Do I also include transit countries or only destination countries? In almost all cases, transit was only a few hours in the airport and never entered those respective countries. However, the only exception is the US. Every time I traveled somewhere while transiting through the United States, I have had to pass through immigration/passport control and re-check in, even if the next flight was just a few hours away. So, technically, I have visited the United States in this way a few times and also have stamps on my passport to show for it. Should these be included?
Filling travel history
- Thread starter RISHIFERRARI20
- Start date
Thanks! I have another 'silly' question. For travel 'from' and 'to' dates, is it the date I left my country (departure stamp date at immigration) or arrival at the foreign country (arrival stamp date at destination immigration)?
This is what I did (as advised):
- Single country travel: departure stamp date from home country and arrival stamp date in home country
- Multi-country travel:
- first country: departure date stamp from home country (from date), departure date stamp from first country (to date),
- second country: arrival date stamp in second country (from date), arrival date stamp in home country (to date)
Thanks! So far, I followed the previous advice from navinball. Used the arrival and departure dates of the foreign country. Do we know if there is a right or wrong way? Or are both acceptable as long as they are consistent? Maybe I should include a letter of explanation.
When you say "as advised" do you mean advised by CIC/immigration lawyers or other users here?
i was advised by another senior here while i was at your stage.. don't remember who.
however i am NOT disputing what @navinball has said, he is a respected senior here and very knowledgeable.
i have only shared what I did and my application didn't have any issues. the reason the home country stamps are important is for IRCC to have a full account of where you were while away from your home country. remember they may be checking the stamps on your passport and there could be gaps in situations where you left your home / visiting country, had a long transit and landed in your home country or destination a day or two later. while going through your passport and comparing with your travel history. this could cause some delay in processing where it may internally get referred for an expert opinion or response from you.
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Both using arrival/departure stamps of home country & actual arrival/departure in visiting countries are used to list travel history without any issues. As long as you consistent and stick to one, it will be ok.
IRCC doesn't cross check whether your passport stamps line up with your travel history. If they did, they would request stamps of all the passports you've had in the last 10 years, not just current passport. All they want to see is 1. which countries you need a police certificate for and 2. any "red flag" countries that you have travelled to. As such, a difference of 1-2 days is irrelevant.
IRCC doesn't cross check whether your passport stamps line up with your travel history. If they did, they would request stamps of all the passports you've had in the last 10 years, not just current passport. All they want to see is 1. which countries you need a police certificate for and 2. any "red flag" countries that you have travelled to. As such, a difference of 1-2 days is irrelevant.
Thanks, guys! In several of my travels there is indeed a difference of about 2 days. For eg. on a couple of occasions I backpacked in South America and returned to India with transits in 2-3 points (not to mention travelling East, travelling forward in time). But since both of them seem acceptable I think I will stick to using arrival/departure stamp dates on the visiting country throughout and hopefully it works out.