumon563]

lol who said anything about buying a new computer every month? Don't know what your problem is with me, dude, but whatever. I was just sharing my experience and providing context. Have a nice day!

Tech guy doesn't even buy pink colored iphone x either. Tech spend least amount of money in tech because they already have all from their work. lol.

 

[Alex23]

Take employment related documents such as pay stubs in addition to what you submitted as copies with the application. Just to be on the safer side...

1) What kind of documents should I bring if I'm a self-employed freelancer? All my work is in internet, I don't have any agreements/contracts etc

Translate passport stamps if the language is not English or French to be on the safer side. About $7 per copy. Just to be on the safer side...

2) Could anyone share the locations in Mississauga/Toronto/Brampton with those kind of services?

Thanks guys, great topic.

 

[rasmy]

Today i received CIT 0520 in the mail. The officer asked for the following documents:
1. Rental agreements, leases or mortgage documents for the entire eligibility period
2. Records of employment or pay stubs for all jobs held
3. Itineraries, boarding passes, proof of entry into any country, other than Canada during the eligibility period
4. Credit card and bank statement for the 2012 and 2013
5. any passport and/travel documents valid or expired(color copies of every page). All passport stamps must be translated including visas. This includes any entries that fall outside the eligibility period.

Now here is the problem.
1. I was sharing rooms with my friends and was not on the lease till 2014. what can i do?
2. I used a travel document before and was renewed. Passport Canada retained the old document before issuing the new one. How can i get hold of this document.
3. While going through my emails i came across a trip which i forgot to mention cause it was on the old document retained by passport Canada. It will not affect the residency days required. What can i do about this?

Thank you.

 

[Alex23]

1) What kind of documents should I bring if I'm a self-employed freelancer? All my work is in internet, I don't have any agreements/contracts etc



2) Could anyone share the locations in Mississauga/Toronto/Brampton with those kind of services?

Thanks guys, great topic.

2.a) Question about stamps translation
Dominican Republic stamp looks like this:

Do we actually need to translate "Republica Dominicana" to "Dominican Republic" with a clearly visible date?

Cuban stamp says just "Cuba". But it's on Spanish.

 

[0ntarian]

I d'nt think you need traslation

 

[Wondergirl]

2.a) Question about stamps translation
Dominican Republic stamp looks like this:

Do we actually need to translate "Republica Dominicana" to "Dominican Republic" with a clearly visible date?

Cuban stamp says just "Cuba". But it's on Spanish.

No u dont need translation i had mine too dominican and cuba i didnt submit anything they know that already canadian always back and fort in South America for winter get away so ur good

 

[Alex23]

HamiltonApplicant said: ↑
Take employment related documents such as pay stubs in addition to what you submitted as copies with the application. Just to be on the safer side...

What kind of documents should I bring if I'm a self-employed freelancer? All my work is in internet, I don't have any agreements/contracts etc

Anyone had the same situation? Any ideas?
I only have notices of assessment that I paid taxes

 

[BeeR]

Hi I have a scheduled test on June 20. The problem is I changed my last name to married name but I don't have my original copy of the marriage certificate, i only have photocopy. Do you think they will accept it? Thanks

 

[Seym]

Hi I have a scheduled test on June 20. The problem is I changed my last name to married name but I don't have my original copy of the marriage certificate, i only have photocopy. Do you think they will accept it? Thanks

It's too late to change anything about it. Bring it with you and tell them that's all you have.