Citizenship Interview

[Leonidas81]

I had my citizenship test. I brought 2 passports with me, they cover my eligibility period. I have so many stamps in the old passport, most of them were outside my eligibility period (before I settled in Canada). Furthermore, I have a residency in a Gulf country, I kept that residency as a hassle free entry to the country of my birth so that I can visit my parents without needing to apply for a visit visa and also to be able to fly there immediately in case of emergency. Having that temporary residency was not an issue for me, I just needed to renew it every 2 years when I am there and as I said, I decided to keep it because it saves me a lot of hassle.

In the citizenship interview. The officer was overwhelmed with the amount of stamps on my passport. (by the way, I had about 11 trips during my eligibility period but most of the other stamps are before I moved here), I told the officer that I have a table with entry/exit stamps and pages so I can tell you in which page a specific stamp is. However, the officer told me that they will need to find the stamps themselves and I can't assist. Bottom line, the officer said that they couldn't find all the stamps so I offered my help again and tried to tell them where the missing stamp is (in which page) but they didn't allow me. On top of that, they said that it's not good that I have a residency permit in another country so I tried to explain the reason why I had that residency on my passport but I wasn't given the chance, I tried to tell them that my parents live in that country which is also the country of my birth and I am keeping that residency (which is a fragile temporary residency by the way) for humanitarian reasons but again, I wasn't given the chance to say whatever I wanted to say.

Finally, the officer informed me they will run a report, I asked about the name of the report but I didn't hear it properly, it sounded like an entry/exit report from Canada and that I should hear from them in 4 to 6 weeks and if they need extra information then they are going to let me know. I had supporting documents with me such as; e-tickets, boarding passes, rental agreements, T4, notice of assessments, old health card, certificate of business courses, employment certificates, everything you can think of! I had them all with me and I asked them if they would like to see any of that but they said no.

Any idea what kind of report is that? Anyone is familiar with this situation? should I worry?

By the way, I've been living here for about 5 years, been a permanent resident since then, employed, filing and paying taxes. I just had that residency and many stamps on my old passport.

Note that I mentioned that I have a residency permit in another country in my citizenship application, I listed down all residency permits I had in that country in my application.

 

[btbt]

CBSA entry/exit report.

No need to worry if you meet the requirements. This may slow down things a bit or it may not. It's unpredictable.

If they can't get all the information they want from the CBSA report, you may end up getting asked for additional documentation (some people are asked for entry/exit reports from other countries, others for certified copies of all pages in their passports. Some people end up being asked for quite a bit of documentation, some for just one or two things). That's not guaranteed to happen, but it may.

 

[Leonidas81]

CBSA entry/exit report.

No need to worry if you meet the requirements. This may slow down things a bit or it may not. It's unpredictable.

If they can't get all the information they want from the CBSA report, you may end up getting asked for additional documentation (some people are asked for entry/exit reports from other countries, others for certified copies of all pages in their passports. Some people end up being asked for quite a bit of documentation, some for just one or two things). That's not guaranteed to happen, but it may.

Could they pull a CBSA report on the spot when I was there at the interview? Also, how wouldn't they get information they want from CBSA? That report should show my entry/exit dates, right? It's all they need to know, am I correct? Excuse my ignorance

 

[btbt]

I don't believe they have access to CBSA systems in that way (I expect there are liaisons or designated officers or maybe specific procedures to ensure only records for people who have applied for citizenship and who have consented to this access are requested).

Also, interviews are not the time when they validate information from other sources.

CBSA entry records tend to be complete (there's the occasional exception, something particularly relevant if you're trying to prove presence in Canada), but exit records are not ( "Traveller exit information is also available in a limited capacity but applies only to foreign nationals entering the United States from Canada on or after June 30, 2013." from CBSA Travel History Report).

 

[Joshua1]

The CBSA travel report warns:
"When not to ask for a Travel History Report"
: "If you are applying for Canadian Citizenship you do not need to request your Traveller History Report from the CBSA. Checking "Yes" on page 5, section D of your application form permits Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to collect the report on your behalf."

This can be misleading in a sense. On one hand they clearly state in the citizenship application to authorize them to obtain the report; on the other if you have a lot of trips during the eligibility period, it's nearly impossible to recall and report all of them in the Physical Presence Calculator. Therefore, the only solution is to order the report before you apply. That's what some applicants did.

 

[btbt]

The above post does not seem relevant, as nowhere in this thread is there talk about someone requesting a CBSA report themselves; we're talking about IRCC getting that information from the CBSA.

But, in case someone else stumbles upon this thread, it is bad advice to (solely) rely on the CBSA report to complete the physical presence calculator. The CBSA report is not guaranteed to be complete (and we know that at least some people ended up dealing with the whole RQ process because they had discrepancies between their actual travel -- that IRCC somehow had found out about -- and the (incomplete) CBSA report they based their physical presence calculation on).

If you're a PR who aims to become a citizen: keep good records for five years. Don't rely on your memory or hope that they'll stamp your passport every time you cross the border. In your journal, include every border crossing, even if it's a quick shopping trip.

Barring that, gather information from multiple sources (email archives, travel bookings, credit card statements, journals, photo albums,...) and yes, possibly the CBSA report, CBP FOIA requests, and any other such sources. Correlate the information in all the sources and only then complete the physical presence calculator. But really, it's going to be faster, easier, and cheaper (if not for you then at least for tax payers) to just keep a good journal during your eligibility period.

 

[FloydCan]

I mean, what do they expect when a 5 year period is considered. Many people will have a lot of stamps. This officer apparently wanted to see a passport with empty pages to save him the trouble. Plus, so what if there is a resident permit in another country as long as the physical presence is fulfilled. This would have been a problem under the old law

 

[goodkarma]

Just wondering to know stamps of which countries you had in those 11 trips within the eligibility period?

I had my citizenship test. I brought 2 passports with me, they cover my eligibility period. I have so many stamps in the old passport, most of them were outside my eligibility period (before I settled in Canada). Furthermore, I have a residency in a Gulf country, I kept that residency as a hassle free entry to the country of my birth so that I can visit my parents without needing to apply for a visit visa and also to be able to fly there immediately in case of emergency. Having that temporary residency was not an issue for me, I just needed to renew it every 2 years when I am there and as I said, I decided to keep it because it saves me a lot of hassle.

In the citizenship interview. The officer was overwhelmed with the amount of stamps on my passport. (by the way, I had about 11 trips during my eligibility period but most of the other stamps are before I moved here), I told the officer that I have a table with entry/exit stamps and pages so I can tell you in which page a specific stamp is. However, the officer told me that they will need to find the stamps themselves and I can't assist. Bottom line, the officer said that they couldn't find all the stamps so I offered my help again and tried to tell them where the missing stamp is (in which page) but they didn't allow me. On top of that, they said that it's not good that I have a residency permit in another country so I tried to explain the reason why I had that residency on my passport but I wasn't given the chance, I tried to tell them that my parents live in that country which is also the country of my birth and I am keeping that residency (which is a fragile temporary residency by the way) for humanitarian reasons but again, I wasn't given the chance to say whatever I wanted to say.

Finally, the officer informed me they will run a report, I asked about the name of the report but I didn't hear it properly, it sounded like an entry/exit report from Canada and that I should hear from them in 4 to 6 weeks and if they need extra information then they are going to let me know. I had supporting documents with me such as; e-tickets, boarding passes, rental agreements, T4, notice of assessments, old health card, certificate of business courses, employment certificates, everything you can think of! I had them all with me and I asked them if they would like to see any of that but they said no.

Any idea what kind of report is that? Anyone is familiar with this situation? should I worry?

By the way, I've been living here for about 5 years, been a permanent resident since then, employed, filing and paying taxes. I just had that residency and many stamps on my old passport.

Note that I mentioned that I have a residency permit in another country in my citizenship application, I listed down all residency permits I had in that country in my application.

 

[btbt]

You seem to have encountered a bit of a grump.

However, there does not seem to be enough time available during test/interview days to verify passports with many stamps. So people in that situation find that the officer stops reviewing their passports, and they may end up being asked for other information later (certified copies of all pages etc), and/or IRCC checks other sources of information to validate your physical presence calculator. There have been similar experiences reported by others on the forum. Some had grumpy officers, some friendly ones (so it's not just someone being unwilling to do their job; there seems to be a time cut-off for the post-test interview/document check).

The residence permit in another country can be a problem in that there might be no stamps in your passport for visits there, so they cannot determine if you need to provide a PCC from that country, and there is less information to validate travel dates (if there are doubts about your travels you may be asked about entry/exit records for that country).

 

[Leonidas81]

I

You seem to have encountered a bit of a grump.

However, there does not seem to be enough time available during test/interview days to verify passports with many stamps. So people in that situation find that the officer stops reviewing their passports, and they may end up being asked for other information later (certified copies of all pages etc), and/or IRCC checks other sources of information to validate your physical presence calculator. There have been similar experiences reported by others on the forum. Some had grumpy officers, some friendly ones (so it's not just someone being unwilling to do their job; there seems to be a time cut-off for the post-test interview/document check).

The residence permit in another country can be a problem in that there might be no stamps in your passport for visits there, so they cannot determine if you need to provide a PCC from that country, and there is less information to validate travel dates (if there are doubts about your travels you may be asked about entry/exit records for that country).

I understand but they stamp there in entry and exit and it's obvious as most of the stamps are from that country and they even stamp on boarding passes which I kept some of them. As I said above, I had all supporting documents with me (I'm used to apply for visas in different countries so I often come ready and prepared) so I brought with me boarding passes, employment certificates here in Canada, rental agreements, notice of assessment and all other documents you can think of and I offered showing the boarding pass as a proof but they didn't want to see that and instead they said, we will let you know if we require more information and now I'm going to run a report and you will hear from us in 4 to 6 weeks. What report? I really didn't catch what the officer said!

It's sad that I was fully prepared for this and I've been living here, working, and paying taxes for almost 5 years yet I had to go through a very difficult interview. I really don't know what to say.

 

[Leonidas81]

Just wondering to know stamps of which countries you had in those 11 trips within the eligibility period?

In these trips within my eligibility period, most of the stamps were from the country where my parents live and which I visit every 6 months (which I have a residency permit from) but there were also some other stamps of countries where I stopped in transit such as Turkey or UK. Furthermore, I mentioned all details of these stamps in my residency calculator, I explained each and every trip thoroughly.

However, my old passport which the officer checked is full of stamps from different countries and different visas (mainly in Europe) but there were plenty of them and the officer went through them one by one and was making sure if they are within the eligibility period or not and that took too long and then said that they can't find some stamps.

 

[Joshua1]

The above post does not seem relevant, as nowhere in this thread is there talk about someone requesting a CBSA report themselves; we're talking about IRCC getting that information from the CBSA.

But, in case someone else stumbles upon this thread, it is bad advice to (solely) rely on the CBSA report to complete the physical presence calculator. The CBSA report is not guaranteed to be complete (and we know that at least some people ended up dealing with the whole RQ process because they had discrepancies between their actual travel -- that IRCC somehow had found out about -- and the (incomplete) CBSA report they based their physical presence calculation on).

If you're a PR who aims to become a citizen: keep good records for five years. Don't rely on your memory or hope that they'll stamp your passport every time you cross the border. In your journal, include every border crossing, even if it's a quick shopping trip.

Barring that, gather information from multiple sources (email archives, travel bookings, credit card statements, journals, photo albums,...) and yes, possibly the CBSA report, CBP FOIA requests, and any other such sources. Correlate the information in all the sources and only then complete the physical presence calculator. But really, it's going to be faster, easier, and cheaper (if not for you then at least for tax payers) to just keep a good journal during your eligibility period.

It's OK if you don't understand.

 

[btbt]

It's OK if you don't understand.

Please do me a favour and explain, if you would be so kind.

 

[HeroMember]

In these trips within my eligibility period, most of the stamps were from the country where my parents live and which I visit every 6 months (which I have a residency permit from) but there were also some other stamps of countries where I stopped in transit such as Turkey or UK. Furthermore, I mentioned all details of these stamps in my residency calculator, I explained each and every trip thoroughly.

However, my old passport which the officer checked is full of stamps from different countries and different visas (mainly in Europe) but there were plenty of them and the officer went through them one by one and was making sure if they are within the eligibility period or not and that took too long and then said that they can't find some stamps.

Hi,

Were your stamps in English? If not, did they ask you for their translation?

 

[Leonidas81]

Hi,

Were your stamps in English? If not, did they ask you for their translation?

My stamps were in English.