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Urgent citizenship reschedule due to travel outside Canada

2L8

Member
May 14, 2015
12
0
Hi,

I've received a notice with the oath date. I also have a planned trip outside Canada. I am supposed return to Canada from my trip 2 days before the Oath. e.g. the oath is Jan 20 and I am supposed to come back on Jan 18th. The flight will be long with connection. That means if any significant delay or flight cancelation happens, there is a chance that I may not be able to attend the ceremony. In this kind of scenario, if I contact the IRCC the day before the original ceremony date and ask to reschedule, will it be a good excuse to reschedule the date of the ceremony?

Thank you.
 

jc94

Hero Member
Mar 14, 2016
830
163
Hi,

I've received a notice with the oath date. I also have a planned trip outside Canada. I am supposed return to Canada from my trip 2 days before the Oath. e.g. the oath is Jan 20 and I am supposed to come back on Jan 18th. The flight will be long with connection. That means if any significant delay or flight cancelation happens, there is a chance that I may not be able to attend the ceremony. In this kind of scenario, if I contact the IRCC the day before the original ceremony date and ask to reschedule, will it be a good excuse to reschedule the date of the ceremony?

Thank you.
May I ask your actual times (due in 18th morning and oath 20th afternoon is very different due in 11pm on last flight out with oath 8:30am), also routing and airline? Even in this terrible age of airlines and in winter getting back ~48h late is pretty rare.

And if for example you are coming back with say Air Canada within NA there is on my way assistance that basically gets them to treat you like a human being (instead of cattle) that could be worth it here.

If your connection is somewhere like ORD chances of a misconnect especially if tight are high but there are so many flights out you should be okay.

Finally, maybe speak to the airline. When AA in their infinite wisdom moved me from a LAX YYZ direct to LAX ORD YYZ with a 20 min connection (in Feb) a quick phone call and I had a 2h connection (note, they then cancelled it and I was stuck but they got me into a UA flight and I was ‘only’ 5h or so late). Did the same with a 45 min connection in YUL (oddly, also missed that one but again, home 3h late).

Overall, I’d be tempted to take a bunt on making it here. It’s not like you’re due in 5h before the ceremony. Did you let IRCC know about this trip?
 

adamsands25

Hero Member
Dec 15, 2013
325
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May I ask your actual times (due in 18th morning and oath 20th afternoon is very different due in 11pm on last flight out with oath 8:30am), also routing and airline? Even in this terrible age of airlines and in winter getting back ~48h late is pretty rare.

And if for example you are coming back with say Air Canada within NA there is on my way assistance that basically gets them to treat you like a human being (instead of cattle) that could be worth it here.

If your connection is somewhere like ORD chances of a misconnect especially if tight are high but there are so many flights out you should be okay.

Finally, maybe speak to the airline. When AA in their infinite wisdom moved me from a LAX YYZ direct to LAX ORD YYZ with a 20 min connection (in Feb) a quick phone call and I had a 2h connection (note, they then cancelled it and I was stuck but they got me into a UA flight and I was ‘only’ 5h or so late). Did the same with a 45 min connection in YUL (oddly, also missed that one but again, home 3h late).

Overall, I’d be tempted to take a bunt on making it here. It’s not like you’re due in 5h before the ceremony. Did you let IRCC know about this trip?
You should try to make it. For rescheduling be prepared to wait for your turn again. Could be days to months. If you don’t mind waiting then go ahead and reschedule. What’s your timeline like ?
 

2L8

Member
May 14, 2015
12
0
Regarding the timeline: the Oath 1 pm, the expected return to Canada around 5 pm -2 days before the oath.
I didn't inform IRCC about the trip. Did I have to?
I am traveling East with connection through Europe. I would need transit visa to travel through the US. This can limit the options for alternative routes in case of any problems.

Regarding rescheduling with IRCC, I wasn't asking if should reschedule prior the trip. The idea was, if my flight is canceled or delayed and as a result I realize that I cannot be on the ceremony on time(if this will happen it will 1 day prior the ceremony). In this situation, if I contact IRCC will they be able to reschedule the oath? Will it be a valid reason for them to reschedule?
 

jc94

Hero Member
Mar 14, 2016
830
163
jc94, do you know if there is any requirement to inform IRCC about trips outside Canada or will it make sense to inform them now?
I don’t think it’s a requirement just advisable for trips to avoid being invited while away. I did it for my 17 or so days away over Xmas and seen similar postings from others.

Europe doesn’t like to delay you as they then owe you many € compensation. Not being able to transit US is a minor issue but there are still routings from the likes of KLM, LH, BA, AC, etc that give them plenty of options. Keep an eye on your airline and check out any good alternatives mainly on the same partner (Star Alliance vs Sky Team vs One World) if part as thats the normal rebooking preference.

IRCC won’t reply in a day normally, they list 2-5 and I’d venture 90% of those are 5. If you clearly can’t make it while gone, submit it and they’ll rebook, nothing you can do, but I think you had good odds of making it with 44 hours.

Edit

Could also check with airline if you can fly earlier or extend a layover time... Might be expensive but potentially not insane and could be worth it.
 
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