Hi All,
I will be completing 1460 Days on 25th July and plan to file my application on 27th July with 1462 Days. I was living with my uncle for a long time but have recently moved a couple of months ago and did not update my new address on my driver's license. My new address is on my 2016 Income Tax Return but my driver's license and everything else still has my old address. Changing to my new address (which might be temporary as I might have to move again as I am only renting a room and relationship with landlord is shaky) on driver's licence will cause the transport authority to mail a new one in 4 to 6 weeks.
My question is: Should I apply now and revert back to my old address (my uncle's address) in the application, clearly showing that I lived temporarily for 3 months on the address on my 2016 Income Tax Return, with all other IDs having old address OR Should I apply for change of address on my Driver's Licence and Health Card, wait for 4 to 6 weeks for new driver's licence to arrive and then apply with new address in the application?
Note that the new address can change as well as I might move in the time between filing my application and citizenship test/interview/oath. Is changing my address after filing my application going to cause delays or additional scrutiny?
Thanks
The short answer: It would be foolish to apply with 1462 days.
Best to properly get your new ID, and wait to be sure to have a good margin over the minimum when you apply.
Sure, there are some wrinkles in your situation. Ways to effectively iron out the wrinkles are limited. No way to submit a totally wrinkle-free application unless you wait another three or five months to apply. And even then, the odds of some wrinkles loom.
But we all have odds of some wrinkles in our applications for citizenship. I had some very obvious wrinkles. All went well, smoothly and almost as fast as any applications were being processed back then (application submitted July 2013, took oath March 2014).
The wrinkles which can and should be ironed out:
-- be sure to give accurate, truthful information (actual current address and address history included)
-- wait to have a good margin over the minimum, and
-- apply with ID that has same address as where you currently live, same you report in application as your current address.
The longer answer with explanations:
The longer answer is still the same: best to properly get your new ID, and wait to be sure to have a good margin over the minimum when you apply.
At the moment I do not have the time, but I will make an effort to revisit this topic and offer a much longer explanation because this query raises three issues which arise again and again and again. They are interconnected. They warrant the kind of attention and emphasis which, I hope, will adequately illuminate the reasons for going into much greater detail. The three oft recurring issues:
-- Consistency but accuracy (truthfulness) first --
-- Actual presence margin --
-- Accurate address information --
The first of these is the most general and the most important: be consistent, but first and foremost be accurate. Do this and the third, submit accurate address information, is done. But questions alluding to some fudging as to address information are so common the address issue warrants its own discussion.
The second one, whether to wait to apply with a good margin over the minimum, arises again and again. The forum has many posts explaining and emphasizing reasons why a margin is important, and why how much of a margin depends on the individual situation. Almost all applicants should have a good margin (conventional wisdom is a week or two; my view suggests a month or more), but some applicants should seriously consider waiting much longer. There is no one margin fits all. It depends.
Nonetheless, it is obvious scores and scores of PRs are tracking the day they will reach the minimum (which will become a 1095 day minimum later this fall, probably in November) and planning to apply very soon after reaching the threshold. Not a good idea. Better to wait at least ten days more, or, even a month. At the least.
While the need for consistency and truthfulness is obvious, it nonetheless warrants more expansive observations not merely because so many fail to carefully take consistency into consideration, but because when they do, there appears to be widespread temptation to craft responses to avoid the appearance of inconsistency. There appears to be a widespread tendency to gloss over the need to be entirely truthful and approach some questions as if there are optional approaches. Address information looms large in this regard.
Can I use . . . as an address? is an all too common question. For which, when referring to one's residential address, only if that is the address at which the person actually lives (or actually did live for purposes of address history) is the answer "yes." Otherwise, "NO." A citizenship application is not a situation like giving a bank or prospective employer one's current address, for which many sometimes use a friend's address, or that of a family member. For IRCC applications, address should be the place one really lives or did live.
Not everyone is readily convinced of the latter. So this too warrants a more expansive explanation.
Hopefully I will have time in the near future to revisit this and offer the more expanded explanation.
In any event, the short answer is:
-- be sure to give accurate, truthful information (actual current address and address history included)
-- wait to have a good margin over the minimum, and
-- apply with ID that has same address as where you currently live, same you report in application as your current address
