Virtual Citizenship Ceremony Experience in detail!

[Hanan22]

Now I am worried. I am also a UP case. 7 days to mail the certificate? I am leaving the country within 8 days from the oath..

In my case I didn't tell them I am UP applicant because they never asked me. Certificate sent yesterday 6 days after oath.

 

[arav12345]

In my case I didn't tell them I am UP applicant because they never asked me. Certificate sent yesterday 6 days after oath.

Thank you!! How did you get your case UP approved? I have travel within a month of my oath ceremony, I have booked tickets already. (Dec 23rd oath - Travel on Jan 28th) Applied on Jan 4th 2021.

 

[Hanan22]

Thank you!! How did you get your case UP approved? I have travel within a month of my oath ceremony, I have booked tickets already. (Dec 23rd oath - Travel on Jan 28th) Applied on Jan 4th 2021.

I sent supporting docs that's all you need. Travel doesn't qualify you for urgent processing. Good luck

 

[Hapique]

Congrats!! Would you mind if I ask you a question since I have the same office as yours.
When you received the email instruction, did it come with the oath form as attachment?
Did your seat number given on the form or during the zoom call?

Please see below:
Scheduled for Citizenship Oath for Nov 12, 2021 (notification in the system updated on Aug 5, 2021; email with instructions in PDF received Nov 2, 2021, with the link and seat numbers)
Oath: Nov 12, 2021 on-line
Citizenship Application Status: Approved (Nov 15, 2021)

 

[archshenoy]

VIRTUAL CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY EXPERIENCE
​

Okay, so as promised, detailed below is my citizenship ceremony experience. I'll post it as three parts because I can't fit everything in one post.

PART 1​

Local Office : Mississauga IRCC
Oath Ceremony Date : August 23rd, 2021
Oath Ceremony Time: 8:30 AM EST
IRCC Crew: 1 Citizenship Judge + 1 Administrator for Zoom + 1 Main Clerk + 3 IRCC officials (referred to as clerks)
Total # of applicants: 44

On the ceremony day

I woke up to my first alarm at 6:45 AM (and then I disabled the 6 other alarms I had created the night before).

Got ready, was browsing the forum for a while until 7:55 AM. I closed other applications, made sure my UPS was correctly working, connected my desktop to my mobile hotspot (if there are issues with the Wi-Fi modem/router), checked camera / microphone and had the Zoom application open.

At 8:00 AM sharp, I keyed in the meeting ID and the password and it said "Please wait for the host to start the meeting". At around 8:15 AM, I saw the message "The meeting host will let you in soon" and also, in the chat window, there was a message asking all of us to "rename" ourselves using the last name. It was that way until 8:25 AM when I was put in a room with the others and the administrator. The administrator was talking to another participant when I joined. I was on mute for about 2 minutes. The administrator then asked me to unmute myself and asked for my last name. I told him and then he gave me a seat # (Seat # is basically the breakout room # that you will be put in).

Breakout Room - Before administering oath ( 43 minutes - From 8:27 AM to 9:10 AM)

I was in the breakout room by 8:27 AM. At 8:28 AM, one of the IRCC officials joined me in the breakout room. This is how the conversation went in the breakout room before proceeding to the main event of the day!

1. I was asked my full name

2. I was told since we are using 3rd party tool, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed during the ceremony

3. I was told if I happened to get disconnected, I can re-join using the same link / meeting ID and password to rejoin.

4. I was told my video froze (I clicked on "Stop Video" and then "Start Video" again to fix it)

5. The officer confirmed that I was physically present in Canada

6. The officer asked me if I was signing the oath form on paper or electronically (I said I'll sign it electronically). The officer asked me if I had a chance to go over the instructions on how to sign the form electronically and I said "Yes" (I already had Adobe Reader DC setup with the signatures). He insisted that he still wants to go over on how to do it and I politely agreed. Basically, he asked that we don't use the mouse to sign. You'd have to sign on a piece of paper, scan it, import it to your computer and then use that image as signature in Adobe Reader. I said "Okay, thank you".

7. The officer reminded me that if the signature doesn't meet the standards, he'll give me a call within 2 business days and ask me to re-sign the form.

8. He then asked me 2 questions - "Are there any situations that may prevent you from becoming a citizen today?" and "In the past 5 years, have you ever been in trouble with the law or immigration". I answered "No" and "No, never" respectively.

9. The officer said my video froze and wanted me to restart it. I did that (same steps as in Step 4).

10. I was asked for my DL and PR card. I showed him the PR card first (front and back) and told him I have a temporary DL as the physical card is yet to come in the mail and I asked him if I can show him my health card instead (I still showed him the license that I had). He agreed and I showed him the health card.

11. He then provided some instructions - To put phone in silent mode, a holy book can be used during oath, you can stay seated and there is no need to standup at any point during the ceremony and not to take pictures or record the ceremony but picture with the judge is allowed after oath ceremony in the breakout room.

12. I was then asked if I had any questions and I told him I need the citizenship certificate urgently. He looked at my file and he told me that since Urgent Processing was approved in my case, the citizenship certificate will be expedited as long as I send the oath form correctly and on time.

13. He then told me he'll give me the contact number for Passport services after the oath ceremony.

14. He then told me if my video were to freeze while taking oath, he'll send me a DM on Zoom and ask me to restart the video.

That's it. The officer left the breakout room at around 8:35 (conversation took around 8 minutes) I was told to wait in the room and I'll be connected to the main room when the oath ceremony begins. I was waiting in the breakout room until 9:10 AM EST.

Congratulations @rajkamalmohanram and thanks for the detailed account of the virtual oath ceremony! I have my oath ceremony scheduled end of this month, but would need to travel urgently in the first week of December. I was curious how you went about expediting the citizenship certificate and how long it took to be delivered to you

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Congratulations @rajkamalmohanram and thanks for the detailed account of the virtual oath ceremony! I have my oath ceremony scheduled end of this month, but would need to travel urgently in the first week of December. I was curious how you went about expediting the citizenship certificate and how long it took to be delivered to you

My application was processed urgently and so was my citizenship certificate. I received it the very next day.

You'll have to convince the official to expedite your certificate. If you have booked tickets, show that as proof and ask them to expedite it.

 

[archshenoy]

My application was processed urgently and so was my citizenship certificate. I received it the very next day.

You'll have to convince the official to expedite your certificate. If you have booked tickets, show that as proof and ask them to expedite it.

Thanks! Curious to see if anyone else in this forum was able to successfully expedite their citizenship certificate process and how long it took to receive it

 

[masterofpupp]

I just finished my oath ceremony. They didn't put us in any breakout room after the oath, and therefore my COPR wasn't checked. My id was checked before the oath and I was even asked to cut the PR card before. The host kicked us out of the zoom meeting. I tried re-connecting to check if it was by accident, but couldn't join. Is that normal?

 

[xlnc7]

I just finished my oath ceremony. They didn't put us in any breakout room after the oath, and therefore my COPR wasn't checked. My id was checked before the oath and I was even asked to cut the PR card before. The host kicked us out of the zoom meeting. I tried re-connecting to check if it was by accident, but couldn't join. Is that normal?

Exact same with me. I think its normal.

I believe we are in the same oath- was it 10:15 Am Mississauaga office on Nov 24?

 

[xlnc7]

I sent the digitally signed oath form right after the ceremony today (replied to the email of the oath invite).

Did not get any auto-reply of confirmation of receipt though., is it okay?

 

[mhd10]

Thanks! Curious to see if anyone else in this forum was able to successfully expedite their citizenship certificate process and how long it took to receive it

I had a ticket already and during the ceremony the officer saidq if I needed the certificate urgently to show them proof of travel. I did that and got the certificate within two days

 

[masterofpupp]

Exact same with me. I think its normal.

I believe we are in the same oath- was it 10:15 Am Mississauaga office on Nov 24?

No, I did mine on Monday at the Scarborough office.

 

[dahab92]

I have a quick question for those that completed the oath ceremony. I completed mine yesterday and they told us to email them the oath form afterwards, to the email on the form. I did that but then got an auto reply stating the email is only used for rescheduling the oath date.

I just want to confirm I sent it to the correct email and if anyone else got a similar auto reply? TIA

 

[VictorCA]

Reading these replies, it doesn't seem impossible for the officer to expedite the certificate with proof of travel. I've had flights booked for Christmas for a while, so hopefully they agree to expedite it. My ceremony is on Dec 14, with my flight on the 24th, so.....we'll see.

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but are you able to have a loved one with you in the room as you take the oath or do you have to be alone?

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Reading these replies, it doesn't seem impossible for the officer to expedite the certificate with proof of travel. I've had flights booked for Christmas for a while, so hopefully they agree to expedite it. My ceremony is on Dec 14, with my flight on the 24th, so.....we'll see.

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but are you able to have a loved one with you in the room as you take the oath or do you have to be alone?

You can have friends and family in the same room when you take oath.