Apply Citizenship now or wait

[SinghLovCan]

Next month I will qualify with 1096 days. I would have completed 3 full years without ever leaving Canada and without any gaps in employment. However, prior to coming as a PR in Canada, the 1 year , (4th year out of the last 3 years)... I left my employer with bad terms, basically I had to leave by taking a vacation and putting a resignation while I was on vacation. Employers in middle east are known to commonly hold passports, there would have been difficulties in obtaining passport had I declared that I was resigning. Employees are more like bonded to their employers there. After I gave my resignation, my manager was extremely mad at me.
Now I am wondering if I should go ahead and apply for citizenship now, I will have to list this employer on my application or should I just wait a couple more years and apply with my Canadian work history alone?

 

[amazing21]

just apply……..

you just have to list your employers

you dont need them to give any reference about your employer to cic . And your employer will say nothing to cic…..you will only ' list them as a former employer' . cic are not concerned about your relationship about you or your employers . they dont care . they want to know if you full fill their requirements of citizenship thats all…….

 

[SinghLovCan]

Thanks for your reply. I had been discussing with my wife and I told my wife that we should just apply , since we are on the "RIGHT" side of the game. ... but 3 years of my life working in the middle east has been hell. Although I worked as a professional project manager.. the humiliation and the rude behavior that came my way had destroyed my self-esteem and I sometimes still feel that I have been scarred psychologically. I came to Canada, bcoz middle east was not the best place to raise a family. Local people are openly racists and rude to Asians and most nationalities.

 

[blueshirt]

You can do one more thing as a proof keep your former employer appointment letter or last payslip or any one payslip. Do u have those. Worst case if you dont have them just keep extract of bank statement showing your monthly salary credit. Do the salary statement of bank shows employer name.

Thanks for your reply. I had been discussing with my wife and I told my wife that we should just apply , since we are on the "RIGHT" side of the game. ... but 3 years of my life working in the middle east has been hell. Although I worked as a professional project manager.. the humiliation and the rude behavior that came my way had destroyed my self-esteem and I sometimes still feel that I have been scarred psychologically. I came to Canada, bcoz middle east was not the best place to raise a family. Local people are openly racists and rude to Asians and most nationalities.

 

[Donvalley]

... I will have to list this employer on my application....

Not too much to worry about...as you just have to list the employers now. They are not asking for any records anymore. Also you can explain in the cover letter if you wish so or keep it just simple.

... basically I had to leave by taking a vacation and putting a resignation while I was on vacation....

This matters more:

Did you cancel the visa while leaving the country? Not visa expired etc..i.e. "Cancelled and FINAL EXIT" stamped on passport?

Apologize...not to scare you. If YES, you are safe. If NO, guaranteed RQ.

 

[eileenf]

Cic only cares about an applicant's work history because it shows where they were living (residency). The cic is not hiring the applicant, so the circumstances of quitting a past job does not matter to cic, so I don't think you have anything to worry about with your ex boss.

I don't recommend explaining it to cic unless they ask about the circumstances of leaving your last job (which I highly doubt they will). Again, they really don't care. You could have gotten fired from 20 jobs in the last 4 years and cic would not care unless there were large gaps in your employment and lots of travel. Or something that made it look like you weren't really living here. Citizenship is not contingent on being a good employee or having a reasonable and ethical ex-boss.

The question of whether your work visa was cancelled before your arrival and establishment in canada is more relevant, especially if you are coming from UAE. There have been a lot of reports of RQ in response to uncanceled UAE work visas.

Good luck!

 

[kentTO]

I recommend a adding a 2 week buffer

 

[SinghLovCan]

Not too much to be worried about...as you just have to list the employers. They are not asking for any records now. Also you cxan explain in the cover letter if you wish so or keep it simple.

This matters more:

Did you cancel the visa while leaving the country? Not visa expired etc..i.e. "Cancelled and FINAL EXIT" stamped on passport?

Apologize...not to scare you. If YES, you are safe. If NO, guaranteed RQ.

No, I did not cancel my visa. Because If I told my employer that I am leaving, then they would not have given me my passport and would have caused inconvenience to me. The moment I got my PPR from visa office. I took emergency vacation , sent my passport for stamping and then left the country. The visa gets automatically cancelled after 6 months and I have been living here for 3 years now.

The problem is that if you tell them you want to quit, then they make you leave on their own terms and conditions. They will certainly get you to cancel your visa and they will strictly hold your passport until the last date of your departure and hand your passport over to you at the airport. I had not time to confront with all those issues with my employer at that time, plus I could not predict what they would be thinking or how they would react on my declaration that I was going to leave, especially when they had been rude and unfriendly during my service years with them and especially when they have a record of holding passports and not releasing except for occasional circumstances such as vacation.
My wife was pregnant and I had to make a quick move. Resignation while on vacation was the best I could think of. I resigned by sending an email.

 

[SinghLovCan]

You can do one more thing as a proof keep your former employer appointment letter or last payslip or any one payslip. Do u have those. Worst case if you dont have them just keep extract of bank statement showing your monthly salary credit. Do the salary statement of bank shows employer name.

I was paid cash for the most part and during the later time salary was deposited in the bank. I have bank statement of one salary deposit, but it doesnt mention employer. I have some internal memos, email that I sent for resignation, a letter written by manager to another company that I am the one to be contacted for maintenance issues (i made a copy of it, bcoz I knew my employer wont give experience certificate), car rental document showing that the name of employer and my name on the rental contract, Internal forms used by employer to hold employee passport etc..etc.)

 

[eileenf]

No, I did not cancel my visa. Because If I told my employer that I am leaving, then they would not have given me my passport and would have caused inconvenience to me. The moment I got my PPR from visa office. I took emergency vacation , sent my passport for stamping and then left the country. The visa gets automatically cancelled after 6 months and I have been living here for 3 years now.

The problem is that if you tell them you want to quit, then they make you leave on their own terms and conditions. They will certainly get you to cancel your visa and they will strictly hold your passport until the last date of your departure and hand your passport over to you at the airport. I had not time to confront with all those issues with my employer at that time, plus I could not predict what they would be thinking or how they would react on my declaration that I was going to leave, especially when they had been rude and unfriendly during my service years with them and especially when they have a record of holding passports and not releasing except for occasional circumstances such as vacation.
My wife was pregnant and I had to make a quick move. Resignation while on vacation was the best I could think of. I resigned by sending an email.

That makes sense and I'm sure many people do the same and many of us on here would have made the same decision in a similar situation. We all have to do the best we can for ourselves and our families within the given constraints.

The issue to figure out now if how this might affect your citizenship application. Again, this is about having an active work visa for a foreign country during the first 6 months of your residency period. This is not about any issues with your former employer.

1. Talk to a settlement worker (free) or a lawyer (not free) for advice and strategies about your application.

2. If you were the only one with the residential/work visa in your passport, consider applying as an individual rather than making a family application. Your wife can apply separately with the children.

The open work visa overlapping with your Canadian residential period puts you at risk for RQ. If you apply as a family and get the RQ, it will delay everyone's application.

3. Is there any stamp on your visa now showing that the visa was cancelled and when? If not, is there anyway to get that stamp so cic can see, at a glance, that your old work visa really was and is cancelled?

4. If there's no "cancelled" stamp or expiration date on the visa, there's a high chance that you will get an RQ. Hopefully your residential proof and work records from your Canadian job are very solid.

 

[Donvalley]

I typed a long and explained comment but pressing the post button everything disappeared saying time-out error.
Re-typing a brief again.

No, I did not cancel my visa.....

An open visa on your pp is sighted as an alarm to CIC.

...The visa gets automatically cancelled after 6 months and I have been living here for 3 years now.

Unused/expired visa is not a Cancel/Final Exit visa. I believe what you said but sadly CIC not.


It is wisdom to accumulate few more days or weeks. Many 1095/6 day sharp-cutters regretted later for making a calculation error to end up in never ending trouble.

Go by book, i.e. list your employment for last four years. No additional docs like memos or emails etc.
Passport biographical pages only, no stamps etc.
Only send what they are asking for and keep your file simple. Then keep praying to God that they don't dig deep on your file; of course if you are a believer! If you pass through everything well and good, otherwise prayers are always good for your soul and spirit at least!!

It will be like a border-crossing for you at citizenship exam where they browse through the passport. Get ready for any questions in advance.

You will have to go through this issue no matter when you apply, today or years later if the Final Exit/Visa Cancel stamp is not there.
Don't worry. Remember; proving a truth is much easy.

Wish you all the best!

 

[SinghLovCan]

I typed a long and explained comment but pressing the post button everything disappeared saying time-out error.
Re-typing a brief again.
An open visa on your pp is sighted as an alarm to CIC.
Unused/expired visa is not a Cancel/Final Exit visa. I believe what you said but sadly CIC not.


It is wisdom to accumulate few more days or weeks. Many 1095/6 day sharp-cutters regretted later for making a calculation error to end up in never ending trouble.

Go by book, i.e. list your employment for last four years. No additional docs like memos or emails etc.
Passport biographical pages only, no stamps etc.
Only send what they are asking for and keep your file simple. Then keep praying to God that they don't dig deep on your file; of course if you are a believer! If you pass through everything well and good, otherwise prayers are always good for your soul and spirit at least!!

It will be like a border-crossing for you at citizenship exam where they browse through the passport. Get ready for any questions in advance.

You will have to go through this issue no matter when you apply, today or years later if the Final Exit/Visa Cancel stamp is not there.
Don't worry. Remember; proving a truth is much easy.

Wish you all the best!

Thanks for your reply. I just checked my passport and the visa has an expiry date of Sept, 2012. I also have a valid USA visa , its a tourist visa. When I landed in Canada, I found employment within one month and I have been employed since then without any gaps. I have never left Canada and no entry stamps to any other country on my passport. I dont understand that why it is so hard for CIC to figure out that I have been living here even though the visa on my passport is not cancelled, but expired and nullified after 6 months of stay outside.

 

[Donvalley]

I dont understand that why it is so hard for CIC to figure out ............

One reason I can say for sure is resources. The more a case is non-routine, the more resources in demand for investigations. Like many Govt. departments; what CIC is limited on too.

The issue here is a valid work visa overlapping to your residency period.
In the past many crooks have acquired citizenship and passports while working/living abroad. Believe me, some notorius offenders even not stepped in once here for spending a holiday! So unfortunately this is the price legitimate applicants have to pay now in the process of catching fraudsters.

A second thought, reasonable yet but more testing; push your residency out of visa validity period. i.e. if your visa is ending on June 2012; start your resiency calculation after a month beginning July 2012.
There are many advantages and disadvantages on this approach... like CIC might think of no importance to a visa from pre-residency era.
You will be in the new process of 4/6. You have to wait long.

I don't want to confuse you anymore!!!

 

[eileenf]

...the visa has an expiry date of Sept, 2012...I also have a valid USA visa , its a tourist visa...I dont understand that why it is so hard for CIC to figure out that I have been living here even though the visa on my passport is not cancelled, but expired and nullified after 6 months of stay outside.

US tourist visa is fine in general but it is strange to have a US tourist visa if you never left Canada (though maybe you got it awhile ago?)

Can you get any official documentation showing the date that your work visa was nullified and the reason (left UAE or wherever on XX date)? You would be wise to make a serious effort to do so. CIC will not do it for you. If you can get this documentation, it would be highly advisable to bring it with you to the citizenship test and interview. If you want to go whole-hog, you could also bring an affidavit or notarized letter from your current boss attesting that you have worked at XX office since XX date and been physically present at the office 5 days a week (especially for the period where your work permit was still legally or seemingly valid).

If you can't get official documentation showign the date your work permit was nullified, you could consider delaying your application until your residential period is clear of the work visa expiry date (as Donvalley said). You could also talk with a lawyer or settlement worker to get their opinion on this.

My opinion, given the changing residential qualifying period and reports of faster RQ processing recently, is to go ahead with your application after a 2 week buffer period or so. You may get an RQ, but this is not the end of the world, especially since you seem to have strong proof of continual residence in Canada. You would have a fighting chance of getting citizenship sooner, even with RQ, than if you wait until the 4/6 rule comes into force. There are no guaranteed timelines with CIC, but be honest and as concise as possible and things will work out sooner or later.

Good luck.

 

[SinghLovCan]

US tourist visa is fine in general but it is strange to have a US tourist visa if you never left Canada (though maybe you got it awhile ago?)

Can you get any official documentation showing the date that your work visa was nullified and the reason (left UAE or wherever on XX date)? You would be wise to make a serious effort to do so. CIC will not do it for you. If you can get this documentation, it would be highly advisable to bring it with you to the citizenship test and interview. If you want to go whole-hog, you could also bring an affidavit or notarized letter from your current boss attesting that you have worked at XX office since XX date and been physically present at the office 5 days a week (especially for the period where your work permit was still legally or seemingly valid).

If you can't get official documentation showign the date your work permit was nullified, you could consider delaying your application until your residential period is clear of the work visa expiry date (as Donvalley said). You could also talk with a lawyer or settlement worker to get their opinion on this.

My opinion, given the changing residential qualifying period and reports of faster RQ processing recently, is to go ahead with your application after a 2 week buffer period or so. You may get an RQ, but this is not the end of the world, especially since you seem to have strong proof of continual residence in Canada. You would have a fighting chance of getting citizenship sooner, even with RQ, than if you wait until the 4/6 rule comes into force. There are no guaranteed timelines with CIC, but be honest and as concise as possible and things will work out sooner or later.

Good luck.

First of all I would like to thank you and Donvalley, for guiding me through this process. To answer your questions :
1)I got the US visa prior to becoming a PR, it is a 10 year tourist visa, which I got it several years before I even applied for PR.
2)My Kuwait visa, it says on the visa on the passport "Exceeding 6 months out of the country shall nullify the residence permit".
3)I got employed in Canada within one month of landing. Actually I have ROEs, T4s, NOAs, Contract, pay stubs were issued online, so would have to request them. But it is possible.

Let me know what will be the best way for me to proceed. What do they ask in RQ? is there an RQ form available online?