malimm0a75 said:
Folks
is it ok to travel out of canada once I send my CITIZENSHIP application? (go for holidays or business/work) for longer period of time (3 to 5 months) -
Like mostly people do, they apply and go to other countries to get better paid jobs especially in Oil & Gas industry, and go Middle east...??
Would it attract CIC attention when they would know I am out of country.....! they may delay my application?? is it possible? is there any chance to get RFQ in this case??
anyone ??
While the CIC statement linked above is accurate, it is so much an understatement of the
risks as to be virtually misleading. In this regard, however, there is a big difference between going abroad for holidays, even a relatively long holiday (four to six weeks say), and going abroad to live or work while the application is in process.
There are many discussions in multiple topics about the extent to which CIC tends to elevate scrutiny, impose RQ, delay processing, and ultimately for some, dig deeply for justification to deny citizenship, if and when the applicant is perceived to have, as one Federal Court justice described it,
applied-on-the-way-to-the-airport.
The extent to which the current government focuses on this is best illustrated by one of the key changes it included in its revision of the
Citizenship Act, the inclusion of the
intent-to-continue-to-reside-in-Canada clause. This clause will, in effect, make living abroad while the application is pending a potential ground for denying citizenship outright.
This clause has no effect on any application now in process, but again it illuminates this government's attitude about applicants who, as you say, head to a better job outside Canada as soon as they have met the minimum qualifications for citizenship and have their application in process.
To be clear: there is no direct disability imposed for leaving Canada while the application is pending. And applicants are definitely free to travel outside Canada for whatever reasons while the application is pending, and can generally do so without a problem so long as they get their mail timely and do not miss a scheduled interview or test or the oath (CIC tends to give short notice, so this can be an issue for those traveling). But if CIC perceives an applicant has moved abroad or is working abroad, the risk is high that RQ will be issued, CIC's scrutiny will be dramatically elevated, and the process could take a lot longer, with a significant risk that CIC will look for a reason to deny citizenship.
