The response by
@kushari covers it. (With one caveat about the potential delay. See below.)
That said, there are some key factors which can influence how this goes, so A LONGER EXPLANATION may be warranted.
In particular, this is very much a personal judgment call. While having corroborating evidence (such as evidence of itinerary in the form of e-ticket confirmation or otherwise) MAY help, there are other factors which are far more influential.
SUMMARY OF KEY FACTORS TO CONSIDER (and there may be others):
-- can dates be READILY discerned in the passport stamps
-- is it readily apparent the stamps are an EXIT or ENTRY stamp
-- do you have a substantial margin over the minimum presence requirement
-- total number of passport stamps
-- total number of trips in presence calculation
-- any potential reason why IRCC might have any concerns about meeting the presence requirement
Just for example consider the bilingual passport stamp: the reason why forum participants are not reporting instances in which IRCC requires the translation of non-official language in a bilingual passport stamp is because IRCC can reasonably, readily discern what the stamp is and its date. The fact the stamp is bilingual does NOT provide an authenticated translation of the information that is not in an official language.
Technically the instruction requires an authenticated translation. Practically, however, IRCC does NOT insist on a translation if they do not need it to evaluate the information.
That is . . .
the real key is whether an IRCC processing agent (a total stranger bureaucrat) can look at your passport in comparison to the printout of your presence calculation, AND in consideration of all the other information in your case,
COMFORTABLY conclude your presence calculation is both accurate and complete AND that you meet the requirement.
If you are confident the IRCC processing agent will look at your passport in comparison to the printout of your presence calculation, AND in consideration of all the other information in your case, COMFORTABLY conclude your presence calculation is both accurate and complete, and that shows you meet the requirement, that moves the needle in the direction of a higher probability of NO PROBLEM not having a few stamps translated.
But there are other considerations. If the hassle and expense of obtaining a translation before the test/interview/oath date outweighs the inconvenience of potentially having the oath delayed, that moves the needle in the direction of taking the risk.
You get the picture.
The bigger your margin over the minimum, the better your odds a few passport stamps will not become a focus of inquiry, and especially if on their face they are consistent with the travel history provided in the presence calculation.
The less complicated your travel history, the easier it is to map passport stamps into it, the less risk of concerns or questions about any particular passport stamps.
The more complete picture of a life lived in Canada provided by the information in the application and the applicant's immigration history, consistent with presence clearly meeting the requirements, the less risk a processing agent is going to have concerns about translations of individual passport stamps.
And so on.
And you are right about the relevance of dates . . . if passport stamps clearly date from a period prior to settling and staying in Canada, for example, there is little or no reason why IRCC will want to see the details translated (I suspect this was a significant factor in why I had no issue with stamps which were only in Spanish . . . the dates were nonetheless discernible and they were prior to when I actually settled to stay in Canada).
So, as you can see, whether to go without a translation is very much a personal decision, for you to make in consideration of all the factors you know AND how important it is FOR YOU to avoid risk of delay.
Hello everyone,
I have a question regarding passport stamps translation for the citizenship test/interview.
I have just looked at my passport thoroughly and see that I have two stamps in Chinese (Exit and Entry) and two stamps in Spanish (Exit and Entry). Other than these, all of my stamps are all bilingual (English and other language).
I've read some posts on the forum but I am not still clear if this is really necessary to get them translated.
I live in a small town and I think it will be expensive and not-so-easy to find...
Has anyone recently had any experience regarding passport stamps for the citizenship test/interview?
I would really like to hear your experience.
Thanks guys as always!
Thanks for your quick reply. Yes, that's what I have been thinking. "Oh well, let's see".
I'm invited to both events luckily on the same day (Test and Oath ceremony). As you know, you are required to bring an official test invitation letter but in that invitation letter, this passport stamps/visa translation is not mentioned and then in the same email there was another PDF file that has a tile "Important Information" basically saying the same stuff as the official invitation letter with an addition (A certified translation of any passport and/or Canadian travel documents stamps, or notes that are not in one of Canada's official languages- English and French).
Wish there is someone who had the same experience on this forum and share his/her experiences with me.
Again, the response by
@kushari covers it. It warrants repeating:
Sounds like you can go to the interview, and let them decide. They might not make a big deal out of it, especially if you're way over the amount of days you need, but if you're close they might tell you to get them translated. Worst comes to worst, you are delayed a few weeks to translate them.
My only caveat: given that you are already scheduled for the oath (it appears you may be scheduled for itinerant services), IF IRCC DOES want to see stamp translations, the delay may be for several MONTHS . . . and if indeed you are in a location where itinerant services are provided, the delay would be at least until the next scheduled oath event there (many such locations only have two to four oath events a year, if that many).
But the bottom-line is that your application will
NOT be rejected for failing to follow the instructions to provide an authenticated translation for information/documents not in either official language. Worst case scenario is you are given an opportunity to provide translations and the process is delayed . . . from a few to several months.
As you have seen in anecdotal reporting, actual experiences vary. Which makes sense. IRCC is
NOT about
Gotcha games. If the information and documents provided clearly establish the applicant is qualified, IRCC does not engage in make-work exercises just to strictly enforce their instructions. Count me among those who had Spanish language passport stamps that I did NOT have translated and who received notice for the interview (I was test-exempt by a big margin) and oath to take place at an itinerant services location (my oath was scheduled for the second day after the interview, not the same day), and NO problem. But I had a very big margin over the minimum. Most of my travel was to the U.S. and thus only had a few stamps in my passport stamps and the only ones not in English or in French were in Spanish, the dates were readily discernible and clearly prior to when I settled in Canada.
Just to be clear ----
INSTRUCTIONS ARE CLEAR: PASSPORT STAMPS CONTAINING INFORMATION NOT IN ONE OF THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES SHOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY A PROPERLY AUTHENTICATED TRANSLATION
Applicants are instructed to provide proper translations for any document containing information that is not in either of the official languages. This instruction is repeated in various instructions for citizenship applicants. Apparently so many show up at the PI Interview without proper translations IRCC is now including a specific instruction for passport stamps (as you report was in the pdf containing important information).
BUT THIS is ALSO A STANDARD INSTRUCTION for almost ALL transactions with IRCC involving the submission or presentation of documents.
There is no doubt about the instructions -- if a document contains information that is not in English and not in French: provide translation.
There is NOTHING in any IRCC information which so much as hints that passport stamps are an exception.
It is merely about whether IRCC is comfortable enough, with ALL the information, to proceed in making a determination without enforcing the instruction to provide a translation.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATION: I cannot say for sure, BUT it appears that in many of the cases where applicants without translated passport stamps are specifically requested to provide a translation, after the test/interview, involve scenarios where IRCC has concerns anyway . . . so that the delay that follows tends to be lengthy but that is less about the request for translation of passport stamps and more about questions in the particular applicant's case itself. This is mostly to emphasize that the strength of the case itself is probably the biggest factor in whether failing to have the translation results in having to provide it after the test, and if so, whether there will be a long or short delay.
