Numbers: The CIC does not publicly report RQ statistics, but Nicholas Keung’s Toronto Star article on the RQ quotes the CIC as stating that approximately 11,000 RQs were issued between May 7 and Sept. 28, 2012. This means that during that period the CIC issued RQs at a rate of approx. 76/day, 2292/month or 27,882/year. This suggests that RQs are sent to around 12.5% of applicants. Additionally, documents received through Canada’s Access to Information Act show that the CIC’s Vancouver and Montréal offices had RQ rates of 30% and 50% respectively for at least part of 2012.
[size=10pt][size=10pt]Timeline: There are no official processing benchmarks for Residence Questionnaires. Some CIC Helpline agents estimate a timeline of 48 months for the citizenship applications of RQ recipients will move on to the next stage of the citizenship process. Others estimate that it will take 35-37 months from the time of initial application until citizenship is granted or refused[/size][/size]. None of these responses are traceable to any publicly available documentation. There are no official timelines, no recourse and seemingly very little parliamentary oversight once someone gets an RQ.
