Bad interview experience - help, please!

[canadian_2018]

Dear experts
I need your advice
Some time ago I had my citizenship interview. I was interviewed by (I guess) a supervisor. The officer took me thru a long corridor to some office, although most other applicants were interviewed in a common area. I wasn't the only one interviewed by this officer - there were I think 3-4 more applicants in our "unlucky" group.
The officer didn't directly accuse me of anything, however, the officer tried to find several weak points in my application, and the questions went as follows:

some introductory hello

Officer: Do you have a second name?
Me: huh?
Officer: look - in your passport, in the "name" column there are 2 words in your native alphabet. But in English alphabet, there's only 1 name
Me: well, I didn't make my passport myself! This is how my country writes names in English. Very standard. Not my choice! I do have a middle name in my language, but it has not been translated into English in ANY of my documents. I have no proof that it's X or Y or Z!
Officer: why didn't you bring today the official translation of the first page of your passport?
Me: I've asked the translator to translate everything in my passport - he said the first page never needs to be translated into English
Officer: not true. all Canadian translators know that the first page needs to be translated
(at this point I conclude that this officer is just full of $hit, and just tries to be strict and official, diligent and all, but really knows nothing!
I mean - I went thru my entire adult life in Canada - visa, PR - my passports have been looked at a million times, and this is the first time anyone in Canada asks me about my middle name. None of my landing documents have my middle name)

So, basically, the officer requested me to mail the translation of my birth certificate and the translation of the first page of my passport.

Fine, whatever!

Next, I go to my lawyer (who is my official representative for this application). He says - oh, this is very strange and unique, I've never seen it. We must wait for the letter from CIC with the official request for extra documents, and only then we'll reply.

My problem - it's already been some time since the interview! My ECAS status hasn't updated. I haven't received any letters, the lawyer hasn't received any letters.

Lawyer says - wait. But I disagree with him!

PS: worst lawyer EVER. Only cares about 2 things - not to lose his license, and not to overwork, so for him, the best choice is just not do anything. For me - obviously not doing anything isn't a very good choice.

Dear experts - what do I do now?
Myself - I'm very inclined to just forget about the lawyer's advice to wait and mail the two documents, once I get my birth certificate.
but the lawyer could be useful in writing a cover letter, explaining that this is very common for at least 5 or 6 countries that I know of, etc.

my second question is a bit more general - what's going to happen to my application? Am I heading for an RQ?

Thank you all!

 

[Babayaro]

It seems your language was little bitter as well. I think you should find good translator and follow the officer request before making it more difficult. Good luck

 

[qorax]

@canadian_2018

A. The application process is so simple and your dexterity is evident from your above post. So, why did you go with a lawyer?
B. Immigration lawyers usually do not correspond with IRCC until they receive a letter to do so. As such, what he said is the norm.
C. Once you appoint a representative - IRCC will 'only' communicate with him/her. You're unlikely to receive any notification directly.
D. I have only noticed Bangladeshi passports' having that issue (name anomalies) as you described.
E. Your interviewing IO should've known that. I opine you've some other soft flags going towards your name.
F. Send that translated birth certificate and pp's first page immediately. Directly from your end. Eff the lawyer.

 

[jsm0085]

The officer has raised a genuine concern, like it or not. The translations should have happened when the application was submitted. The officer has requested that you provide them.

The lawyer works on your behalf. Have the requested documents translated and instruct your lawyer to submit them immediately. Ask for confirmation. He will do it. If he doesn't. do it yourself.

 

[Pcanadian]

Dear experts
I need your advice
Some time ago I had my citizenship interview. I was interviewed by (I guess) a supervisor. The officer took me thru a long corridor to some office, although most other applicants were interviewed in a common area. I wasn't the only one interviewed by this officer - there were I think 3-4 more applicants in our "unlucky" group.
The officer didn't directly accuse me of anything, however, the officer tried to find several weak points in my application, and the questions went as follows:

some introductory hello

Officer: Do you have a second name?
Me: huh?
Officer: look - in your passport, in the "name" column there are 2 words in your native alphabet. But in English alphabet, there's only 1 name
Me: well, I didn't make my passport myself! This is how my country writes names in English. Very standard. Not my choice! I do have a middle name in my language, but it has not been translated into English in ANY of my documents. I have no proof that it's X or Y or Z!
Officer: why didn't you bring today the official translation of the first page of your passport?
Me: I've asked the translator to translate everything in my passport - he said the first page never needs to be translated into English
Officer: not true. all Canadian translators know that the first page needs to be translated
(at this point I conclude that this officer is just full of $hit, and just tries to be strict and official, diligent and all, but really knows nothing!
I mean - I went thru my entire adult life in Canada - visa, PR - my passports have been looked at a million times, and this is the first time anyone in Canada asks me about my middle name. None of my landing documents have my middle name)

So, basically, the officer requested me to mail the translation of my birth certificate and the translation of the first page of my passport.

Fine, whatever!

Next, I go to my lawyer (who is my official representative for this application). He says - oh, this is very strange and unique, I've never seen it. We must wait for the letter from CIC with the official request for extra documents, and only then we'll reply.

My problem - it's already been some time since the interview! My ECAS status hasn't updated. I haven't received any letters, the lawyer hasn't received any letters.

Lawyer says - wait. But I disagree with him!

PS: worst lawyer EVER. Only cares about 2 things - not to lose his license, and not to overwork, so for him, the best choice is just not do anything. For me - obviously not doing anything isn't a very good choice.

Dear experts - what do I do now?
Myself - I'm very inclined to just forget about the lawyer's advice to wait and mail the two documents, once I get my birth certificate.
but the lawyer could be useful in writing a cover letter, explaining that this is very common for at least 5 or 6 countries that I know of, etc.

my second question is a bit more general - what's going to happen to my application? Am I heading for an RQ?

Thank you all!

Sorry for your experience
What's your local office?
Do you have anything not usual in your file
Like a lot of trips?
Have they asked any FP or RQ ?

 

[Mr. Preppy]

Hi,
Did you notice anything special on those guys who were with you? In which city you had your interview?

Dear experts
I need your advice
Some time ago I had my citizenship interview. I was interviewed by (I guess) a supervisor. The officer took me thru a long corridor to some office, although most other applicants were interviewed in a common area. I wasn't the only one interviewed by this officer - there were I think 3-4 more applicants in our "unlucky" group.
The officer didn't directly accuse me of anything, however, the officer tried to find several weak points in my application, and the questions went as follows:

some introductory hello

Officer: Do you have a second name?
Me: huh?
Officer: look - in your passport, in the "name" column there are 2 words in your native alphabet. But in English alphabet, there's only 1 name
Me: well, I didn't make my passport myself! This is how my country writes names in English. Very standard. Not my choice! I do have a middle name in my language, but it has not been translated into English in ANY of my documents. I have no proof that it's X or Y or Z!
Officer: why didn't you bring today the official translation of the first page of your passport?
Me: I've asked the translator to translate everything in my passport - he said the first page never needs to be translated into English
Officer: not true. all Canadian translators know that the first page needs to be translated
(at this point I conclude that this officer is just full of $hit, and just tries to be strict and official, diligent and all, but really knows nothing!
I mean - I went thru my entire adult life in Canada - visa, PR - my passports have been looked at a million times, and this is the first time anyone in Canada asks me about my middle name. None of my landing documents have my middle name)

So, basically, the officer requested me to mail the translation of my birth certificate and the translation of the first page of my passport.

Fine, whatever!

Next, I go to my lawyer (who is my official representative for this application). He says - oh, this is very strange and unique, I've never seen it. We must wait for the letter from CIC with the official request for extra documents, and only then we'll reply.

My problem - it's already been some time since the interview! My ECAS status hasn't updated. I haven't received any letters, the lawyer hasn't received any letters.

Lawyer says - wait. But I disagree with him!

PS: worst lawyer EVER. Only cares about 2 things - not to lose his license, and not to overwork, so for him, the best choice is just not do anything. For me - obviously not doing anything isn't a very good choice.

Dear experts - what do I do now?
Myself - I'm very inclined to just forget about the lawyer's advice to wait and mail the two documents, once I get my birth certificate.
but the lawyer could be useful in writing a cover letter, explaining that this is very common for at least 5 or 6 countries that I know of, etc.

my second question is a bit more general - what's going to happen to my application? Am I heading for an RQ?

Thank you all!

 

[ZingyDNA]

I don't understand the name issue... I thought passport bio pages are always dual language: English and Native, for every field. So why the need to translate that? Anyhow, I don't really think there's any need to hire a lawyer for citizenship application, as it's a lot simpler than PR applications. Unless you have a really complex case, like short of residence days or criminal charges, you don't need a lawyer.

 

[amitdi]

It seems your language was little bitter as well. I think you should find good translator and follow the officer request before making it more difficult. Good luck

Agree. There are two things, and lets separate them for clarity.

One - the officer's behaviour and attitude. Well, you mention that the officer "is just full of $hit, .... but really knows nothing!". I did not get that feeling from your post. In fact, you seemed to be rude. You did not directly answer the question (huh? is not an answer) even though the documentation had a middle name. Also, "I didn't make my passport myself" seems like a rude answer. Both these things may have been perceived by the officer as if you are trying to dodge information. Remember they conduct hundreds of interviews, and some prefer direct to the point answers.

Second regarding the process, I think you should just comply with what is asked rather than thinking how your lawyer is not efficient. This will only over-complicate things. Just get it done with and conclude the process. All the best.

 

[CAforCA]

If I am jump in .. I have seen many cases where some of the Muslim names are confusing as everyone uses Mohammad like the Sikhs use Singh and Kaur to denote genders .. There have been many cases highlighed during audit - where people apply by moving their names around during multiple applications. I used to head operations and quality for a visa processing company which I will not name but came accross many such cases where names were being misused to apply for US / Canada visas by Middle Eastern and South Asian muslim men. Again, before you class me as racist or islamaphobe ( if there is such a thing)..what I am stating are relevant facts to justify the above behavior and should be used to analyze why the officer must have treated those people on that particular day ..

I would do what @qorax has suggested in his post ..

 

[Mr. Preppy]

If I am jump in .. I have seen many cases where some of the Muslim names are confusing as everyone uses Mohammad like the Sikhs use Singh and Kaur to denote genders .. There have been many cases highlighed during audit - where people apply by moving their names around during multiple applications. I used to head operations and quality for a visa processing company which I will not name but came accross many such cases where names were being misused to apply for US / Canada visas by Middle Eastern and South Asian muslim men. Again, before you class me as racist or islamaphobe ( if there is such a thing)..what I am stating are relevant facts to justify the above behavior and should be used to analyze why the officer must have treated those people on that particular day ..

I would do what @qorax has suggested in his post ..

I don't think that there is such thing as a "Muslim name". However, there are Arabic, Indian, Persian, Turkish names. Based on language/country, not a religion.
As for the author of this post he mentioned that officer saw two names in his native script, I assume that it wasn't Arabic script (Arabic, Persian, Urdu languages) because officer could recognize two different words. I would say it could be in Cyrillic script (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian) or Greek or something similar to the Latin script.

 

[CAforCA]

I don't think that there is such thing as a "Muslim name". However, there are Arabic, Indian, Persian, Turkish names. Based on language/country, not a religion.
As for the author of this post he mentioned that officer saw two names in his native script, I assume that it wasn't Arabic script (Arabic, Persian, Urdu languages) because officer could recognize two different words. I would say it could be in Cyrillic script (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian) or Greek or something similar to the Latin script.

Like I said applicants from South Asia or Middle East use Mohammad as an interchangeable name - I said musllim because you will not find a non muslim using Mohammad in their name - and most of the South Asia muslims use arabic names along with Mohammad. Let us not be sensitive about facts - I am not singling out one community just stating what I know .. if you find it relevant then use it or just discard. No harm meant here - the OP can give us more information but from his post he was atleast honest in stating the facts of what happened during the interview.

 

[Babayaro]

It's nothing about religion about this case or any case. What I see here that the officer asked very legitimate questions and applicant has failed to answer and raised a red flag. Bonus applicant behavior seems little off and rude. As I said in the first post no need lawyer. Your lawyer can't do anything for you at this level because it's not that complicated yet. You should mail translated pages ASAP. Don't forget that the officer can make it really hard for you. Better to not go for fist fight.

 

[FloydCan]

Which office was this?

 

[ghapama]

Not saying that the officer was right or wrong. But here's a related anecdote:
I have a friend who had a bad experience where an officer demanded the original of her previous passport, which she did not have (she had submitted photocopies), because in the country where she is from, when you apply for a new passport, they take the old one, unless you file a report that you lost your passport. The officer kept insisting that he knew the rules and that no one from that country has mentioned that before (which is a dubious claim) and found her rather rude because she kept saying that this is true... he thought that she was insinuating that he didn't know how to properly do his job. Eventually, he told her that they are going to investigate her papers and come to a decision -- didn't take the decision right away. Her file was delayed for a few months, and then she got decision made, and it was positive.

But really, the officer can decide however he/she sees fit. Do not antagonize him/her. Even if you know you are absolutely in the right.

In your case, you probably gotta submit something if the officer told you so. Do it.

 

[canadian_2018]

well, thank you, all!
even those who decided to chide me
your kindness reminded me why we want to be part of the Canadian family

yes, something must have set off some flags about my application
maybe it has something to do with one very quick question the officer asked me - is your second name XYZ?
No, in fact, I've never heard of anyone by that name. It seemed odd to me that the same person who discerned that there were 2 names in my native script couldn't discern that the 2nd name was not even close to the name they were asking me about...
I said "no" to the officer, but now I think maybe I should have been a lot more emphatic
but then - I haven't been asked to do the fingerprints...