Citizenship Application "Travel Documents"

[JohnHMIV]

Hello,

I am a Canadian Permanent Resident for some time now, and I held legal status with Visitor, and eventual Work Visas during all the time leading up to my PR within the past 5 years of eligibility.

When looking at the Citizenship application, it states I must include "photocopies of biographical pages of all valid and expired passports or travel documents you had in the past 5 years. The biographical page means the page where it has your name, photo, passport/travel document number, issue date and expiration date.''

My questions are, do Visitor and Work Visas themselves count as ''Travel Documents?'' Or are they just passports? If they are in fact the Visas, I have tried searching through all of my prior documentation, but I think I may have destroyed my prior, expired Visitor and Work Visas after receiving updated ones (and eventually after getting my PR Card).

Even if I did not destroy them (as I do not remember doing so, and have a hard time thinking I would, but it's been a few years), I am unable to find them. How may I request for copies of my prior Visitor and Work Visas to provide to the government if they are in fact needed?

If there are no other options, I will just have to wait until I have been a PR for 5 years in a row, to provide them with the only documentation I have (my current, valid PR card and Passport). I'd like to not have to wait that long, but if I must, I'll have no choice.

If that is the case, I will then have to answer "No" to question 9b: "During your 5 year eligibility period, did you have Temporary Residence or Protected Person status in Canada before becoming a permanent resident?" As, technically during those 5 years, I would not have been a Temporary Resident, nor a Protected Person, as I would in fact have been a Permanent Resident for all 5 of those years? Wouldn't that "No" automatically result in refusal? There is no option below to clarify I selected "No" because I was a PR the whole time.

Thank you. I know there are many questions, and I was trying to ask CIC directly, but as I have not yet submitted the application, I can't contact them for a specific case number, and this information is not on their FAQ.

*Edit*: I may be completely stupid, but I think I remember having to actually surrender all of my prior VISA's to the case-worker who interviewed me for my PR landing interview the day I became a PR. If that is the case, then certainly I would just need to provide them with a Passport, no?

 

[dpenabill]

"If there are no other options, I will just have to wait until I have been a PR for 5 years in a row, to provide them with the only documentation I have (my current, valid PR card and Passport)."​

Not really. Not having older Canadian visas or permits should NOT pose much if any problem.

While certain documents may be absolutely necessary to make a grant citizenship application, such as proof of ability in one of the official languages, for most documents an application can be made and processed despite the unavailability of the document. To make the application complete the applicant needs to report ALL relevant documents, the best the applicant can, and for documents that are not available, also disclose this fact, that the document is not available, and explain why.

The fact the document is not available can be taken into consideration when an IRCC official is weighing the information and related evidence, and thus for example a missing passport can be problematic if IRCC otherwise has concerns about the applicant, such as regarding travel history and meeting the minimum actual physical presence requirement. Since the burden of proof is on the applicant, missing evidence tends to weaken the applicant's case. But if the case is otherwise strong, and IRCC has no reason to doubt or challenge the information submitted, such as the applicant's travel history, even a missing passport should not derail the application.

As for Canadian visas and permits issued prior to becoming a PR, the important thing is to get the dates as correct as possible. The client's GCMS record will sufficiently verify the temporary status prior to becoming a PR, so IRCC can AND WILL verify pre-PR status by reviewing its own records; so no longer possessing these documents should NOT be a problem at all . . . again, the important thing is to get the dates as correct as possible.

REMINDER: To meet the minimum presence requirement the applicant must have at least TWO full years (730 days) credit for presence AFTER becoming a PR, plus enough credit (at half-day credit for each full day present) based on time in Canada for the total credit to be at least 1095 days. When the prospective applicant meets this threshold, the PR can apply and there is no need to wait beyond that. THAT SAID, A MARGIN OR BUFFER OVER THE MINIMUM IS HIGHLY ADVISABLE. The prudent applicant will wait to have a comfortable margin MORE than 730 days presence as a PR PLUS an overall comfortable margin over the total minimum 1095 days credit.

If there is any uncertainty about precise dates, that is a reason to wait longer to have a bigger margin. Other factors can be a reason to have a bigger margin. For example, for someone relying on any period of implied status it would be prudent to have a margin at least equal to and probably greater than the total amount of credit claimed for periods on implied status.

Hello,

I am a Canadian Permanent Resident for some time now, and I held legal status with Visitor, and eventual Work Visas during all the time leading up to my PR within the past 5 years of eligibility.

When looking at the Citizenship application, it states I must include "photocopies of biographical pages of all valid and expired passports or travel documents you had in the past 5 years. The biographical page means the page where it has your name, photo, passport/travel document number, issue date and expiration date.''

My questions are, do Visitor and Work Visas themselves count as ''Travel Documents?'' Or are they just passports? If they are in fact the Visas, I have tried searching through all of my prior documentation, but I think I may have destroyed my prior, expired Visitor and Work Visas after receiving updated ones (and eventually after getting my PR Card).

Even if I did not destroy them (as I do not remember doing so, and have a hard time thinking I would, but it's been a few years), I am unable to find them. How may I request for copies of my prior Visitor and Work Visas to provide to the government if they are in fact needed?

If there are no other options, I will just have to wait until I have been a PR for 5 years in a row, to provide them with the only documentation I have (my current, valid PR card and Passport). I'd like to not have to wait that long, but if I must, I'll have no choice.

If that is the case, I will then have to answer "No" to question 9b: "During your 5 year eligibility period, did you have Temporary Residence or Protected Person status in Canada before becoming a permanent resident?" As, technically during those 5 years, I would not have been a Temporary Resident, nor a Protected Person, as I would in fact have been a Permanent Resident for all 5 of those years? Wouldn't that "No" automatically result in refusal? There is no option below to clarify I selected "No" because I was a PR the whole time.

Thank you. I know there are many questions, and I was trying to ask CIC directly, but as I have not yet submitted the application, I can't contact them for a specific case number, and this information is not on their FAQ.

*Edit*: I may be completely stupid, but I think I remember having to actually surrender all of my prior VISA's to the case-worker who interviewed me for my PR landing interview the day I became a PR. If that is the case, then certainly I would just need to provide them with a Passport, no?

 

[JohnHMIV]

"If there are no other options, I will just have to wait until I have been a PR for 5 years in a row, to provide them with the only documentation I have (my current, valid PR card and Passport)."​

Not really. Not having older Canadian visas or permits should NOT pose much if any problem.

While certain documents may be absolutely necessary to make a grant citizenship application, such as proof of ability in one of the official languages, for most documents an application can be made and processed despite the unavailability of the document. To make the application complete the applicant needs to report ALL relevant documents, the best the applicant can, and for documents that are not available, also disclose this fact, that the document is not available, and explain why.

The fact the document is not available can be taken into consideration when an IRCC official is weighing the information and related evidence, and thus for example a missing passport can be problematic if IRCC otherwise has concerns about the applicant, such as regarding travel history and meeting the minimum actual physical presence requirement. Since the burden of proof is on the applicant, missing evidence tends to weaken the applicant's case. But if the case is otherwise strong, and IRCC has no reason to doubt or challenge the information submitted, such as the applicant's travel history, even a missing passport should not derail the application.

As for Canadian visas and permits issued prior to becoming a PR, the important thing is to get the dates as correct as possible. The client's GCMS record will sufficiently verify the temporary status prior to becoming a PR, so IRCC can AND WILL verify pre-PR status by reviewing its own records; so no longer possessing these documents should NOT be a problem at all . . . again, the important thing is to get the dates as correct as possible.

REMINDER: To meet the minimum presence requirement the applicant must have at least TWO full years (730 days) credit for presence AFTER becoming a PR, plus enough credit (at half-day credit for each full day present) based on time in Canada for the total credit to be at least 1095 days. When the prospective applicant meets this threshold, the PR can apply and there is no need to wait beyond that. THAT SAID, A MARGIN OR BUFFER OVER THE MINIMUM IS HIGHLY ADVISABLE. The prudent applicant will wait to have a comfortable margin MORE than 730 days presence as a PR PLUS an overall comfortable margin over the total minimum 1095 days credit.

If there is any uncertainty about precise dates, that is a reason to wait longer to have a bigger margin. Other factors can be a reason to have a bigger margin. For example, for someone relying on any period of implied status it would be prudent to have a margin at least equal to and probably greater than the total amount of credit claimed for periods on implied status.

Thank you so much for your very detailed and helpful response!