Decision Made/ Good or Bad News?

[ea91]

Hey everyone, I have been following this forum for a long time but didnt have the opportunity to become a member since now.
I have studied and lived in Canada almost 6 years but had to return to my country of origin after graduation because of family business problems.
My Citizenship application was 11 days short.
This is what my timeline looks like


1- We received your application for Canadian citizenship (grant of citizenship) on June 13, 2013.
2- We sent you correspondence acknowledging receipt of your application(s), and a study book called Discover Canada on June 13, 2013.
3- We started processing your application on September 3, 2013.
4- We sent you a notice on May 7, 2015 to appear and write the citizenship test on May 28, 2015 at 4:00 PM. The notice you will receive by mail will be your official confirmation of your appointment. If you have not received this notice prior to the date of your scheduled appointment, please contact us.
5- We sent you a notice on December 8, 2016 to appear for an interview with a citizenship judge on January 9, 2017 at 9:00 AM. The notice you will receive by mail will be your official confirmation of your appointment. If you have not received this notice prior to the date of your scheduled appointment, please contact us.
6- A decision has been taken on your application. You should receive correspondence within the next three months.

I have been reading in the forum that this is usually good news but I am not sure.
What do you think the chances are? Will the call centre give any further information?

Best regards,
E

 

[simoncanada]

Hey everyone, I have been following this forum for a long time but didnt have the opportunity to become a member since now.
I have studied and lived in Canada almost 6 years but had to return to my country of origin after graduation because of family business problems.
My Citizenship application was 11 days short.
This is what my timeline looks like


1- We received your application for Canadian citizenship (grant of citizenship) on June 13, 2013.
2- We sent you correspondence acknowledging receipt of your application(s), and a study book called Discover Canada on June 13, 2013.
3- We started processing your application on September 3, 2013.
4- We sent you a notice on May 7, 2015 to appear and write the citizenship test on May 28, 2015 at 4:00 PM. The notice you will receive by mail will be your official confirmation of your appointment. If you have not received this notice prior to the date of your scheduled appointment, please contact us.
5- We sent you a notice on December 8, 2016 to appear for an interview with a citizenship judge on January 9, 2017 at 9:00 AM. The notice you will receive by mail will be your official confirmation of your appointment. If you have not received this notice prior to the date of your scheduled appointment, please contact us.
6- A decision has been taken on your application. You should receive correspondence within the next three months.

I have been reading in the forum that this is usually good news but I am not sure.
What do you think the chances are? Will the call centre give any further information?

Best regards,
E

why you was in interview

 

[ea91]

because I returned to my country of origin right after graduation. apparently the officials didnt think I want to live in Canada.

 

[dpenabill]

Hey everyone, I have been following this forum for a long time but didnt have the opportunity to become a member since now.
I have studied and lived in Canada almost 6 years but had to return to my country of origin after graduation because of family business problems.
My Citizenship application was 11 days short.
This is what my timeline looks like


1- We received your application for Canadian citizenship (grant of citizenship) on June 13, 2013.
2- We sent you correspondence acknowledging receipt of your application(s), and a study book called Discover Canada on June 13, 2013.
3- We started processing your application on September 3, 2013.
4- We sent you a notice on May 7, 2015 to appear and write the citizenship test on May 28, 2015 at 4:00 PM. The notice you will receive by mail will be your official confirmation of your appointment. If you have not received this notice prior to the date of your scheduled appointment, please contact us.
5- We sent you a notice on December 8, 2016 to appear for an interview with a citizenship judge on January 9, 2017 at 9:00 AM. The notice you will receive by mail will be your official confirmation of your appointment. If you have not received this notice prior to the date of your scheduled appointment, please contact us.
6- A decision has been taken on your application. You should receive correspondence within the next three months.

I have been reading in the forum that this is usually good news but I am not sure.
What do you think the chances are? Will the call centre give any further information?

Best regards,
E

You will receive notice of the outcome soon.

This forum has seen few reports from applicants in precisely this situation. Very, very few actually.

I might guess the outcome, but it would be a total guess.

In contrast, you can let us know how this actually goes. You should know rather soon. Please share.

 

[ea91]

dear dpenabill,
what is your guess on the outcome?

and yes I will share the result.

 

[bbssmm88]

dear dpenabill,
what is your guess on the outcome?

and yes I will share the result.

Hi
What happened during your hearing with the Citizenship Judge? This could help forecast the outcome.....Have the judge indicated that he/she would approve your application, have you seen any positive indications during interview, how long was the interview with the judge? Have the judge seemed satisfied with your explanations/documents..etc?.....those kind of things could help predict the decision if you are in a hurry to know......Good luck.

 

[ea91]

hi bbssmm88,
he was kind of satisfied. he obviosly asked many questions regarding my parents, why they left etc. my lawyer was also connected via telephone and she said it was "as smooth as possible".
the interview was around 1.5 hours and he gave me 30 days for submitting all the documents as well as my letters.

thanks

 

[bbssmm88]

hi bbssmm88,
he was kind of satisfied. he obviosly asked many questions regarding my parents, why they left etc. my lawyer was also connected via telephone and she said it was "as smooth as possible".
the interview was around 1.5 hours and he gave me 30 days for submitting all the documents as well as my letters.
thanks

Hello,

This seems encouraging, lets hope that the decision is favorable....I really wish you a happy conclusion of this long trip. We are all here going through pretty much same worries and waiting; my thoughts are with you. Good luck

 

[dpenabill]

what is your guess on the outcome?

Your lawyer is a far, far better and more reliable source. Which is not to say the lawyer knows or is right, but the lawyer's opinion is worth a lot more than mine (for many reasons . . . even if I guess right and the lawyer is wrong, the lawyer's opinion was still more reliable).

There is no where near enough information to venture a guess any better than I could guess the outcome of a coin toss.

That is not to say the odds are equal to a coin toss (fifty-fifty odds). In terms of abstract probabilities, the odds probably lean toward a negative outcome more than a positive one. But at this stage abstract probabilities are irrelevant. How this is going to come out is largely if not entirely already determined. The outcome depends on a number of things, many things already largely determined before the hearing started, a number of things you and your lawyer know far better than you could describe, and of course on the particular thinking of the Citizenship Judge making the decision.

Odds lean toward the negative because these days a Citizenship Judge hearing is more or less a sort of automatic appeal. Basically there has already been a negative decision but the applicant gets a chance to go to a hearing before a CJ and an opportunity to persuade the CJ that despite IRCC's negative decision the applicant deserves to be approved for a grant of citizenship.

In particular, before you were scheduled for a hearing with a Citizenship Judge, a Citizenship Officer had already made a negative decision, already concluded you did not submit sufficient evidence to prove you met the residency requirement, and submitted a referral to a Citizenship Judge outlining the reasons why (in the Citizenship Officer's assessment) your application does not prove you met the residency requirement. (You do not say so, but if you were "11 days short" you must have applied prior to June 11, 2015 and therefore are subject to the 3/4 residency requirement rather than the current 4/6 physical presence requirement.) That is why and how your case ended up before a CJ.

But that still does not illuminate much about how it will actually turn out in your specific case. Many, many short-fall applicants (under the older 3/4 rule) have been granted citizenship. Having the help of a lawyer should have improved your odds by a lot.

In any event, what will make a difference is now done. The-cake-is-in-the-oven, so to say. I have some sense about how anxious you probably are, how worried about the outcome you are, but there is not much to be gained by spinning your wheels trying to guess what it will be.

And because of that I would be reluctant to wrestle with the details in an effort to make a better guess, because that would be futile, more aggravating than informative, still highly speculative, and you really should learn what the outcome is relatively soon.


In or outside Canada much since applying?

One factor, at the risk of giving that factor too much weight, might be worth examining and considering: to what extent have you remained in Canada since applying.

If you have not had an extended absence from Canada since you applied, that does not help illuminate your odds much, though it may improve your odds some. It would mean, however, if denied citizenship on this application you should be able to apply again soon and probably get through the process more successfully and much more quickly.

But if in contrast you have left Canada to reside abroad for an extended period of time since you applied, particularly if your absence from Canada has been enough you would not qualify under the current law if you applied now, my sense is this is a factor which could have a big negative impact. Your lawyer might say this is something the CJ is NOT allowed to consider when assessing whether you met the residency requirement, and your lawyer would be right about that. But it still looms as a huge factor in what impression you made with the CJ and how the CJ likely weighs those factors the CJ can consider.

It is kind of like asking whether or not the applicant is a person who deserves to become a Canadian citizen. There is no qualifying requirement that the applicant be someone who meets a deserves-to-be-a-citizen standard. But the impression the applicant makes in this regard can have a big, big impact on the decision a CJ makes.

Again, that is just one, isolated factor among many, so I do not mean to give it too much attention. In a way, I offer this observation about this one factor to illuminate how complicated it can be given that there are many other factors, more than a few that are more complicated than this one, and many that can influence the impact of other factors which in turn makes weighing their significance all that much more complicated and difficult and largely speculative.

That analysis may be helpful when a PR is deciding when is the right time to apply for citizenship (way too many think that this question is answered by looking at the calendar, based on the date the residency or presence requirement is met), or when the applicant has been issued RQ and is deciding what additional evidence and supporting documents to gather and submit, or when the applicant is preparing to attend a residency/presence hearing (like the CJ interview/hearing). But you are already past all that. Again, the-cake-is-in-the-oven, so to say.

I hope this comes out well for you.

 

[tinam]

Hey everyone, I have been following this forum for a long time but didnt have the opportunity to become a member since now.
I have studied and lived in Canada almost 6 years but had to return to my country of origin after graduation because of family business problems.
My Citizenship application was 11 days short.
This is what my timeline looks like


1- We received your application for Canadian citizenship (grant of citizenship) on June 13, 2013.
2- We sent you correspondence acknowledging receipt of your application(s), and a study book called Discover Canada on June 13, 2013.
3- We started processing your application on September 3, 2013.
4- We sent you a notice on May 7, 2015 to appear and write the citizenship test on May 28, 2015 at 4:00 PM. The notice you will receive by mail will be your official confirmation of your appointment. If you have not received this notice prior to the date of your scheduled appointment, please contact us.
5- We sent you a notice on December 8, 2016 to appear for an interview with a citizenship judge on January 9, 2017 at 9:00 AM. The notice you will receive by mail will be your official confirmation of your appointment. If you have not received this notice prior to the date of your scheduled appointment, please contact us.
6- A decision has been taken on your application. You should receive correspondence within the next three months.

I have been reading in the forum that this is usually good news but I am not sure.
What do you think the chances are? Will the call centre give any further information?

Best regards,
E

Hello ea91
Congratulations! I am not an expert but almost certain that this is positive news on your behalf IF you indeed sent all the supporting documents. IF they had any other concerns that begged more clarity, you would receive a letter asking for more documents. I truly believe that its positive news! Best wishes!!

 

[ea91]

thanks everyone!
I will keep you updated- hopefully with good news!

 

[rrajendra]

Hello ea91,

My two cents:

At this point of your citizenship application process, the person who can make the best educated and informed guess is YOU!
Not your lawyer, nor any forum member!

You can reminisce how your rendezvous with the citizenship judge unfolded, Was the body language positive? How were the questions asked? was he/she reacting favorably to your answers? Did he/she appear convinced etc, etc... Only you are privy that information, therefore, make a guess yourself!

That said, let me guess why your application ended up in front of the judge: It's not because you went back to your home country after graduation, Many people leave Canada after making PR landing, not a red flag! The question is why you went back? and, you have answered that question in your first message, family business! That raises a question, did you mention/imply that in your citizenship application? If your answer is yes, CIC has a reason to believe that you have a strong financial and familial ties with your home country, that is a flag! If you think you have convinced the judge that you have no strong familial/financial motives to go back to your home country, I guess you are good....

 

[Fatsy]

Hi ea91

What was the outcome. Was it app or rej. My status is similar to yours. Would like to know what to expect.