+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

49 months since applying citizenship to St Clair Office

whiterose232

Member
Jun 30, 2014
12
0
Hi folks,

My citizenship timeline is below:

Citizenship applied (family class) - May 2010
Citizenship Test - Mar 2011
RQ Received - Mar 2011 (Same day of citizenship test)
RQ Submitted - Sep 2011 (US border agency took 6 months to release the in/out data)

After repeated calls to CIC, we received two letters in Oct 2013 and May 2014, saying the same thing that the application is still in the queue and yet to be assigned for reviewing.

It's been 49 months and there is no encouraging news from CIC yet. It it fair? Has anyone else facing the similar situation? What should we do? How much more wait? I'm really worried now.

Please advise. Thank you.
 

vinaypuri

Hero Member
Jan 1, 2014
556
6
Toronto, ON
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
This much delay is absolutely not acceptable. There are few others in this forum in similar boat. I suggest you do these three things -

1. Request ATIP ASAP and go over what's going on.
2. Reach out to your MP to follow up with CIC.
3. Do an ombudsman.

You can do these three things started in Parallel.


whiterose232 said:
Hi folks,

My citizenship timeline is below:

Citizenship applied (family class) - May 2010
Citizenship Test - Mar 2011
RQ Received - Mar 2011 (Same day of citizenship test)
RQ Submitted - Sep 2011 (US border agency took 6 months to release the in/out data)

After repeated calls to CIC, we received two letters in Oct 2013 and May 2014, saying the same thing that the application is still in the queue and yet to be assigned for reviewing.

It's been 49 months and there is no encouraging news from CIC yet. It it fair? Has anyone else facing the similar situation? What should we do? How much more wait? I'm really worried now.

Please advise. Thank you.
 

janoo

Hero Member
May 16, 2014
995
22
Time to contact good lawyer and check with the court.

processing time 36 month now you are almost 50 month. the only
thing which noted that you have replied to rq after 6 month instead of
allotted time ? this might be a reason..
 

whiterose232

Member
Jun 30, 2014
12
0
vinaypuri said:
This much delay is absolutely not acceptable. There are few others in this forum in similar boat. I suggest you do these three things -

1. Request ATIP ASAP and go over what's going on.
2. Reach out to your MP to follow up with CIC.
3. Do an ombudsman.

You can do these three things started in Parallel.
Thanks Vinay. I have just applied for ATIP and let's see how it goes. I have tried reaching to my MP but he hasn't given me the time yet. I heard it's practically useless to connect MPs, as they have no authority on CIC. I have also heard that Mandamus is definitely the effective way to expedite the application but it's very expansive (approx. $6000). Is that true? as I can not afford such kind of money. Your advice in this regard will be highly appreciated.
 

whiterose232

Member
Jun 30, 2014
12
0
janoo said:
Time to contact good lawyer and check with the court.

processing time 36 month now you are almost 50 month. the only
thing which noted that you have replied to rq after 6 month instead of
allotted time ? this might be a reason..
Thanks Janoo. Would you be able to recommend me the lawyer which is effective yet relatively cheaper. Any idea how much the immigration lawyer charge?
 

vinaypuri

Hero Member
Jan 1, 2014
556
6
Toronto, ON
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
You will have to negotiate and take quotes on Writ of Mandamus. Some Lawyers who are not very high end will do it for cheaper i.e. 2000 or so.


whiterose232 said:
Thanks Vinay. I have just applied for ATIP and let's see how it goes. I have tried reaching to my MP but he hasn't given me the time yet. I heard it's practically useless to connect MPs, as they have no authority on CIC. I have also heard that Mandamus is definitely the effective way to expedite the application but it's very expansive (approx. $6000). Is that true? as I can not afford such kind of money. Your advice in this regard will be highly appreciated.
 

Msafiri

Champion Member
Nov 18, 2012
2,667
104
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
whiterose232 said:
Thanks Vinay. I have just applied for ATIP and let's see how it goes. I have tried reaching to my MP but he hasn't given me the time yet. I heard it's practically useless to connect MPs, as they have no authority on CIC. I have also heard that Mandamus is definitely the effective way to expedite the application but it's very expansive (approx. $6000). Is that true? as I can not afford such kind of money. Your advice in this regard will be highly appreciated.
The trends seems to be the minute you raise Mandamus that CIC process your file fast! Check for posts by 'walitys' - he seems to have shaken up CIC!
 

whiterose232

Member
Jun 30, 2014
12
0
Msafiri said:
The trends seems to be the minute you raise Mandamus that CIC process your file fast! Check for posts by 'walitys' - he seems to have shaken up CIC!
Hi Msafri, thanks for the directing me to "walitys"thread as it was a good information. I have sent a personal message to him to get the contact detail of lawyer. Hope it works out for me too.
 

janoo

Hero Member
May 16, 2014
995
22
H whiterose : keep posted about the progress, hope you have now the
lawyer address and wish you a very happy canada day and hope your
matter will be over soon..
 

whiterose232

Member
Jun 30, 2014
12
0
janoo said:
H whiterose : keep posted about the progress, hope you have now the
lawyer address and wish you a very happy canada day and hope your
matter will be over soon..
Hi Janoo - I haven't yet received the reply from watlys yet but will keep you posted if I get anything. Happy Canada Day :)
 

schmucz

Newbie
Jul 4, 2014
2
0
Lol that is iffy hilarious !!

forget the lawyer, forget everything for now. first figure out who is the MP of your area. contact them, book an appointment and go meet them. they would call CIC and can obtain more information than the call centre people would give you.

they can find out if there is any obstacle or if anything is need to be done. its a legit inside man lol ..
then see if you really need a lawyer or not :p
 

whiterose232

Member
Jun 30, 2014
12
0
schmucz said:
Lol that is iffy hilarious !!

forget the lawyer, forget everything for now. first figure out who is the MP of your area. contact them, book an appointment and go meet them. they would call CIC and can obtain more information than the call centre people would give you.

they can find out if there is any obstacle or if anything is need to be done. its a legit inside man lol ..
then see if you really need a lawyer or not :p
I will certainly do this. Thanks for the advice.
 

eileenf

Champion Member
Apr 25, 2013
1,003
95
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
vinaypuri said:
This much delay is absolutely not acceptable. There are few others in this forum in similar boat. I suggest you do these three things -

1. Request ATIP ASAP and go over what's going on.
2. Reach out to your MP to follow up with CIC.
3. Do an ombudsman.
Unfortunately there is no ombudsman for citizenship. One's MP is the closest thing to an ombudsman on the federal level (though there are tax ombudsmen and armed forces at the fed level).

Interestingly, there was an effort to establish a federal level ombudsman in the 1970s but Pierre-Elliott Trudeau squashed it after seeing that the provincial ombudsmen were actually getting stuff done and not just rubber stamping things.