Citizenship - Interview ( Living abroad)

[footyluv]

Hello ,

I've got a situation here. Please let me know your thoughts.

I applied for Canada citizenship in Nov 2020.

I left Canada in October 2021 for personal reasons. I have been living / working abroad since Oct 2021. I gave the test online abroad earlier this year.

Now I got an email to come "in-person" for citizenship interview as a next step.

What exactly is this interview for? During the interview can I tell them that I am not living/working in Canada? Will they cancel my application because of this?

Just trying to understand what my chances are from this point on.

 

[firstax]

Hello ,

I've got a situation here. Please let me know your thoughts.

I applied for Canada citizenship in Nov 2020.

I left Canada in October 2021 for personal reasons. I have been living / working abroad since Oct 2021. I gave the test online abroad earlier this year.

Now I got an email to come "in-person" for citizenship interview as a next step.

What exactly is this interview for? During the interview can I tell them that I am not living/working in Canada? Will they cancel my application because of this?

Just trying to understand what my chances are from this point on.

It's not good to think of the worse possible scenario all the time. There used to interview everyone before the pandemic. For now, only a select few are being interviewed. The interview email would tell you what to bring along so just carry along what they require. They will not cancel your application because you're working outside Canada. But you need to meet the residency requirement to be a permanent resident.

 

[Seym]

Will they cancel my application because of this?

They can't do that. The decision on an application is based on 2 things :
1) your eligibility at the moment you applied.
2) the continuation of your PR status (residency requirements, legal issues...) after you applied.

How an application goes differs from one to the other, and procedural difficulties can occur, like making you fly back to Canada for an interview, but it's what it is. Living outside Canada can, among other reasons, cause these procedural difficulties. There are posts regarding this in the forum, you can look for them, especially from @dpenabill. What living outside Canada can't be, as long as your PR residency obligation (2 years out of 5 at any point) is respected, is a factor for your application being denied.

Theres no way to tell how the interview will go, but what's for sure is that you need to answer truthfully to the questions raised, including regarding where you currently live.

Good luck, and hoping for a quick oath invitation once you're done with the interview.

 

[footyluv]

@Seym @firstax

Thank you for the response.

I can confirm that I do have a valid PR card and valid PR status.

During the interview , I will ofcourse tell them that I am now living/working abroad. My concern is that by saying this - will it be a red-flag/straight denial?
If this is the case , I might as well not travel half way across the world.(not to mention the sky rocketing flight prices/accommodation and seeking work days off).

But if I do have a chance , I would like to proceed and take the citizenship , given how far I've come in the process.

Also , during the interview - can I request them for a quick oath ceremony (possibly the following day/week) ? Has anyone had the oath ceremony next day of the citizenship interview?


Thanks

 

[Seym]

Well, the only certainty is that living abroad isn't and can't be ground for a straight denial of citizenship application, since the liberals came back to power.
How your application processing actually goes we can't really say.

People, including in this forum, do successfully get their citizenship while living abroad, the discussion is usually more about the bumpy VS not so bumpy road to get there, not about whether you do or don't get it.

 

[Dreamlad]

Living abroad is what IRCC hates. I say this based on personal experience.

 

[firstax]

@Seym @firstax

Thank you for the response.

I can confirm that I do have a valid PR card and valid PR status.

During the interview , I will ofcourse tell them that I am now living/working abroad. My concern is that by saying this - will it be a red-flag/straight denial?
If this is the case , I might as well not travel half way across the world.(not to mention the sky rocketing flight prices/accommodation and seeking work days off).

But if I do have a chance , I would like to proceed and take the citizenship , given how far I've come in the process.

Also , during the interview - can I request them for a quick oath ceremony (possibly the following day/week) ? Has anyone had the oath ceremony next day of the citizenship interview?


Thanks

There is nothing wrong with living abroad or working abroad. As you said you meet the residency requirements then there's no need to worry.
I don't know where you got the information about working/living abroad being a red flag. It's simply not true and there's no basis for it. You can look up the requirements for getting citizenship too.

 

[footyluv]

Thank you @firstax @Seym

Also I have a question about the interview.

In the invite email , it says that I have to attend "in-person".

So I assume I cannot request them to see if this can be done online?

As I mentioned above , I am willing to travel , but it would be nice if they could schedule the oath soon after the interview.Could I request this?
If possible , I would really want to avoid traveling yet again in a span of 1 or 2 months for the oath ceremony (assuming the interview goes well that is).

 

[VOBuckeye]

I am living and working abroad and just had my interview yesterday. Mine was virtual but I flew in to Canada just because I did not want any processing delays.
The officer asked me about my absences and multiple border crossings. She asked me where I currently live and was truthful...did not impact my case.
Just make sure you are still meeting your residency requirements even with living abroad.
Good luck!

 

[footyluv]

Hello @VOBuckeye .
Thank you for the response.

Did you get the oath date? Can we request them to have it scheduled as soon as possible?

How long did you plan the trip for?

 

[aespi]

Hello everyone, I need your advice with a similar situation Details of my application are in signature.

I have just (Nov 17) received a letter "INVITATION TO AN INTERVIEW WITH A CITIZENSHIP OFFICIAL AND VERIFICATION OF IDENTITY/DOCUMENTS", to attend on December 1st, in person (says in email, not in letter), in Scarborough. I am currently outside of Canada, and have been since I submitted application (august 2019) due to my mother's illness. If you have received a similar letter, what was your interview experience like? I am considering whether to fly back for interview or to request to take interview online. Even if says "in person" on the email, could I request to take it online? Anyone has experience with this?

I have read that some people are doing interview and oath same day in Scarborough. So I am considering flying back for 2 days in case I am also invited to oath. Did they tell you in the letter that you would do both or was it a surprise after the interview? I also read that recently they have been scheduling online oaths?

Any advice and all information are welcome, as I don't have much time to make decision. Thank you!

 

[Dalboy1980]

Hello everyone, I need your advice with a similar situation Details of my application are in signature.

I have just (Nov 17) received a letter "INVITATION TO AN INTERVIEW WITH A CITIZENSHIP OFFICIAL AND VERIFICATION OF IDENTITY/DOCUMENTS", to attend on December 1st, in person (says in email, not in letter), in Scarborough. I am currently outside of Canada, and have been since I submitted application (august 2019) due to my mother's illness. If you have received a similar letter, what was your interview experience like? I am considering whether to fly back for interview or to request to take interview online. Even if says "in person" on the email, could I request to take it online? Anyone has experience with this?

I have read that some people are doing interview and oath same day in Scarborough. So I am considering flying back for 2 days in case I am also invited to oath. Did they tell you in the letter that you would do both or was it a surprise after the interview? I also read that recently they have been scheduling online oaths?

Any advice and all information are welcome, as I don't have much time to make decision. Thank you!

Hi I'm not sure of the exact answers, however aren't you now not going to meet your residency requirements as you've been out of the country for over 3 years?

I'm no expert but personally I'd say if possible travel back, however can that'll also open up a can of worms i.e. because you've been outside for over 3 years

A tough one for you.

 

[americanincanada]

@Seym @firstax
I can confirm that I do have a valid PR card and valid PR status.

During the interview , I will ofcourse tell them that I am now living/working abroad. My concern is that by saying this - will it be a red-flag/straight denial?

Thanks

I can share an anecdotal example, my partner also explained in his (virtual) interview ~1 month ago that he was living abroad and the IRCC officer told him "that's not good enough" and seemed pretty grumpy about it. However, everything got marked complete the next day following his interview and he became a citizen last week!

 

[VOBuckeye]

Hello @VOBuckeye .
Thank you for the response.

Did you get the oath date? Can we request them to have it scheduled as soon as possible?

How long did you plan the trip for?

I did get the oath date scheduled before I had completed my interview. The oath was scheduled a week later.
I only traveled for 24 hours. I flew to Detroit and crossed over by land in a rental car.

 

[Dreamlad]

They won't say anything on the table but as I said, they don't like you being outside. I won't emphasize it again.