e.chad said:
Your case [referring to eeeeeeeelectric is almost same as mine(US Passport), i had 2 day trips (went to pickup guests, which were not required to be mentioned) and other 2 trips for few weeks, i had test day before yesterday, Office said"i(she) always stay more than 30 days whenever i visit USA, why i(Me) just took short trips?" to me it's really funny, my wife is Canadian Citizen, i have a well settled business here,,what else...but anyways i feel she just wanted to issue 0520 even tho i had all proofs with me(she refused to look)
Your case is different than
eeeeeeeelectric's case in some significant respects, but ironically the number of reported trips and day trips is perhaps a salient factor, if not key factor, behind CIC's concerns leading to the issuance of a CIT 0520 . . . just for opposite reasons (so few versus so many trips).
It is worth noting, albeit it should be apparent in the discussion above in this topic, that the CIT 0520 request rather than CIT 0171 (the dreaded RQ) is probably a good sign . . . a sign that CIC's focus is still on
verifying information submitted by the applicant, particularly as to residency, rather than designating the application a
residency case (which a post-test, full blown RQ, would signal that CIC has done). While it is not certain, these days this difference appears to be a big one, that RQ is what is issued when CIC has overt doubts or even suspicions. Otherwise, the CIT 0520 is more or less an exercise in due diligence by CIC, a more or less quality control screening process. (Obviously, in some cases, what is submitted in response to the CIT 0520 may lead to further, more serious concerns, and thus to a full blown RQ; but the reason for issuing the CIT 0520 is usually so that CIC can review some specific information which will resolve any concerns; and as has been reported often, in many cases the oath is scheduled in a relatively decent timeline following the submission of the responsive documents.)
In any event, again, your situation,
e.chad, is different in an important respect. See
eeeeeeeelectric said:
. . . as I frequently use my Nexus card to cross the border for day trips, nothing a boarding pass is even involved with, though it would be nice were it that simple. I go sometimes multiple times a week, to get mail and even for a time for a little casual work I did. I even have a couple of bills left there. But I didn't put down day trips, only the 2 overnights. Is that what you're talking about?
The difference is a remarkably few number of trips versus someone who not only frequently crossed the border, but whose trips across the border indicate substantial ongoing ties in the U.S.
For
eeeeeeeelectric, the frequency of trips probably suggests, to the total stranger, substantial ongoing ties in the U.S. . . . and of course even just
casual work in the U.S. does indeed signal ongoing ties in the U.S. CIC's interest in verification in this scenario seems more likely than not.
For you,
e.chad, obviously I do not know and cannot know what really triggered CIC's concern, but in contrast you appear to be saying that in more than three years time you only went to the U.S. a total of four times (two day trips, two trips for few weeks at a time). A total stranger might very well wonder why someone who has a U.S. passport, obviously some long term connection to the U.S., would only visit the U.S. four times in three years. (This is assuming you did not overlook some other trip(s) and the CBSA travel history reflects a different number of returns to Canada.) If you live somewhere like Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Whitehorse, Timmins, or Val-d'Or (as in a long trip to the U.S. border), so few trips might make sense . . . otherwise, a stranger would be inclined to
verify.
Verification of the number and duration of trips, as best as one can, is probably a lot, lot easier for you,
e.chad . . . but as many have observed, obtaining a U.S. report of entries into the U.S. (if this is what your CIT 0520 request specifies) can take an inordinate amount of time. (My own took nearly a year, but that was two years ago and my sense of most reports this year is that the U.S. has made the process both more accessible and faster . . . I applied for the U.S. records
before I applied for citizenship, anticipating RQ for some personal reasons, and received the report months after becoming a citizen, not having gotten RQ and becoming a citizen in barely eight months after sending off the application.)
In any event, be sure to submit a timely response to the CIT 0520. If you do not have precisely what is requested,
submit what you can which is as complete and responsive to the request or requests, including alternative documents if necessary, together with an explanation as to why you cannot provide the documents requested and that you have made a request for those documents. Depending on what was requested and what you do not have, perhaps some additional alternative documentation supporting your case, even if that documentation is not directly responsive to what CIC asks for. I do not recall if you have reported what documents you were requested to submit, but if you have your own business in Canada, perhaps some documents related to the operation of your business would help (if that is not what is otherwise requested already).
so we don't had/have a need
