I've filled in all the dates I can remember but the whole criminal offense for misinformation has me terrified. What if I missed a few dates? Does that count? I didn't keep as good track as I could but I've got my travel records. I entered the dates listed. I have more than enough days to apply but I don't want to get in trouble if some days are missing. After the nightmare I had applying for PR, I really am not comfortable with or trusting of the IRCC/CIC . I hope this makes sense.
Foremost: Minor discrepancies, even some outright omissions, are very common in citizenship applications. IRCC does
NOT engage in
Gotcha-Games. Mistakes are NOT misrepresentation. There is NO reason to worry that IRCC is going to be overly severe in how it responds to minor errors, even omissions. (The process to obtain a PR visa is different, more strict.)
Applicants here have reported failing to declare whole trips, even a trip of THREE WEEKS, and nonetheless sailing through the process. Omission noticed and asked about during the interview, and acknowledged, as a mistake, an oversight, but with plenty of margin over the minimum, NO problem. Decision made. Oath scheduled and taken.
That said, OBVIOUSLY, when an applicant fails to accurately report information which the applicant for sure has (and, in the case of travel dates, is the ONLY PERSON in the whole world who for-sure has the capacity to know), that reveals the applicant is not, at least not entirely, an accurate reporter of fact. This is not a matter of not trusting IRCC. It is a question about whether IRCC can trust the applicant. It is the applicant's job to report ALL travel dates accurately. Has been for many, many years, even for a PR card application let alone citizenship.
So sure, getting the travel dates as accurate as possible, and especially avoiding omissions, is indeed VERY IMPORTANT. And the applicant who is NOT confident about his or her travel history would be prudent to approach the process cautiously.
In the situation where the applicant is less than confident about his or her travel history, there are some really important things an applicant can do to minimize potential negative implications:
-- make a concerted effort to research and review all your sources of information to verify, as best you can, your travel history, racking the memory, looking at credit card statements, calendars, email, asking family and friends; many will also request their CBSA travel history to help verify at least the dates they returned to Canada, but the applicant also needs to carefully review all other sources of information and not rely exclusively on the CBSA history -- for sure, do not rely much on passport stamps
-- make sure to have an extra big margin over the minimum; way more than enough to offset any mistakes; enough to reassure IRCC that even if some significant mistakes have been made, there is no reason to have any doubts at all about easily having been in Canada more than 1095 days in the eligibility period
-- if some dates or time periods are estimates NOTE this, acknowledge the dates are an estimate, in the reason box, AND/OR also include a supplemental page explaining that some of the travel history is an estimate; similarly if there is a likelihood a trip or two has been left out, include an explanation acknowledging the possibility a trip or three has been left out, estimating the length of any such trip
NO NEED TO GO OVERBOARD IN THIS. Again, IRCC does
NOT pursue
Gotcha-games. Indeed, IRCC currently advises applicants to wait to apply long enough after they meet the presence requirement so that they still meet the requirements if they left any trips out. IRCC understands applicants make mistakes.
What IRCC does NOT understand so well are significant discrepancies suggesting some disregard for providing the information necessary to establish qualifying for citizenship. Thus, sure, someone who had a lot of more or less obvious DAY-trips to the U.S. failing to detail each and every day trip, especially if the applicant acknowledges up front there were some additional day-trips the dates of which are not recalled, should NOT encounter any problem about this. But, IN CONTRAST, if an applicant leaves out multiple international trips which were for a week or more, the "
I forgot" excuse tends to fall on unsympathetic ears, especially if the applicant has not already acknowledged the possibility of leaving some travel out. And of course the impact of mistakes will vary from case to case depending on a lot of other factors, like how solid the applicant's address and work history is, where the applicant's immediate family lives (some of those who run into more difficulty, for example, have a spouse living and working in the U.S., which all by itself, even without mistakes in the travel history, elevates the risk of suspicion that the applicant may have been in the U.S. more than declared; others have ongoing ties abroad, such as a business abroad).
OVERALL, QUALIFIED APPLICANTS WHO MAKE A REASONABLE EFFORT TO BE ACCURATE HAVE NO REASON TO WORRY.
The vast, vast majority of citizenship applications are routinely processed. Including scores of applications in which the applicant made mistakes.
