Delay in Oath after Test - Residency Questionnaire
- Thread starter fpatel123
- Start date
IT IS TRUE
RQ FAQ
What: The Residence Questionnaire is a five page document sometimes used in Canada's citizenship process. It is issued when Citizenship and Immigration Canada officials are concerned that the applicant has not met the residency guidelines which make a permanent resident eligible to apply for citizenship. The RQ has been issued with increasing frequency since the May 2012 issuance of CIC Operational Bulletin 407. The RQ demands extensive documentation.
Who: The vast majority of RQ recipients are people of colour, often from the Mideast or South Asia. Stay-at-home mothers, the un- or underemployed, consultants and freelance workers are also targeted. Those who frequently travel, or who misreport absences on their original citizenship applications are also subject to the RQ.
Numbers: The CIC does not publicly report RQ statistics, but Nicholas Keung's Toronto Star article on the RQ quotes the CIC as stating that approximately 11,000 RQs were issued between May 7 and Sept. 28, 2012. This means that during that period the CIC issued RQs at a rate of approx. 76/day, 2292/month or 27,882/year. This suggests that RQs are sent to around 12.5% of applicants. Additionally, documents received through Canada's Access to Information Act show that the CIC's Vancouver and Montréal offices had RQ rates of 30% and 50% respectively for at least part of 2012.
[size=10pt][size=10pt]Timeline: There are no official processing benchmarks for Residence Questionnaires. Some CIC Helpline agents estimate a timeline of 48 months for the citizenship applications of RQ recipients will move on to the next stage of the citizenship process. Others estimate that it will take 35-37 months from the time of initial application until citizenship is granted or refused. None of these responses are traceable to any publicly available documentation. There are no official timelines, no recourse and seemingly very little parliamentary oversight once someone gets an RQ.[/size][/size]
RQ FAQ
What: The Residence Questionnaire is a five page document sometimes used in Canada's citizenship process. It is issued when Citizenship and Immigration Canada officials are concerned that the applicant has not met the residency guidelines which make a permanent resident eligible to apply for citizenship. The RQ has been issued with increasing frequency since the May 2012 issuance of CIC Operational Bulletin 407. The RQ demands extensive documentation.
Who: The vast majority of RQ recipients are people of colour, often from the Mideast or South Asia. Stay-at-home mothers, the un- or underemployed, consultants and freelance workers are also targeted. Those who frequently travel, or who misreport absences on their original citizenship applications are also subject to the RQ.
Numbers: The CIC does not publicly report RQ statistics, but Nicholas Keung's Toronto Star article on the RQ quotes the CIC as stating that approximately 11,000 RQs were issued between May 7 and Sept. 28, 2012. This means that during that period the CIC issued RQs at a rate of approx. 76/day, 2292/month or 27,882/year. This suggests that RQs are sent to around 12.5% of applicants. Additionally, documents received through Canada's Access to Information Act show that the CIC's Vancouver and Montréal offices had RQ rates of 30% and 50% respectively for at least part of 2012.
[size=10pt][size=10pt]Timeline: There are no official processing benchmarks for Residence Questionnaires. Some CIC Helpline agents estimate a timeline of 48 months for the citizenship applications of RQ recipients will move on to the next stage of the citizenship process. Others estimate that it will take 35-37 months from the time of initial application until citizenship is granted or refused. None of these responses are traceable to any publicly available documentation. There are no official timelines, no recourse and seemingly very little parliamentary oversight once someone gets an RQ.[/size][/size]
i called the momtreal office and they told me that they have a deadline until Janaury 2014 to schedule me for an interview with a judge. i passed my exam. i forgot to declare a trp to USA , short trip, i believe that is the reason for RQ. if it will be how they said, by Janyary 2014,that adds up to 35 months from the date of application....why do you guys say 48 months?
I hope that statement is true made by montreal office....but we shall see about that...it is 48 months. still wish you all the bestflybest1 said:i called the momtreal office and they told me that they have a deadline until Janaury 2014 to schedule me for an interview with a judge. i passed my exam. i forgot to declare a trp to USA , short trip, i believe that is the reason for RQ. if it will be how they said, by Janyary 2014,that adds up to 35 months from the date of application....why do you guys say 48 months?
Ack.OKK said:Numbers: The CIC does not publicly report RQ statistics, but Nicholas Keung's Toronto Star article on the RQ quotes the CIC as stating that approximately 11,000 RQs were issued between May 7 and Sept. 28, 2012. This means that during that period the CIC issued RQs at a rate of approx. 76/day, 2292/month or 27,882/year. This suggests that RQs are sent to around 12.5% of applicants. Additionally, documents received through Canada's Access to Information Act show that the CIC's Vancouver and Montréal offices had RQ rates of 30% and 50% respectively for at least part of 2012.
[size=10pt][size=10pt]Timeline: There are no official processing benchmarks for Residence Questionnaires. Some CIC Helpline agents estimate a timeline of 48 months for the citizenship applications of RQ recipients will move on to the next stage of the citizenship process. Others estimate that it will take 35-37 months from the time of initial application until citizenship is granted or refused. None of these responses are traceable to any publicly available documentation. There are no official timelines, no recourse and seemingly very little parliamentary oversight once someone gets an RQ.[/size][/size]
I am the author of the website quoted above. While I make every effort to keep my website up-to-date and cite official CIC or ATIP sources for statements, sometimes information (such as my rough estimate of the rate of RQ issuance), becomes outdated with the release of new information. Unlike other websites associated with law practices or immigration consultants, my website is not a commercial enterprise and generates no revenue, so I can't dedicate the amount of time to it that I would like to.
This particular passage was authored during the period when the CIC call centre was quoting 48 months and updated when the CIC posted the 25 month routine vs. 35 month non-routine processing timelines:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/cit-processing.asp
and this ATIP release: http://residencequestionnaire.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/cic_rq_delays_apr2013.pdf
which states 35-37 months from receipt of application for 80% of non-routine (RQ, etc) cases.
Given that the new CIC timeline is based on the time period between October 2011 and September 2012, which largely predates the OB 407 RQ glut, I suspect it is of limited usefulness to current RQ cases. I updated my website from "there is no timeline after RQ" to "there is no reliable timeline after RQ".
There is a lot of uncertainty in the citizenship process in general and the RQ process particularly. Please do not allow your emotional state or decisions to be dictated by the "fact" of a particular timeline. These timelines are not fact. They are exceedingly rough estimates with no public information to back them up. Feel free to be frustrated about the uncertainty of the timelines though, because uncertainty is the crux of the issue we are facing.
I have updated the quoted website passage.
Buddy no one on this forum is trying to prove you wrong nor no one is wishing 48 months on your file. Your arguments are purely based on your experience which is not concluded yet...You are solely speaking on the general info you have retrieved from CIC website.flybest1 said:what about this, it's from their website:
Routine citizenship applications
Non-routine citizenship applications
25 months
35 months
The info we all had posted here is based on the experience of thousands of applicants. THERE IS NO DEFINITE TIMELINE ON RQ.
I personally know several people who received RQ and their applications are still in a limbo.
I wish you all the very best and hope your application is approved before all of us.
I'm glad to hear you've contacted your local MP to see if they can facilitate any communication between you and the CIC and put pressure to speed up the glacial citizenship processing.fpatel123 said:Hi eileenf,
Yes, I went to the local MP office several times. I was unable to have a face to face meeting so far. But his PA met me and has told me that we will contact CIC and let you know.
Any suggestions?
The Canadian Council of Refugees has good suggestions about contacting MPs in reference to another subject, but the advice is applicable to many issues: http://ccrweb.ca/en/contact-your-member-parliament-mp-bill-c-11
Some of their suggestions are:
1. Gather a group of 2-3 people if possible. At least 1 should be affected by the issue at hand. If 1 is a citizen who can vote, that is great as well.
2. Be clear and precise.
3. Send a thank you letter after your visit to follow up.
I would continue contacting them, to see if putting a bit of pressure on the MP can help at all. Depending on what you find out, you may want to pursue legal action (writ of mandamus) with the help of a qualified lawyer.
I cleared my citizenship test today but the interviewing officer gave me the residency questionaire form. The reason for this she said that even though I may be in canada from 2009 but as my H1B was still valid till 2010 so I need to prove my residency in Canada.How much time it may take to get citizenship? Has anyone gone through the same case before and what
is his/ her experience.
is his/ her experience.
After reading all these, made me surprised. I got a test in 2010, at that time I did not have my passport with me because it expired(2009), and was sending to my home country to renew 3 weeks before recieving a test letter. So at the desk of immigration, after the test an agent asked me to describe myself when I came to canada and what I've done so far. Well, I came to Canada in 2006 to 2010(test date) never exit the country(canada) and been working since 2007. Finally he asked me for my passport, then I told him everything like I wrote above. Last thing he asked me to fax him all pages of passport, I did not fax him but I told my sister in my home country to scan all pages of my passport and send me by email after that I printed every page and sent them to that agent(ATT: Mr. XXX) by mail(canada post). 2 months later I received a letter to take the oath and citizen(card and certificate).
Now my question are:
1- will immigration ask me again for my residence in canada(period)?
2- will they need to check my old passport again?
I'm not scared if they need to check my old passport but I don't want to waste my time to the judge or court because since I came to canada I traveled only one time to california for 2 weeks in 03-2013 with my canadian passport. I'm employed in quebec at the same company since 2007 till present(10-2013). It's been 7 years already that I've never seen my family, friends, my home country.
Now my question are:
1- will immigration ask me again for my residence in canada(period)?
2- will they need to check my old passport again?
I'm not scared if they need to check my old passport but I don't want to waste my time to the judge or court because since I came to canada I traveled only one time to california for 2 weeks in 03-2013 with my canadian passport. I'm employed in quebec at the same company since 2007 till present(10-2013). It's been 7 years already that I've never seen my family, friends, my home country.