Hello there. I just got an invitation for the citizenship test soon. But the problem is I dont know where my expired passport is. All I have is a photocopy of the biodata page.
I'll go with the specifics, we became PR May 2014. That passport expires in 2015 so Feb 2015, we got a new passport. I havent travelled anywhere with the old passport. I was 15 years old at the time so it was my mom who carries my passport. Now she doesnt know or remember where my old passport is. We are looking for it like crazy. I dont know what will happen if I dont present my old passport. Please help me.
Thank you for the response. But I was also searching up people with similar situations and a lot have said that it will delay the process as they will be given a RQ or QR i forgot what it was. Im wondering why you said it wont delay the process for me?
As
@canvan14 suggested, the failure to present ALL relevant travel documents can result in RQ - related requests for additional information and documents, and thus RQ - related non-routine processing and resulting delays. This includes older passports which were valid during any part of the eligibility period or otherwise could have been used during the eligibility period.
Whether failing to present a required passport will actually result in RQ-related processing is a decision made either by the particular processing agent conducting the PI Interview (which includes the document verification check), or the Citizenship Officer who will make the determination whether to grant citizenship (after reviewing the file and input from the processing agent). So yes, to some extent, whether or not this results in a delay due to RQ-related processing depends on the judgment or decision-making of one or the other of these individuals.
BUT IT ACTUALLY DEPENDS FAR, FAR MORE ON MANY OTHER FACTORS IN THE CASE.
I will NOT attempt to enumerate the factors, but most of them fall into some broad categories:
-- strength of case generally
-- relevancy of the missing travel document (how the absence of this evidence, the passport, might affect the strength of case)
-- applicant credibility
I will NOT attempt a detailed analysis either. These categories have a lot of overlap, and many factors are relevant in all three, and how this or that factor influences things can vary widely, many factors having interrelated influence.
But no special insider knowledge is necessary to get the gist of it: the stronger the case generally, and the less relevant the missing passport, and the more credible the applicant, the better the odds that IRCC will NOT have concerns and NOT implement non-routine processing, RQ-related or otherwise.
In contrast . . .
If the applicant has a weak case (for example: little buffer over minimum in conjunction with any concern about the travel history, work or school history, or address history), that will increase the risk a missing passport will trigger RQ-related requests.
If the missing passport covers a large period of time and especially if it covers a significant portion of a period of time that the applicant reports being in Canada, that makes it more relevant and if it is missing it is more likely to trigger RQ-related requests.
If the applicant's explanation for why the passport is not available seems vague, evasive, or especially deceptive, or there are other reasons to question the applicant's credibility (such as significant discrepancies in other information provided by the applicant), that will elevate the risk IRCC will make RQ-related requests.
I do not know what your eligibility period is or how your accounting of days present in Canada relates, or does not relate, to the time period before the date in 2015 that your missing passport expired. If, for example, your presence calculation shows presence in Canada for more than 1095 days AFTER that passport expired, that indicates the older, missing passport has rather minimal relevancy and this should increase your odds of NO RQ by quite a lot.
My general impression, subject to the particular details in your case, is that this missing passport has minimal relevance in the calculation of your days present in Canada, and that may explain why
@Jayson rather casually concluded this is not likely to cause any delays in your case. But this is subject to the particular details in your case.
PASSPORTS ARE NOT AS IMPORTANT TODAY AS IN THE PAST (they are still very important, but not nearly so much as in the past):
In general, IRCC considers passports to be important evidence, evidence that IRCC wants to examine in its evaluation of the applicant's qualifications, especially as to the physical presence requirement. Since the burden of proof is on the applicant, missing evidence hurts the applicant's case.
But historically missing passports were a much bigger deal in the past. So there are many older discussions in forums like this about the high risk of RQ if there is a missing passport . . . no matter how innocent or not-at-fault the applicant was. Again, since the burden of proof is on the applicant, if important evidence is missing that hurts the applicant's case, even if the applicant is not at all to blame for the evidence missing (a decade or so ago, even applicants who did not have an older passport because the country issuing it kept and destroyed it when a new passport was issued, for example, still faced a dramatically elevated risk of RQ).
There are several reasons why passports are not such a big deal now. Passport exit and entry stamps used to have a much bigger role, so much so forums like this used to have extensive discussions about the impact of a "missing stamp," let alone missing passport. Indeed, there were cases in which a so-called "missing stamp" was the key factor in the outcome, the absence of a stamp verifying the applicant's version of travel dates being enough to doubt the applicant's case. These days a lot of international travel does not result in a passport stamp . . . so there is little or no reasonable basis to doubt an applicant's travel history just because there is no stamp for every reported border crossing.
Moreover, until June 2015 the applicant had to meet a "
residency" requirement, not a presence requirement, and information in passports could reveal information suggesting the applicant had residency status in other countries, which was a key factor then. This is now only an indirect factor and has less weight, since the requirement is specifically about counting days physically in Canada without regard to where one was a "resident."
IRCC still very much wants to examine all possibly relevant travel documents, all passports which potentially could have been used during the eligibility period. So much so the applicant is required to disclose ALL such passports or travel documents in the application itself AND explain any gaps in time for which the applicant reports not having a passport. And the processing agent conducting the interview will usually (not always but usually) examine ALL such passports.
SUMMARY:
Perhaps the most significant factor in your situation is the limited extent to which your calculation of days present in Canada involves a period of time during which the missing passport could have been used. If that passport has minimal relevance, the fact it is not available should NOT cause any problem.
As
@canvan14 suggested, it is what it is at this point. But I doubt that an IRCC processing agent will be much surprised that a child's passport replaced more than four years ago is not available now. Should have preserved it, yes, but losing that passport is not likely to raise eyebrows much.
If nearly all of your days present in Canada are after February 2015, for example, my sense is that
@Jayson is right . . . UNLESS, of course, there are other factors tipping the needle in the other direction (if, for example, you applied with just 1098 days physical presence and there is some question about where you going to school during the eligibility period, or such).
