Hello all,
I thought I would share my experience for everyone's benefit as this question came on the forum many times.
I requested ATIP for my application about two weeks ago, and called CIC yesterday to check on my application, and the agent said: I see you have requested ATIP which will delay your application not sure for how long but in the past it used to freeze your application for two months!.
I was totally chocked and sent an email to
ircc.atip-aiprp.ircc@cic.gc.ca to cancel my request.
Below is their reply:
Thank you for contacting the Access to Information and Privacy Office.
As per your email, we have cancelled and closed your request.
Please note that the Access to Information and Privacy division only provides copies of immigration documents; the IRCC ATIP office does not answer questions, create, process or make changes to applications. Therefore making a request does not affect the processing of your file.
All the best
~A
So who do you believe?
Do you believe the one assuring you, ohhh, no, no reason to worry? Or the agent who took note of the ATIP request and at least made a decision to let you know that he or she could see you had made the ATIP request and suggested that could slow processing?
BUT there is one thing your experience does show clearly: when a processing agent or officer at IRCC works on the application, they clearly see IF and when the applicant has made an ATIP request. You know this for sure since even a mere Help Centre call agent could see this in the file.
It warrants also remembering that just the fact of a case-specific inquiry through the Help Centre, which results in the call agent accessing the GCMS records for the calling-client/applicant, also results in a notation to the file showing that access.
Each and every time an application file is accessed, there is a notation to the records showing that access (whether the agent or officer accessing the file is required to make the notation or this is an automatic feature in the data base software).
Given Canadian privacy protection laws in conjunction with Canadian Charter rights to fair procedure (sometimes called "due process"), obviously an agency cannot impose any penalty for Canadians, including those who are still PRs and applying for citizenship, exercising their rights in this regard. So of course, IRCC is NOT permitted to delay processing an application BECAUSE the applicant made either an ATIP request for copies of their records OR for making telephone inquiries to the Help Centre.
THAT SAID . . . at the risk of elevating the anxiety of those prone to over-thinking, let alone big-brother paranoia . . .
In the meantime, however, when a processing agent opens the application file to conduct a review and evaluate the applicant's qualifications, again it is clear that the agent (or potentially a Citizenship Officer) will easily see ALL previous instances in which the file has been accessed, and NO telepathic powers or divine prophesy is necessary for the agent or officer to readily recognize what that access was likely in regards to . . . meaning, clearly, IRCC decision-makers will readily recognize if and when an applicant has made ATIP requests, and telephone case-specific inquiries as well: that includes if and when, and thus how often.
I trust that the majority of IRCC processing agents and officers seeing this will NOT wonder much about WHY the applicant was making such inquiries, let alone leap to a conclusion that the fact the applicant was making such inquiries indicates that there is likely some REASON for the applicant to worry. Let alone let this trigger making further inquiries into the applicant's case to figure out what the applicant is worried about.
I especially trust that noticing such access for just one or two occasions is not likely to trigger a processing agent's suspicions.
Usually. Most of the time, for most applicants. I guess.
My GUESS may tip a little toward some risk of triggering suspicions if the applicant is making an unusual number of requests. Not sure about this. But my impression about human nature and the way the mind of decision-makers work, especially those engaged in investigatory decision-making (like IRCC processing agents and Citizenship Officers making decisions on citizenship applications), is that asking too many questions at the least risks triggering some suspicions. Whether that might result in a longer processing timeline for a given applicant, I cannot say.
But no special skill or equipment is needed to forecast the general impact of any non-routine RQ-related or background-check related processing if a processing agent's curiosity about why the applicant was making inquiries triggers suspicion.
THE OTHER SIDE of the EQUATION: For the vast majority of qualified applicants there is very, very little to be gained by making the generic ATIP request; the responses to these requests tend to be rather uninformative if not utterly useless. Sure, psychologically making such requests helps some to feel like they are at least doing something. Question, then, is what side of the over-thinking things equation that "something" influences.
