Question about Immigration status in other countries or territories.

[Johny Bravo]

Hi guys,
In question 13 in the citizenship application it says: "Do you currently, or have you ever held immigration or citizenship status in a country or territory other than Canada (this includes your country of birth)?"
I am going to put citizenship in my country of origin but I also have 4, J1 U.S exchange visas for students (work and travel). There is a drop-down list to choose from in the "status" column.
The options to choose from are as follow:
Citizen
Permanent Resident
Visitor
Worker
Student
Other
Protected Person
Refugee Claimant.

On the U.S government website is says that: "The Exchange Visitor (J) non-immigrant visa category is for individuals approved to participate in work-and study-based exchange visitor programs. Participants are integral to the success of the program. Here you can learn more about obtaining the J-1 Visa and other relevant visas." https://j1visa.state.gov/basics/

So it says that J1 is a non-immigrant visa but it also says it's a visitor visa. In the question 13 they are asking for "immigration status" but in that drop-down list there is "Visitor" option.

This is confusing.
Should I include those J1 U.S visas in the question 13 beside the citizenship from my country of origin?

Thank you

 

[Johny Bravo]

I found this information:
https://www.nationallatinonetwork.org/immigrant-advocacy-basics/what-is-immigration-status
“
What Is Immigration Status?


Immigration status refers to the way in which a person is present in the United States. Everyone has an immigration status. Some examples of immigration status include:

• US citizen
  • Note: Although indigenous people’s roots long predate the creation of the US, they were not provided US citizenship until Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924 (it would be longer before they received the right to vote), after a patchwork of approaches with select groups, such as treaties and permissions to apply for citizenship. At present, many indigenous people also hold citizenship in a federally-recognized Indian tribe.[1]
• Legal Permanent Resident (“green card holder”), which can be obtained by:
  • Family petitions
  • Employer petitions
  • Violence Against Women Act self-petitions
• Conditional Permanent Resident
• Asylee or Refugee, based upon persecution or fear of persecution in one’s home country because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
• Non-immigrant, i.e., a person with a visa that is good only for a specific duration, such as persons with:
  • U visas
  • T visas
  • Student visas
  • Visitor visas
  • Temporary worker visas
• Person with Temporary Protected Status: for nationals of countries whose conditions prevent people from returning home safely (due to natural disasters, civil strife, or other extraordinary conditions). Some examples of countries with Temporary Protected Programs (Estatus de Protección Temporal) are Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Guinea, and Liberia)
• Undocumented person, i.e., entered without papers or overstayed their visa"

I think it means that having a non-immigrant visa is also an immigration status.
Can someone please give me their opinion on this one?
thanks

 

[softwaretesting]

Hi guys,
In question 13 in the citizenship application it says: "Do you currently, or have you ever held immigration or citizenship status in a country or territory other than Canada (this includes your country of birth)?"
I am going to put citizenship in my country of origin but I also have 4, J1 U.S exchange visas for students (work and travel). There is a drop-down list to choose from in the "status" column.
The options to choose from are as follow:
Citizen
Permanent Resident
Visitor
Worker
Student
Other
Protected Person
Refugee Claimant.

On the U.S government website is says that: "The Exchange Visitor (J) non-immigrant visa category is for individuals approved to participate in work-and study-based exchange visitor programs. Participants are integral to the success of the program. Here you can learn more about obtaining the J-1 Visa and other relevant visas." https://j1visa.state.gov/basics/

So it says that J1 is a non-immigrant visa but it also says it's a visitor visa. In the question 13 they are asking for "immigration status" but in that drop-down list there is "Visitor" option.

This is confusing.
Should I include those J1 U.S visas in the question 13 beside the citizenship from my country of origin?

Thank you

Yes, its confusing. They have provided Visitor as an option in dropdown. However, in guide they have not included visitor along with other categories:

Tell us if you have had immigration, permanent resident status and/or citizenship in any other country outside of Canada (e.g. your country of birth)
Check either yes or no.
If you check yes, complete the chart.
Tell us which countries you have held status in, and exactly what status you held or currently hold (student, employment/worker, refugee/protected person, permanent resident or citizen).

 

[Johny Bravo]

Yes, its confusing. They have provided Visitor as an option in dropdown. However, in guide they have not included visitor along with other categories:

Tell us if you have had immigration, permanent resident status and/or citizenship in any other country outside of Canada (e.g. your country of birth)
Check either yes or no.
If you check yes, complete the chart.
Tell us which countries you have held status in, and exactly what status you held or currently hold (student, employment/worker, refugee/protected person, permanent resident or citizen).

True but they say "tell us if you have had immigration, permanent resident status and/or citizenship in any other country outside of Canada..."
and the definition of immigration status includes non-immigrant visas like J1.
I think I'll include it, if it turnes out that it wasn't necessary they'll just disregard it. What do you think?

 

[softwaretesting]

True but they say "tell us if you have had immigration, permanent resident status and/or citizenship in any other country outside of Canada..."
and the definition of immigration status includes non-immigrant visas like J1.
I think I'll include it, if it turnes out that it wasn't necessary they'll just disregard it. What do you think?

Yes, safe to include it. In my case, I submitted it without including visitor visa details. Now I am wondering if I should submit webform. Let's see if some expert sees this thread & guide us.

 

[Johny Bravo]

Yes, its confusing. They have provided Visitor as an option in dropdown. However, in guide they have not included visitor along with other categories:

Tell us if you have had immigration, permanent resident status and/or citizenship in any other country outside of Canada (e.g. your country of birth)
Check either yes or no.
If you check yes, complete the chart.
Tell us which countries you have held status in, and exactly what status you held or currently hold (student, employment/worker, refugee/protected person, permanent resident or citizen).

Hey,
So I've been sitting here for ages trying to figure out that question 13 and I found other, older topics about this on this forum. I started to dig a little deeper to find the definition of "immigration status" by Canadian law and I found a short definition here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship/helpcentre/glossary.html#i

The definition says: "Immigration status - A non-citizen’s position in a country—for example, permanent resident or visitor"
So it seems like a lot of people confused "immigration status" with "immigrant status" cause it clearly states that it includes visitors.
That creates more questions though.
1. Do you get that status only in case when you had to apply for a specific document (like tourist visa for example)?
2. If I'm from European Union member country and I used to work in another European Union member country for a few months, does it mean that I have to list those periods as well?
3. What about the dates? Do I have the status only when I'm physically in that other country? For example, I have a couple of J-1 U.S visas that were good for roughly 6 to 8 months each but I stayed in the States only for 4 months at a time. Should I use the dates from those J-1 visas or when I arrived and left?

This is pretty important cause it's easy to not list some immigration facts from your past that they might be interested in and commit miss-representation.

It would be great if someone could join the discussion here. Any opinions would be much appreciated.

 

[Johny Bravo]

Has anyone had a similar situation? Im really stuck with this one

 

[softwaretesting]

Has anyone had a similar situation? Im really stuck with this one

Is it possible for you to change Title of thread to "Question 13 - Immigration status in other countries - Visitor / Worker Visa to include?".

That way probably experts will notice it.

 

[Johny Bravo]

Is it possible for you to change Title of thread to "Question 13 - Immigration status in other countries - Visitor / Worker Visa to include?".

That way probably experts will notice it.

Unfortunately I can’t edit the title

 

[Johny Bravo]

Is it possible for you to change Title of thread to "Question 13 - Immigration status in other countries - Visitor / Worker Visa to include?".

That way probably experts will notice it.

So I just called CIC and was able to talk to someone who actually answered my question. The agent put me on hold to verify first and then said that in the question 13 other documents should be included as well. She said that it's about any documents from other countries than Canada that you had to apply for like visitor visa, student visa, work permits etc. and the dates should be the issue and expiry dates from those documents. I specifically asked her about my J-1 and B1 for the U.S and she confirmed that these should be mentioned.

Also, if anyone is interested, in question 5 about the other use names, nicknames etc, that this question is optional and if you haven't used any other names or nicknames etc. just put n/a in the table.

Im just repeating what she said, I’m not 100% if this is correct so this is just to help you make your decision

 

[RJ2020]

So I just called CIC and was able to talk to someone who actually answered my question. The agent put me on hold to verify first and then said that in the question 13 other documents should be included as well. She said that it's about any documents from other countries than Canada that you had to apply for like visitor visa, student visa, work permits etc. and the dates should be the issue and expiry dates from those documents. I specifically asked her about my J-1 and B1 for the U.S and she confirmed that these should be mentioned.

Also, if anyone is interested, in question 5 about the other use names, nicknames etc, that this question is optional and if you haven't used any other names or nicknames etc. just put n/a in the table.

Im just repeating what she said, I’m not 100% if this is correct so this is just to help you make your decision

Hi, I'm really nervous, because I already sent my citizenship application in February and regarding section 13, I did not know that I needed to include visitor visas in this section.

When I was 12 years old I was not allowed to have a passport, because I was too young to have a passport, due to our country rules. I had a visitor visa for another country which was included in my father's passport. So, I actually did not have a passport, but I was included in my father's passport as his accompanier/minor.

So, better to say, I had a visa that was attached to my father's passport in that time, but myself, did not have a passport, just a Visitor VISA attached to my father's passport. So, I did not include that information in section 13. In addition, when I checked the instruction guide, it said:

• Tell us which countries you have held status in, and exactly what status you held or currently hold (student, employment/worker, refugee/protected person, permanent resident or citizen).

So, according to the instruction guide, I concluded that visitor visa is not counted as an immigration status.

Do you think it would make the processing time for my application far longer or worse, do you think they would probably return my application?

Please kindly advise on this matter. I appreciate it in advance.

 

[Johny Bravo]

Hi, I'm really nervous, because I already sent my citizenship application in February and regarding section 13, I did not know that I needed to include visitor visas in this section.

When I was 12 years old I was not allowed to have a passport, because I was too young to have a passport, due to our country rules. I had a visitor visa for another country which was included in my father's passport. So, I actually did not have a passport, but I was included in my father's passport as his accompanier/minor.

So, better to say, I had a visa that was attached to my father's passport in that time, but myself, did not have a passport, just a Visitor VISA attached to my father's passport. So, I did not include that information in section 13. In addition, when I checked the instruction guide, it said:

• Tell us which countries you have held status in, and exactly what status you held or currently hold (student, employment/worker, refugee/protected person, permanent resident or citizen).

So, according to the instruction guide, I concluded that visitor visa is not counted as an immigration status.

Do you think it would make the processing time for my application far longer or worse, do you think they would probably return my application?

Please kindly advise on this matter. I appreciate it in advance.

What I mentioned in my earlier post you quoted was based on the latest application and as the IRCC website states:

"Applications received at our Case Processing Centre (CPC) in Sydney, NS March 1, 2021 or later must use forms from October 2020 or later (indicated on the lower left corner of the form). Application forms that are not up-to-date will be returned as incomplete. IRCC does not consider the date of signatures or mailing to be deciding factors."
Source:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/application-canadian-citizenship-adults.html

You said you submitted your application in February so you probably used the previous version which had no drop-down list in the "Status" column. To me it looks like the "Visitor" option was added in the latest version of the application CIT 0002 (10-2020) E and it seems like you submitted the previous one CIT 0002 (12-2019).
I think you should be fine but I'm not an authority in the matter so you can always call them and ask so you have a peace of mind.

 

[RJ2020]

What I mentioned in my earlier post you quoted was based on the latest application and as the IRCC website states:

"Applications received at our Case Processing Centre (CPC) in Sydney, NS March 1, 2021 or later must use forms from October 2020 or later (indicated on the lower left corner of the form). Application forms that are not up-to-date will be returned as incomplete. IRCC does not consider the date of signatures or mailing to be deciding factors."
Source:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/application-canadian-citizenship-adults.html

You said you submitted your application in February so you probably used the previous version which had no drop-down list in the "Status" column. To me it looks like the "Visitor" option was added in the latest version of the application CIT 0002 (10-2020) E and it seems like you submitted the previous one CIT 0002 (12-2019).
I think you should be fine but I'm not an authority in the matter so you can always call them and ask so you have a peace of mind.

Unfortunately, I submitted the new form, and just referred to the instruction guide. I thought the instruction guide is more reliable.

• Tell us which countries you have held status in, and exactly what status you held or currently hold (student, employment/worker, refugee/protected person, permanent resident or citizen).

So, do you think they just simply forgot to update the instruction guide? Because I can remember that when I was confused, I decided to refer to the instruction guide and exclude the visitor visa.

 

[Johny Bravo]

Unfortunately, I submitted the new form, and just referred to the instruction guide. I thought the instruction guide is more reliable.

• Tell us which countries you have held status in, and exactly what status you held or currently hold (student, employment/worker, refugee/protected person, permanent resident or citizen).

So, do you think they just simply forgot to update the instruction guide? Because I can remember that when I was confused, I decided to refer to the instruction guide and exclude the visitor visa.

It's really hard to guess if it's going to effect your application in any way. It often boils down to who is going to look at your papers. As I said before, you can always call IRCC, explain your situation and ask them. You'll probably have to sit on the phone for half hour before you will be able to talk to anyone so don't let that discourage you. Once you get someone to talk to you they are usually pretty helpful, at least based on my experience.

 

[RJ2020]

It's really hard to guess if it's going to effect your application in any way. It often boils down to who is going to look at your papers. As I said before, you can always call IRCC, explain your situation and ask them. You'll probably have to sit on the phone for half hour before you will be able to talk to anyone so don't let that discourage you. Once you get someone to talk to you they are usually pretty helpful, at least based on my experience.

Thanks for you reply and time. I appreciate it.