Applying for Canadian Citizenship

[futurecitizen]

I'm planning to apply for Canadian citizenship in couple of months from now. I have following questions before I apply. I would really really appreciate some seniors can shed light on following questions.

1. These days you have to attached English proficiency certificate along with application for all the applicants in the application. When I applied for my immigration under CEC category I took the IELTS test in early 2011. The IELTS has expired now. Still can I attach the certificate with my citizenship application or do I have to again go through the IELTS test.

2. I believe my wife has to give the IELTS test as she never gave any English test when she came to Canada.

3. How many bands are required to be eligible for getting citizenship.

4. During our last 5 years stay (3 year 9 months as temporary foreign worker) and 1 year 3 months as PR we went to US 5-6 times in which 2 trips were for company training and each time training was of around 2 weeks and 3 times we went to see/meet our parents in US and each trip was of week. One trip was to Seattle just for the day by road we went around 12 in afternoon and were back by 09 PM same day during entry to Canadian side the officer just saw our passport and work permit and she let us in and she didn'nt put entry stamp on our passports but when we went to US on the same day in afternoon there was entry stamp put on our passport by US immigration I even return the white slip which US immigration attaches to our passport as visitor gave back to Canada Customs Officer. Do I need to mention that as well I mean one day trip. Also, I was going through forums to avoid RQ would it be advisable that we get privacy report from CBSA and attach that same report with my citizenship application or it will be giving negative effect to the officer who is reviewing my application and to avoid RQ. Though I will attach all the pages with entry stamps on the passport.

Any answer would be really appreciated.

 

[Leon]

You can use your old IELTS even if it is expired. Your wife will have to take IELTS or CELPIP unless she has graduated from a high school or done a diploma where the tuition was in English or French. CELPIP L-S is the least expensive option.

You can see the requirements here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/language-flowchart.asp

You should mention all your trips. If you do not mention the day trip but they have a record of it somehow, they will be suspicious.

 

[futurecitizen]

Thanks Leon for the answers.

How many bands are required to be eligible. Also, when I applied for the CEC immigration I had attached original IELTS results (as required) with my application. Now I only have the copies of the IELTS will that be OK or do I have to apply to get original copy from IELTS institute.

I was going through forums to avoid RQ would it be advisable that we get privacy report from CBSA and attach that same report with my citizenship application or it will be giving negative effect to the officer who is reviewing my application and to avoid RQ. Though I will attach all the pages with entry stamps on the passport.

 

[Leon]

Just send copies if you already sent the originals.

It says on the link I posted what scores you need.

It is advisable to get your CBSA travel history to make sure that your list of travels matches theirs.

 

[futurecitizen]

Thanks Leon for the answers

How do I apply to CBSA for the travel history. What do I mention in the letter to them or there is some kind of form to be filled. Can I attach the CBSA report with my citizenship application and send to CIC.

 

[scylla]

4. During our last 5 years stay (3 year 9 months as temporary foreign worker) and 1 year 3 months as PR

I'm confused as to how you would qualify to apply for citizenship in a couple of months and want to make sure you don't apply too early.

To qualify for citizenship, you must have spent three years out of the last four years in Canada. Two of those years must have happened after you became a PR. You can include up to two years before you became a PR in the citizenship calculation however each day you spent in Canada before you became a PR is only counted as half a day for citizenship purposes. So best case scenario you are still 9 months away from being eligible to apply. However this assumes that you haven't left Canada for even one day in the past four years.

 

[futurecitizen]

Thanks for your reply scylla

No I'm not applying now I would be applying after middle of December 2013. I just wanted to make sure that I have all the documents ready so that once I start filling my forms I don't miss out anything. I was going through all the forums about citizenship so the questions came in my mind. I'm fully aware that I need to spend 2 year as PR and no matter how many years I spend in Canada as TFW I only get 1 year out of it that is counted towards citizenship. Still my following question remains answered.

How do I apply to CBSA for the travel history. What do I mention in the letter to them or there is some kind of form to be filled. Can I attach the CBSA report with my citizenship application and send to CIC.

 

[scylla]

OK - great to see you're familiar with the rules. A "couple of months" technically means two and I wanted to make sure you hadn't misunderstood something.

This is old but still valid to the best of my knowledge:

http://immigration.ca/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1545

 

[futurecitizen]

Thanks

Can I attach the CBSA report with my citizenship application. Just want to be pro-active and avoid any last minute surprise like RQ etc.

 

[cadvis]

Thanks

Can I attach the CBSA report with my citizenship application. Just want to be pro-active and avoid any last minute surprise like RQ etc.

why do you think you will get RQ and you are not going to apply until 2013... things might have changed by then..

 

[KAJORDAN]

futurecitizen

Thanks for these question specifically # 4, as a matter of fact; it contains an inquiry similar to the one I had but did not get any relpy.
So if you OR anyone can answer I would appreciate; If I'm on an open work permit and my PR got approved does the period I stay under open work permit counts for applying for citizenship.

Any answer would be really appreciated.
Regards to all