An update from me. Early today, I was finally happy to see an email from IRCC only to read that they were asking for another set of fingerprints!!! It's so frustrating! I thought the next email would be an oath invitation, but it was not.
By my reckoning, I already submitted my FP on Feb 11, 2020. And guess what date I received the second FP request? Yep. Feb 11, 2021!
So it looks like the FP results do expire 1 year later after which, if IRCC has not made any decision on your application yet, and your FP results have expired or surpassed over a year, they will happily request for another FP. It would have been fine for me if it were not for the pandemic but the local RCMP where I live now requires setting up appointments for FP taking and will not accept walk-in FP requests. So I am at the mercy of the local RCMP when it comes to FP appointment scheduling - hopefully their appointment slots are not heavily booked. And this will be additional $$$ cost to the application, not to mention I had to renew my PR card only to destroy it after the oath ceremony.
I am so annoyed! This pandemic has thrown a wrecking ball on everyone's timelines.
Advice to everyone in the same/similar situation:
1. Be aware of the expiration of your FP results. If you received an FP request from IRCC over a year ago, they will most likely request for another one before they do a "Decision Made".
2. When you receive the Invitation to take the citizenship test, please do so ASAP and don't delay. My test window was from JAN 19 to FEB 08. However, I took the test only on JAN 23, four days later, in order to give myself some time to prepare and review. I am now wondering if it would make any difference had I taken the test on JAN 19. Maybe the IRCC officer could have reviewed my case well before Feb 11 and can press the button for "Decision Made" and would make this journey complete for me by now.
