Is there a downside to just sending the CIT0502 documents along with the initial application? I see an upside of at least avoiding RQ-lite as these will answer their questions.
I have a lot of travel outside Canada. So I am thinking of sending US i94 travel records, employment letters, apartment lease, health access records, passport pages with translated stamps. Of course, I will place all these at the end and present only the essential documents first in the envelope packet. Maybe even have all these in an envelope of their own.
There has been NO reliable reporting that submitting additional documents with the application will help avoid any RQ-related non-routine processing.
There are occasional anecdotal reports, mostly older reports, claiming it helped, but none which reliably connect the submission of extra documents and the positive outcome . . . after all, the vast majority of applicants are NOT issued RQ, so the fact that RQ was not issued to an applicant who submitted extra documents does not indicate let alone prove they made the difference.
While it is somewhat dated (there are not a lot of reports about RQ in the last several years), there are, in contrast, credible AND some official reports about applicants getting RQ'd EVEN THOUGH they submitted many or even most of the documents that are requested in either the CIT 0520 (RQ-lite) or CIT 0171 (full blown RQ). Several years ago, for example, internal CIC communications obtained through ATI requests included emails in which processing personnel were advised by supervisory personnel that yes, even though an applicant had submitted all the documents requested in a CIT 0171 with the application, the applicant was still required to respond to RQ . . . this was an individual who had an attorney prepare and submit the RQ-related documents with the application, and the internal communications were triggered by an inquiry from the attorney. I wondered, at the time, if perhaps that applicant's RQ was triggered by the inclusion of all those extra documents.
As for those who did submit extra documents and things went smoothly,
this includes me. I submitted copies of my CRA Notices of Assessment with my application. There was never any hint they were even looked at let alone made any difference. Maybe they helped. More likely they had no significant influence. (Yeah, I have too oft been one of those types of people who do not follow their own counsel . . . same with bringing a translation of passport stamps to the interview, I often emphasize that the instructions clearly say that ALL documents containing information not in one of the official languages need to be accompanied by a properly authenticated translation, but I went to my interview without having a couple such stamps translated, knowingly taking the risk, no problem, but I will still emphasize what the instructions say and that it is always better to follow the instructions.)
As for particular documents like record of movement or travel records from other countries, including the US i94 travel records, for applicants who apprehend the prospect that IRCC may request such documents it is prudent to obtain them and hold on to them, perhaps bring them to the interview so as to present them if an opportunity arises . . . or at least to have them to submit immediately if they are requested.
Overall, remember that citizenship application processing is a bureaucratic procedure. Bureaucratic procedures tend to go smoothly when they are entirely ROUTINE. Throwing something non-routine into the pie tends to risk a non-routine reaction.
Otherwise, processing agents have an investigatory role. Like cops. Sniffing for clues. One of the well-known things triggering a cop's suspicion, for example, is the individual who offers more than asked. Likewise border officers. It is oft repeated conventional wisdom: answer what is asked, and do not volunteer more.
