Citizenship test: Collective action required, or expect endless delays, years. Example of the effective lobbyng of people awaiting spousal sponsorship

[Maysubs]

Planning to leave does not necessarily mean leaving forever without ever coming back. I'd rather leave Canada now in order to be closer to my family during the pandemic, and be able to come back later.

That's exactly what I did. I am with family after losing my job in Canada. I am planning to return after winter.

 

[ott-613]

If you had actually read what K wrote and quoted the relevant parts of what I said you would have seen that I actually suggested that PRs who need citizenship to be approved for certain jobs would be the one category of people that warrant the potential expense and risk of exposure of doing in person testing at the moment.

. "There would need to be an assessment as to whether such a high cost and small number of applicants processed would make oral tests a good option. Perhaps this may be an option for situations where urgent processing is needed. For example in situations where citizenship is needed for a person to get a certain job in Canada this might be a good option. If a person wants citizenship as soon as possible to qualify for a visa to work in the US the potential risk of exposure to covid would likely not be worth it. As I have mentioned before having citizenship will not make a large difference in people’s everyday lives for most so determining the urgency of restarting testing will need to be considered. If it won’t impact most people’s everyday lives is it worth the expense of setting up a new system or the risk of exposure of employees or test takers. I understand that people are anxious to receive their "

Thanks for your notes, it actually make difference in my life and as a result my family and kid life. Im seeking opportunity in canada, not US visa. I don’t believe you can assume this situation is not impacting anyone. Employer in private sector cant provide in writing a reason for not accepting me in the job . So requesting urgent processing is not an option.
if i have to send my kid to school, if i have to work on site and still under exposure to the virus, im willing to have the tests as well even if this count as a risk. With safety measures and sanitation i dont see problem to resume the tests!

there is no difference.. life must go on and adapt to the new normal.

 

[piotrqc]

At least, we cannot say that our responsible minister - The Honorable Marco Mendicino-, We cannot say that he does not have a very good sense of humor ... Or simply a very good sense of communication. All is relative. We can take it from both sides ... And in both cases - believe it or not - it's a sincere compliment, really.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319298394008047617

This publication is very recent, and dates from last Thursday, October 22.

 

[arsal385]

At least, we cannot say that our responsible minister - The Honorable Marco Mendicino-, We cannot say that he does not have a very good sense of humor ... Or simply a very good sense of communication. All is relative. We can take it from both sides ... And in both cases - believe it or not - it's a sincere compliment, really.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319298394008047617

This publication is very recent, and dates from last Thursday, October 22.

Agreed the fact. Getting Canadian immigration and citizenship is far easlier than the UK. You cant land UK on PR visa. Everyone has to go through the temporary visa for couple of years then its renewal for another 3 years through strict requirement.
Then after completing 5 years. You may apply for PR which also requires tough criteria and fee of 2500 pounds.
Plus visa fees in the UK are far far expensive than Canada and no chance of refund once they take money out from your account.

 

[piotrqc]

Agreed the fact. Getting Canadian immigration and citizenship is far easlier than the UK. You cant land UK on PR visa. Everyone has to go through the temporary visa for couple of years then its renewal for another 3 years through strict requirement.
Then after completing 5 years. You can apply for PR which is also tough.
Plus visa fees in the UK are far far expensive than Canada and no chance of refund once they take money from your account.

I also agree, I know that most of the other undistrualized countries have harsher policies.

I just wanted to draw attention to the particular timing of this `` reminder '', and I also took the opportunity to salute the communication skills of the Honorable Minister ... It's really very intelligent of him, from a point of view of prestige and communication issues, to recall this fact ... In the current circumstances of de facto blocking of the citizenship procedure because of the stopping of the tests.

 

[ott-613]

I dont think this message has anything todo with negative intentions.

we need solutions for resume the test. What are we waiting for ?

 

[Fawny43]

What happened to the petition that many of us signed, what about the protests in Toronto and other cities around Canada for testing and interviews? No mention of that now.

 

[twrooney]

Sorry, I do not follow what the question or point is. So no, I cannot directly answer whatever these questions are supposedly asking.

Moreover, I am not closely following all the nuances in the interpretation and application of measures intended to protect civil servants and workers during this pandemic. While those are probably related to how the government is approaching matters involving citizenship application processing, so are scores and scores of other factors and circumstances. I do not have the background or knowledge-base necessary to second-guess the logistical decision-making at that level within the hierarchy of government administration.

In general my interaction and transactions with Canadian government personnel have been very positive experiences. I am highly skeptical of many accusations so casually made here. Those accusations are simply inconsistent with what I have observed.

That noted, I recognize that bureaucracies do not adapt well to change and are particularly cumbersome when dealing with fluid, on-going change. And there is of course a significant measure of bureaucratic inertia ever-present in a bureaucracy as big as IRCC. So I am cognizant of the need to put some pressure on those who can influence the operational side of IRCC, to push for the government to take steps toward adapting to existing conditions in order to get processing moving again. It is time for them to get moving.

But again, the problem is rooted in logistics not policy. What is at stake are very lengthy delays versus the delays already wired into the situation.

I disagree with those here who claim everything else, everyone else, has managed to resume near-normal activities. I am not seeing that here. I still cannot get my expired drivers license renewed. I still cannot get my expired vehicle registration renewed. It has been very difficult to get the bloodwork done I need relative to ongoing medical issues (although as with many things these days, in the time of covid-19, being patiently politely persistent, and flexible, generally works well enough to get what is needed even if short of what is wanted). Shopping still tends to be hazardous and subject to vagaries. Just about everyone I know is very much in favour in keeping the border with the U.S. closed for non-essential travel (albeit, I admit some bias relative to that blankety-blank S* hole country, and my sentiments in that regard tend to be significantly more mild than those of many around me).

But all that is increasingly an aside. The situation now is for-sure long term, so it is time for the government to adapt to it and proceed to do what the law mandates. The Charter does dictate that fair procedure is a protected fundamental right here. Timely processing applications for privileges provided by law, like naturalized citizenship, is an inherent and necessary part of fair procedure. Time for the government to get going.

As for the characterization of some comments as insults and ad hominem, there is no need to belabor that. It would please me to see those sorts of comments cease and the discussion focus on ways to have a positive influence toward persuading the government to get processing back on track. After all, the point I was making was that such behavior tends to be counter-productive, tends to hurt the cause. All I am pushing for is to redirect efforts toward effective activism, toward taking actions which will HELP NOT HURT the effort to influence the government to be more proactive in adapting to this difficult situation.

Are you living in Canada? And in which province?

I got my license, health card, car plates within just 2 weeks. Blood work within 2 days.
My friends/family in Calgary, Vancouver, Burnaby, Ottawa, Halifax and Winnipeg have literally no issues.

Are you in extreme remote area??

 

[Daxsis]

Hey guys, an interesting question arises when you send the email to the MPs, I have apparently two, and they are both silent. What to do next?

 

[AshesNdust]

Are you living in Canada? And in which province?

I got my license, health card, car plates within just 2 weeks. Blood work within 2 days.
My friends/family in Calgary, Vancouver, Burnaby, Ottawa, Halifax and Winnipeg have literally no issues.

Are you in extreme remote area??

It depends on what you need done. I’m in Vancouver and myself and friends are having to wait on some medical things. It depends on the backlog and how it pertains to what you are trying to get down. I have to get my MSP card renewed next month, I’ll see how that goes.

 

[ybjianada]

Also, I just want to point out that one of the people quoted/interviewed in that CBC article (Basel) is so handsome!!!. Is Basel in this thread too??

I have a regrettable observation to share with you, friends.

For those who still doubt the existence of systematic racism, of a certain latent xenophobia in Canadian society - Believe me, sincerely, I am sorry to share this with you, it saddens me at the highest level -, and also, case that interests us, for those which doubt the predominance of the ideological implicit character (Never confessed in a clear and direct way), here is a glaring comparative example:

1) The CBC article Kathleen Harris was kind enough to write about our topic of de facto blocking citizenship processes:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid19-pandemic-immigrants-citizenship-1.5720917

2) An article, more recent, dated Friday 23 October concerning spousal sponsors and the evolution of their case. On radio Canada (CBC in French).

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1743452/couples-separes-frontiere-pandemie-espoir-decouragement

Here is my remark: The first CBC article on citizenship tests and the current de facto blocking was perfect and beneficial in more than one respect for us, to make the situation known ... But one detail must have escaped redaction: The examples given in the article are a family of Filipinos + a single Syrian person.

Result: An unbearable wave of racist and xenophobic comments. At the time of writing, there are 1178 comments, almost the majority are hostile to immigrants '' go home if you are not happy, feel happy to be there, you should shut up and be grateful, canadians first! ... and other insults and criticisms of all kinds).

I don't know if it's a coincidence or special attention on their part, but Radio-Canada (as I explained, this is the same public media group. CBC is the national broadcaster in English, Radio- Canad in French, but it is the same structure) paid more attention in the second article on the spoual sponsor.

The article speaks in particular of the case of an Australian of Caucasian type who has found his Quebecoise wife of Caucasian type as well, but also of a Franco-Ontarian (still Caucasian), and of his expectation of Tim, a Texan.

Result: So far there have been a total of 2 comments. Not the slightest hint of racism or hatred in ...

Curious, right? ... Not really.


All this to say one thing: All the arguments that we can give you are not always honest. It is very likely that they are fueled by ideology. So we should not pay attention to it, and cling to the things that make this country a beautiful country: Freedom of speech, freedom to demonstrate, the rule of law, and freedom (and force) of the press.

Let them talk.

On the other hand, if we let passivity take over, these same people hostile to immigrants and their ideology and mentality will take over, and our wait will take years and years, and no one is going to care, if we don't do the right thing ourselves.

, Piotr.

 

[dpenabill]

I got my license, health card, car plates within just 2 weeks. Blood work within 2 days.
My friends/family in Calgary, Vancouver, Burnaby, Ottawa, Halifax and Winnipeg have literally no issues.

If you are saying that services have returned to near normal in most areas that is misinformation.

If you are claiming that the capacity of some people to some times obtain this or that service is representative of access to services these days, in the time of covid-19, that is blatantly misleading. Hundreds of PRs took the oath of citizenship and became citizens during the month of September. That does not mean IRCC has resumed normal citizenship application processing. That does not rebut the legitimate complaints of thousands of applicants whose applications are not progressing, not being processed.

The problem that is being addressed here, that it is time for the government to find a way, to make necessary adjustments, to proceed with grant citizenship application processing despite the difficulties imposed by Covid-19 is REAL.

As for drivers licences, for one example, consider the province of Ontario where more than one in three of all Canadians live, more than the combined population of any other two provinces, the current status is to NOT renew drivers licences unless the renewal can be done online. Indeed, the expiration dates for all Ontario drivers licences and vehicle licence plate stickers has been suspended until further notice. See https://www.ontario.ca/page/serviceontario-covid-19-coronavirus-response#section-1

Where it states:

Products that expired on or after March 1, 2020, have an extended expiry date until further notice. We will notify you when it is time to renew.​

​

This includes your:​

licence plate sticker​

driver’s licence​

health card​

Ontario Photo Card​

accessible parking permit​

many more products​

 

[limits]

I dont think this message has anything todo with negative intentions.

we need solutions for resume the test. What are we waiting for ?

Is there any new information with regards to tests?

 

[ott-613]

Is there any new information with regards to tests?

No . Here you see all of us waiting for news or update from IRCC on this matter. It is frustrating as we dont know the plan, timelines or anything.

Covid will remain for years, I dont see why everything is progressing with safety and cleaning measures except citizenships tests.

how long should we wait more ?

 

[Dana.D]

What happened to the petition that many of us signed, what about the protests in Toronto and other cities around Canada for testing and interviews? No mention og that now.

The protest has been scheduled on 7th of November. All approvals have been obtained. Please check a Facebook page called "Advocates for Resumption of Canadian citizenship test" for more details. They will delete my post if i post links here