Chance of RQ due to unemployment

[aphermix]

Planning to apply for citizenship for my wife. She soft landed in Sep 2019 and was physically absent from Canada for about 400 days. She came back permanently in Nov 2020 and worked briefly (3 months). She was not employed after that and is a homemaker now.

We have a choice of applying for Citizenship or renewing PR. I am inclined at the former now. I did a physical presence calculator with date of application submission mid March 2024 and got the physical presence as 1157 days. This gives a buffer of 67 days over the requirement of 1095 days.

Now is it prudent to apply for citizenship for her now ? My primary concern is getting hit with an RQ. She is not planning to go to work anytime soon. So does waiting more time is even effective against a possible RQ request ?

 

[Seym]

A RQ is an annoyance, but there's no way to know how an application will go before it's made.
A 67 days buffer is definitely a healthy buffer that you should be confident applying with.
If you're afraid that your wife being a homemaker would trigger something (and again, there's no way to know!) and want to put your mind at ease, you can always add an explanation letter saying that she's not working because her husband is providing for the family and maybe even add your own proof of employment.
Will that avoid a RQ, well, as I said above, no-one can really say, but there's also a good chance your wife's application goes very smoothly (and you'll never know if the additional docs helped...).

 

[Seym]

Also, for what it's worth, a family member of mine got their citizenship in less than 6 months being in the exact situation as your wife, with a couple weeks as a buffer. As smooth an application as can be.

 

[aphermix]

Also, for what it's worth, a family member of mine got their citizenship in less than 6 months being in the exact situation as your wife, with a couple weeks as a buffer. As smooth an application as can be.

Thanks a lot @Seym. This reply indeed did put my mind to ease. I hope there is nothing wrong in pre-empting the RQ. We can upload stuff like bank statements, OHIP history etc. along with that letter you mentioned.

Is pre-empting a good idea or do you recommend we take a chance and submit as-is.

 

[Seym]

I can't predict how things will go, but I don't think there's a need to overdo it.
What matters the most is the credibility of the claims made in the application.
If your wife accurately lists her physical presence history and that this matches the calculation IRCC will get from the CBSA, the officer will be enclined to routinely approve the application. If you send a load of documents but make mistakes in the app, scrunity will arise regardless.
In my previous comment, the person I'm speaking about just made a "pristine" application, and didn't add a single optional document, she just applied along with her husband (whose work history was full!). That should be enough if you're applying as a family together. If not, you can go with the peace of mind provided by the explanation letter. All these other documents are at your discretion I suppose...