Citizenship test: Collective action required, or expect endless delays, years. Example of the effective lobbyng of people awaiting spousal sponsorship

[piotrqc]

#Clear_Citizenship_Backlog

 

[PMM]

Hi

I dare to guess... IRCC has shot itself in the foot by raising the immigration target to 400K in 2021-23. Now they are feverishly trying to stick to it. Why? Well, Canada lives off immigrants. No influx = no new money = less demand and consumption = stagnation followed by a decline. PR's that are already here? Ah... who cares, the are already here and pay taxes and are not importing their monetized households from their countries of origin (they've already done that), already squeezed out on that front. Why bother?... Along those lines... Maybe a bit too exaggerated, but the gist of it is there. IMO, not pretending to know for a fact.

1. IRCC didn't raise the target, their political masters raised the target. Blame Liberals, they set the targets, yet don't really increase the staffing levels, they actually decreased.

"The Departmental Results Report (2018-2019), stated that a total of 7,414 full-time equivalent employees are currently employed with IRCC.[3] The same report states that IRCC plans to have 7,378 full-time equivalent employees in 2019-2020 and 7304 in 2020–2021.

 

[Lex2019]

Hi



1. IRCC didn't raise the target, their political masters raised the target. Blame Liberals, they set the targets, yet don't really increase the staffing levels, they actually decreased.

"The Departmental Results Report (2018-2019), stated that a total of 7,414 full-time equivalent employees are currently employed with IRCC.[3] The same report states that IRCC plans to have 7,378 full-time equivalent employees in 2019-2020 and 7304 in 2020–2021.

I dare to disagree. The immigration targets are the sole Eparchy of the Canadian government which happens to have IRCC as one of its bodies presided by a person who happens to be part of the government appointed by the head of the said government. I can blame liberals, conservatives, communists or aliens, the fact remains that IRCC representing the government of Canada happens to manage the Immigration and Citizenship part of the Canadian government including targets and staffing.
Re your remark on cutting FT staff I'd say they are shooting themselves in the foot twice, unless of course they aren't outstaffing work to third parties. So here I totally support your statement.

 

[Fawny43]

I truly wonder when and why they decided to post this on the website. Exactly what made them decide on March 3-9 ,2019 application's? Exactly 2 years from those dates. Does this mean that for those of us who applied in the middle of July 2019 will have to wait until mid July 2021 before they get to our files?
Why all of a sudden the new information being posted on the website? Is it possible that they are afraid of the next Twitter storm? When did they decide to post dates and why now, when they will have to answer for their actions or non actions by voters, which I might add wont be many of us still waiting.
Not to mention that those who applied in 2018 & 2019 and waiting have been pushed to the back while others from 2020 have already done the test AND taken the Oath.

 

[sachinsoman1988]

I truly wonder when and why they decided to post this on the website. Exactly what made them decide on March 3-9 ,2019 application's? Exactly 2 years from those dates. Does this mean that for those of us who applied in the middle of July 2019 will have to wait until mid July 2021 before they get to our files?
Why all of a sudden the new information being posted on the website? Is it possible that they are afraid of the next Twitter storm? When did they decide to post dates and why now, when they will have to answer for their actions or non actions by voters, which I might add wont be many of us still waiting.
Not to mention that those who applied in 2018 & 2019 and waiting have been pushed to the back while others from 2020 have already done the test AND taken the Oath.

I believe it's to throw more realistic expectations because the older 12 month processing time is not valid these days !! Is there any dec 2020 applicant (non urgent) and possibly in pilot program who got his/her citizenship certificate ? We can't say that dec applicants are ahead just because they got the test invites !!

 

[kushalk14]

I believe it's to throw more realistic expectations because the older 12 month processing time is not valid these days !! Is there any dec 2020 applicant (non urgent) and possibly in pilot program who got his/her citizenship certificate ? We can't say that dec applicants are ahead just because they got the test invites !!

they are ahead.... their files are oath ready and its a much shorter queue since most applicants are waiting on the test phase

 

[piotrqc]

Suppositions dont help for nothing ... We should act and do preassures.

 

[FlyingLion]

Suppositions dont help for nothing ... We should act and do preassures.

I agree.

 

[chs]

I am laughing but kinda like “hysterically”, you know the laugh that bursts right before a nerve breakdown, that one.. Seriously though, I don’t know what to say anymore. This is not being tired or anything, this is just too much. Sick of so many things including checking my e-mail countless times everyday starting from the moment I wake up. Tomorrow it’s gonna be exactly one year..

I feel your pain.. I'm almost at my one year "anniversary" of having my test cancelled. Effing unbelievable. I want to be a citizen only if to vote against the current government due to their massive ineptitude on handling the applications. I'm seeing quite a few people on this board who applied after me (Sept. 2019) who have gotten their test, passed it and are now citizens. The timeline is hogwash, to put it politely.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Last time I submitted an ATIP request, I got shot down (and was asked to amend the request) because the request was in a question format and IRCC doesn't (apparently) answer questions. They only provide documents or so I was told. (I did not bother to amend that request at the time and abandoned it).

So this time, I avoided asking questions and instead requested "Any and all records including but not limited to memos, briefing notes, internal notes, reports, discussions, emails, policies pertaining to..." the items I thought are important to know. Below is what I sent them :



I did have more requests but the text area on the page has a limit of 1500 characters (including spaces). I had to remove one other question I had about projected timelines for 2020 applicants to make room for the other important requests listed above (and I think I have made them very specific).

I will keep you guys posted on this. I hope to receive detailed documentation that shows the information that I have requested above. Once I receive it, I will upload it to Google drive and share the link here OR just give you guys the link to the documentation on the ATIP website.

I've got an update on this. An ATIP officer emailed me back telling me there was a confusion for items 1 and 2.



I clarified what was being requested in items 1 and 2.



She e-mailed me back. Hopefully, there are no further confusions .

Received an update for this one. They want more time to get all the records I asked for.

This is further to your request under the Access To Information Act*, which was received on February 1, 2021, for the following records:

"Please provide: 1. Any and all records including but not limited to memos, briefing notes, internal notes, reports, discussions, emails, policies pertaining to the number of applicants invited for the online testing as of the date this request is processed. 2. Any and all records including but not limited to memos, briefing notes, internal notes, reports, discussions, emails, policies pertaining to the current backlog of applicants for both citizenship test AND the virtual oath ceremony as of the date this request is processed. 3. Any and all records including but not limited to memos, briefing notes, internal notes, reports, discussions, emails, policies pertaining to the plans AND measures being pursued to minimize backlog for applicants waiting for the online citizenship test AND virtual oath ceremony. 4. Any and all records including but not limited to memos, briefing notes, internal notes, reports, discussions, emails, policies pertaining to increasing the volume and/or frequency of online citizenship test invites being sent out AND increasing the number of online oath ceremonies and/or increasing the number of participants per ceremony. 5. Any and all records including but not limited to memos, briefing notes, internal notes, reports, discussions, emails, policies pertaining to any additions/deletions/amends to the operational procedures for processing citizenship grant applications in the past 6 months. "

I wish to inform you that, in accordance with the Access To Information Act*, an extension of 60 days beyond the statutory 30 day limit is necessary to process your request. This extension is required in order to undertake consultations that are necessary to comply with the request that cannot reasonably be completed within the original time limit.

Further information about the Access To Information Act* can be found at the following web page: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-1/

Please be advised that you are entitled to submit a complaint regarding the processing of your request to the Information Commissioner within sixty days of the receipt of this notice. The complaint form can be retrieved at: http://www.oic-ci.gc.ca/eng/lc-cj-logde-complaint-deposer-plainte.aspx.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Sophia Ranieri by email at the following address: Sophia.Ranieri@cic.gc.ca.

Sincerely,

 

[FlyingLion]

Received an update for this one. They want more time to get all the records I asked for.

Sounds fishy. Who knows what they are up to .....

 

[Hot2Cold]

Received an update for this one. They want more time to get all the records I asked for.

So, no updates until the end of May, then!

 

[engray]

Received an update for this one. They want more time to get all the records I asked for.

That sucks! I guess we just have to wait. Is it possible to submit a request to get some stats on the current backlog? I'm not sure how to formulate that request?

 

[ott-613]

Anyone knows what are the stages /steps the citizenship application go through before the test? What is done first from receive application to test dat?

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Sounds fishy. Who knows what they are up to .....

So, no updates until the end of May, then!

That sucks! I guess we just have to wait. Is it possible to submit a request to get some stats on the current backlog? I'm not sure how to formulate that request?

I'll follow up with them after a month. 2 months are more than sufficient to get those records IMO. If I don't see anything by April first week, I will file a complaint with the privacy commissioner.