October 2019 - Citizenship Applicants

[JuCW]

Yes, all pages of passports during eligibility period (that would be mentioned on the letter). Secondly, you have to provide passport copies of minor dependents whose citizenship application is also in process, even if not asked by IRCC. I have minor dependents and I was asked to provide their paper copies as well despite there was no separate form sent out.

Thank you!
Luckily my little ones are Canadian.

 

[adey786]

Thank you!
Luckily my little ones are Canadians.

Cool. Best wishes then.

 

[Abhishek901]

Well, this is debatable. My first Fingerprints and 2nd Fingerprints letters are same. So it is a standard letter.

I want to emphasize that I was referring to fingerprints results being sent to oneself (it is possible and RCMP does send fingerprints to individuals, I did twice so yes doable). If one doesn't get fingerprint request then it is good enough but if one does then having own copy of latest fingerprint result actually saves a lot of time.

IRCC Vancouver office is flooded with fingerprint results particularly after PR invitation to 27,000 CEC applicants.

Had I known my fingerprints would expire on 20 February, I'd have done it. Despite I was very proactive to get fingerprints done same day of the request, yet my fingerprints were finally received after 4 weeks ! And by last week, backlog started to build up at Vancouver office.

I am giving advice which may help others. Yes, this has not been tested but there is no harm in exploring the option with fingerprinting agency.

I am in the same boat. Done with interview but had to wait for getting the second fingerprint request. Just got that yesterday.

From whom do I request the fingerprint results to be sent back to me? Should I ask the private agency where I am getting fingerprinted or do I need to ask RCMP once they assess my criminality?

 

[ag3124]

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice on what to do next.
Family of 2
Toronto, ON
Citizenship Application sent: Oct 2019
AOR with study guide: Dec 2019
Invite to test: Feb 2020
Test was supposed to be on March 17, 2020 but was cancelled 2 days before due to COVID. No news ever since.

Wondering how they have been inviting to take a virtual test since Dec 2020 and we haven’t received an invite yet, considering our test was 2 days after they closed (so we should be high up in the list, I would think)
In the website the status of my application just says: In Progress with the last step being my invitation for the test back in Feb 2020.

Any guidance will help! Thanks!!

 

[erable_rouge]

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice on what to do next.
Family of 2
Toronto, ON
Citizenship Application sent: Oct 2019
AOR with study guide: Dec 2019
Invite to test: Feb 2020
Test was supposed to be on March 17, 2020 but was cancelled 2 days before due to COVID. No news ever since.

Wondering how they have been inviting to take a virtual test since Dec 2020 and we haven’t received an invite yet, considering our test was 2 days after they closed (so we should be high up in the list, I would think)
In the website the status of my application just says: In Progress with the last step being my invitation for the test back in Feb 2020.

Any guidance will help! Thanks!!

Did you call them or raise a web form explaining the situation?

 

[callixtus]

Please what’s the email?

It depends on your case officer and also the team within the IRCC Vancouver office that they are part of. It's best to wait for them to contact you via email. If the case officer handling your file contacts you, you would then know the officer's email. Otherwise, if no one has contacted you yet, it's most likely your files and docs are in order and they are just processing it.

 

[callixtus]

Thanks! I’ll wait, then. It may add a couple of weeks to the whole process. But after almost 18 months, 2 weeks are nothing.

Wow, I realized that it's been 18 months since submitting the application. We are 6 months behind normal schedule due to COVID.

 

[callixtus]

Hi everyone!
For those who were invited to interviews, did you have to provide copy of all passport pages? I am here thinking if I forgot to list some trip abroad.

In my case, I received an email (and then letter via post) requesting for photocopy of my passport pages. I replied to my case officer's email directly and sent him a PDF version of my passport pages and also sent the paper copy via registered mail to my IRCC office and addressed this to my case officer.

What came next was a bit of a surprise - instead of receiving a formal notice or request for an interview, I got a call from "Private Number" one day and lo and behold, it was my case officer and asked if I had a few minutes to respond to some of his questions regarding my citizenship application. (I can't divulge the details as they are personal in nature). Of course, I said yes and we talked for about 10 minutes.

I hear some applicants had the interview scheduled and during the interview, the case officer requested photocopy of passport pages. Some, like my case, the request for passport pages photocopies came first and then the interview came after.

Good luck!

 

[JuCW]

In my case, I received an email (and then letter via post) requesting for photocopy of my passport pages. I replied to my case officer's email directly and sent him a PDF version of my passport pages and also sent the paper copy via registered mail to my IRCC office and addressed this to my case officer.

What came next was a bit of a surprise - instead of receiving a formal notice or request for an interview, I got a call from "Private Number" one day and lo and behold, it was my case officer and asked if I had a few minutes to respond to some of his questions regarding my citizenship application. (I can't divulge the details as they are personal in nature). Of course, I said yes and we talked for about 10 minutes.

I hear some applicants had the interview scheduled and during the interview, the case officer requested photocopy of passport pages. Some, like my case, the request for passport pages photocopies came first and then the interview came after.

Good luck!

Thank you!
You didn’t have to send a sworn translation because of stamps that are not in English?

 

[ag3124]

Did you call them or raise a web form explaining the situation?

I did call once and they said just wait for the invite, that they are not following a specific order. Haven’t tried a web order.

 

[wstrn24]

I am in the same boat. Done with interview but had to wait for getting the second fingerprint request. Just got that yesterday.

From whom do I request the fingerprint results to be sent back to me? Should I ask the private agency where I am getting fingerprinted or do I need to ask RCMP once they assess my criminality?

The fingerprint request letter should tell you what office the fingerprint results should be sent to. I'd suggest you to follow the instructions from IRCC.

 

[adey786]

I am in the same boat. Done with interview but had to wait for getting the second fingerprint request. Just got that yesterday.

From whom do I request the fingerprint results to be sent back to me? Should I ask the private agency where I am getting fingerprinted or do I need to ask RCMP once they assess my criminality?

Ask fingerprints agency. When you visit them they can explain you the process.

You have 2 options to getting Fingerprints. 1 is to have Fingerprints sent to IRCC directly from RCMP headquarters. 2nd option is to request FP be sent to you and you can then forward those FP to IRCC.

Keep in mind that RCMP is bogged down with many many more FP requests after PR invitation to 27,000 CEC applicants. So both RCMP and IRCC (flooded with FP results and there was a backlog until last week, I think it may get worse with passage of time) are flooded and have started to add huge backlogs. Just to make it look scary, RCMP sends letter via Canada Post and there have also been delays at Canada Post level as well.

My suggestion is to get FP to your home address and once you get it, open the envelope and sca/copy FP before sending it to IRCC by express courier (use option where you can get signature of receiver). Once mail is received by IRCC then email them in few days to follow up on status.

Good luck !

 

[adey786]

You will have to have the IRCC fingerprint request document in order to have your fingerprints done.

I did 2 FPs and both letter were same !!!! The FP request letter are not even dated. Hence, the thought of getting second FP (using the first FP request letter) sent to your home address before actual request for FP is made !

Wait until IRCC sends a request and one can mail the same FP to IRCC. It saves 2 to 4 weeks of processing time.

 

[wstrn24]

Ask fingerprints agency. When you visit them they can explain you the process.

You have 2 options to getting Fingerprints. 1 is to have Fingerprints sent to IRCC directly from RCMP headquarters. 2nd option is to request FP be sent to you and you can then forward those FP to IRCC.

Keep in mind that RCMP is bogged down with many many more FP requests after PR invitation to 27,000 CEC applicants. So both RCMP and IRCC (flooded with FP results and there was a backlog until last week, I think it may get worse with passage of time) are flooded and have started to add huge backlogs. Just to make it look scary, RCMP sends letter via Canada Post and there have also been delays at Canada Post level as well.

My suggestion is to get FP to your home address and once you get it, open the envelope and sca/copy FP before sending it to IRCC by express courier (use option where you can get signature of receiver). Once mail is received by IRCC then email them in few days to follow up on status.

Good luck !

The fingerprint search is conducted by RCMP regardless where the fingerprint is collected. If the fingerprint results is set to mail to the applicant's home address then applicant needs to mail it to the Vancouver office, doesn't that mean it takes longer for the office to receive the results?

 

[adey786]

The fingerprint search is conducted by RCMP regardless where the fingerprint is collected. If the fingerprint results is set to mail to the applicant's home address then applicant needs to mail it to the Vancouver office, doesn't that mean it takes longer for the office to receive the results?

No . That is the fun part. I got my FP results at my home address in 2 weeks time (Canada Post mailed out stamp was 2 March from Ottawa and it was in my Ontario mailbox on 5 March). And IRCC never received my FP until last week ! I used mine to get over with the wait.

Here is the reason : sending mail to individuals is easier and quicker vs to an institution like IRCC (as RCMP would be running weekly or bi weekly, and now may be monthly dispatches for practical purposes). With 27,000 CEC PR applicants, RCMP workload has increased many more times to process FP, so is IRCC time to process.