September 2020 - Citizenship Applicants

[Rehan123]

If I move within the province after test completion and passport request and I change my address, will my file be transferred to the new local office?

Any idea?

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

If I move within the province after test completion and passport request and I change my address, will my file be transferred to the new local office?

Any idea?

Depends on where you live now and where you are moving to.

Generally, file transfers don't happen within the offices located in the GTA. For example, if you live in Mississauga and you move to downtown Toronto or Etobicoke or Brampton etc, your office most likely will not change.

However, if you are in the GTA and you move to a location that is outside the GTA, then the location might change.

However, I have seen several applicants move to an address that is under the jurisdiction of a different IRCC office but their GCMS notes showed the "Event Office" to be the original local office they were assigned to. This means that the applicants moved to a new address but the old office was still sending out test invites and processing their application.

We cannot be sure if your application will be transferred or not.

Take a look at the IRCC regulations for address changes below :

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/canadian-citizenship/admininistration/general-file-processing/sending-applications-changes-address.html

 

[NKhan]

No. I replied to the test invitation email. I got an auto reply first, and then an actual response that they would look in to it. A week later, I send a reminder email asking for an update and today they responded that the result was updated.

Sending mississauga office email on the test email asking about other updates is not advisable right? They might not like it

 

[harirajmohan]

Sending mississauga office email on the test email asking about other updates is not advisable right? They might not like it

Correct, at least i would hesitate to ask as no one knows what the officer would do to the file. He/she can very well put the file on hold without any reason as no one is there to verify/hold them responsible. they can easily get irritated and retaliate. who knows. They are on their own and rule like a irresponsible kingdom.
its better to ask more number of times on the webform than sending email to them directly unless we have genuine urgent request or its been too long(like 6 months without any update after the test).

 

[NKhan]

Correct, at least i would hesitate to ask as no one knows what the officer would do to the file. He/she can very well put the file on hold without any reason as no one is there to verify/hold them responsible. they can easily get irritated and retaliate. who knows. They are on their own and rule like a irresponsible kingdom.
its better to ask more number of times on the webform than sending email to them directly unless we have genuine urgent request or its been too long(like 6 months without any update after the test).

Thank you , that's what I thought

 

[MrChazz]

Yup, I agree. There needs to be some workflow that doesn't hamper applicant's return into Canada after oath if oath is taken abroad. The main problem is unceremoniously cutting the PR card at the end of the ceremony and the second one is the delay in sending Citizenship certificate. IRCC will likely NOT send the certificate to an address outside Canada or the US but if that changes, then probably taking oath outside Canada makes sense.

We don't know, let's wait and watch what they are up to.

They should consider increasing the number of applicants per ceremony. I mean, what's the point of having 20 - 40 people per ceremony when you have a crushing backlog that is only growing everyday?

Consider the case of passports. If you apply for an ordinary passport (i.e., not an emergency passport) outside Canada, then the passport is produced in Canada, sent to the Canadian embassy where you are, and you arrange to get it. There is no reason why that could not be done for a citizenship certificate.

 

[micky007]

I am from Edmonton I applied on 16 sep 2020 and received by them on 21 sep ,Got an AOR but nothing after that ,it’s just saying in progress,what the heck is going with them ?Is there anyway to contact them and asked to finalize my application

 

[sajid7x7]

what is this passport request? I have an expired (non Canadian)passport that I have been lazy to renew since I am not planning to travel anywhere outside Canada due to COVID. Do I need to renew my (non Canadian) passport to get the Canadian citizenship? For information, all my stuff on the tracker is still in progress, so technically I can still apply and get a renewed passport on time.

 

[harirajmohan]

what is this passport request? I have an expired (non Canadian)passport that I have been lazy to renew since I am not planning to travel anywhere outside Canada due to COVID. Do I need to renew my (non Canadian) passport to get the Canadian citizenship? For information, all my stuff on the tracker is still in progress, so technically I can still apply and get a renewed passport on time.

I thought that we all have non-canadian passport hence blogging in this forum with cic.
No need to renew your "Non-Canadian" Passport to get Canadian citizenship.

 

[Hot2Cold]

Sending mississauga office email on the test email asking about other updates is not advisable right? They might not like it

Sorry for the late response.

They were actually quite cordial in their response, and very professional. I did not detect any irritation in their response.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Consider the case of passports. If you apply for an ordinary passport (i.e., not an emergency passport) outside Canada, then the passport is produced in Canada, sent to the Canadian embassy where you are, and you arrange to get it. There is no reason why that could not be done for a citizenship certificate.

Yes, they could. But they'd have to introduce a new workflow and send this information to every Canadian consulate in other countries. This might take time.

I think for now, the quicker (and probably cheaper) way to do it would be for IRCC to use secure courier services to mail the certificate overseas as a temporary solution.

We won't know until we start seeing some reports of oath ceremonies outside Canada.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

I am from Edmonton I applied on 16 sep 2020 and received by them on 21 sep ,Got an AOR but nothing after that ,it’s just saying in progress,what the heck is going with them ?Is there anyway to contact them and asked to finalize my application

You can raise a webform inquiry but you'll likely be greeted with a boilerplate response. Unless you have a valid reason, you can't apply for Urgent Processing (which is the same as "expediting the application"). You can order GCMS notes to see if your application is stuck pending Criminality or Security clearances.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

what is this passport request? I have an expired (non Canadian)passport that I have been lazy to renew since I am not planning to travel anywhere outside Canada due to COVID. Do I need to renew my (non Canadian) passport to get the Canadian citizenship? For information, all my stuff on the tracker is still in progress, so technically I can still apply and get a renewed passport on time.

"Request to submit all pages of the passport" would be more appropriate and make more sense. This is the stage where IRCC requests some applicants to send a copy of all the pages of their passport pages to verify physical presence. They will compare the information available in the CBSA database, your stamps on the passport and whatever you've mentioned on the physical presence calculator. If everything checks out, they'll be able to pass your "Physical Presence" component.

If you don't have a passport, simply provide an explanation and give them a reason as to why you don't have a passport. Simple.

 

[Hot2Cold]

Yes, they could. But they'd have to introduce a new workflow and send this information to every Canadian consulate in other countries. This might take time.

I think for now, the quicker (and probably cheaper) way to do it would be for IRCC to use secure courier services to mail the certificate overseas as a temporary solution.

We won't know until we start seeing some reports of oath ceremonies outside Canada.

Mailing or couriering a sensitive document like the Citizenship certificate is probably highly unlikely. With Canada Post, they have a measure of control and accountability. Once the document leaves Canada's shores it will be difficult to ensure security and accountability with any surety.

I think that this is the reason that the oath will continue to be In Canada only - or at least the Citizenship certificates will only be mailed within Canada with Do Not Forward instruction on the envelop just like the PR Cards.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Mailing or couriering a sensitive document like the Citizenship certificate is probably highly unlikely. With Canada Post, they have a measure of control and accountability. Once the document leaves Canada's shores it will be difficult to ensure security and accountability with any surety.

I think that this is the reason that the oath will continue to be In Canada only - or at least the Citizenship certificates will only be mailed within Canada with Do Not Forward instruction on the envelop just like the PR Cards.

Well, I still think it is very unlikely for IRCC to let applicants take oath outside Canada unless the situation very extenuating (if the applicant is terminally ill, for example).

I posted my reasons here =>

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/october-2020-citizenship-applicants.704665/post-9525577

We were just discussing hypothetical methods that IRCC could use if IRCC were to decide that applicants can take oath ceremonies outside Canada. The other way, in addition to the one mentioned above, would be to allow the consulate to print Canadian Citizenship certificates instead of mailing it to Canada. These policy changes might take a LONG time to be implemented.