I have been Trumped

[asaif]

This is starting to become really ridiculous. As I mentioned earlier, my case is ideal. Both my wife and I spent every single day in Canada either studying or working, and we provided adequate evidence for this. We also provided complete school records for our 3 children showing day-by-day attendance. Also, entry-exit records from both Canada and the US were given during the interview, though not required. There isn't a single factor that might raise concerns regarding our integrity, no police report, previous misrepresentation, fraud, etc.

However, we got both RQs and a CIT0520 forms. I was shocked when I got them and thought that was some kind of a joke. We sent them back filled with more documents proving our residency claim: Tax returns, TA forms, entry-exit records from 4 countries (one of them I've spent 10 hours in during my travel), health care history, rental and mortgage agreements, university transcripts and certificates, etc. It's been more than 3 months now and nothing happened. I'm pretty sure that the workload at the CIC office is very light since they already processed most of the applications on the 3-years systems and are processing a few on the new system. For some reason, they don't want to look into our application. I ordered two ATIPs and both are showing the same thing, the application is on-hold for a mysterious reason.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I'm smelling something fishy here, something beyond normal bureaucratic inefficiency and carelessness. I'm under the impression that I have been targeted by the visa officer for my ethnic and religious background. This is the only plausible explanation I could think of for the prejudice I've been facing. Maybe the CO wants to keep me in limbo forever because she doesn't like my kind. Maybe my success in study, work and life in general annoyed her. Maybe if I was a taxi driver, not a university scholar, she would be more forgiving.

However, I'm not going to apologize for what I am or what I have accomplished. I'll pursue what is a right for me: fair and equitable treatment just like everyone else. If my suspicions are proven right, I'll escalate the matter to the highest levels. My question now is: whom shall I contact first? I know that I can contact the MP of my constituency, but she can't do much at this stage. I want someone who oversees the COs and can investigate the matter in depth to figure what is going on. Maybe some director at the CIC itself, any suggestions?

 

[ambient2]

This is starting to become really ridiculous. As I mentioned earlier, my case is ideal. Both my wife and I spent every single day in Canada either studying or working, and we provided adequate evidence for this. We also provided complete school records for our 3 children showing day-by-day attendance. Also, entry-exit records from both Canada and the US were given during the interview, though not required. There isn't a single factor that might raise concerns regarding our integrity, no police report, previous misrepresentation, fraud, etc.

However, we got both RQs and a CIT0520 forms. I was shocked when I got them and thought that was some kind of a joke. We sent them back filled with more documents proving our residency claim: Tax returns, TA forms, entry-exit records from 4 countries (one of them I've spent 10 hours in during my travel), health care history, rental and mortgage agreements, university transcripts and certificates, etc. It's been more than 3 months now and nothing happened. I'm pretty sure that the workload at the CIC office is very light since they already processed most of the applications on the 3-years systems and are processing a few on the new system. For some reason, they don't want to look into our application. I ordered two ATIPs and both are showing the same thing, the application is on-hold for a mysterious reason.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I'm smelling something fishy here, something beyond normal bureaucratic inefficiency and carelessness. I'm under the impression that I have been targeted by the visa officer for my ethnic and religious background. This is the only plausible explanation I could think of for the prejudice I've been facing. Maybe the CO wants to keep me in limbo forever because she doesn't like my kind. Maybe my success in study, work and life in general annoyed her. Maybe if I was a taxi driver, not a university scholar, she would be more forgiving.

However, I'm not going to apologize for what I am or what I have accomplished. I'll pursue what is a right for me: fair and equitable treatment just like everyone else. If my suspicions are proven right, I'll escalate the matter to the highest levels. My question now is: whom shall I contact first? I know that I can contact the MP of my constituency, but she can't do much at this stage. I want someone who oversees the COs and can investigate the matter in depth to figure what is going on. Maybe some director at the CIC itself, any suggestions?

Hi Asaif,
I'm pretty much in the similar situation (waiting for my oath since June 2015 ).
I had same concern about discrimination and prejudices, however at this point I can give you a few advices from my own experience.
First, there is no way to request an interview with your CO or anyone above, I have asked my MP to do this, they say CIC doesn't have this procedure and they won't make an exception for me (if they want to make an interview it's not a problem, but that ain't working both ways).
Second, go and talk to your MP, then talk to McCallum. after this there is an option (which I jumped over) is to contact Case Management Branch (Ask your MP about it).
If everything is still quiet, go and see the lawyer.
Advice that my lawyer gave me is, don't throw around accusation about unprofessionalism, discrimination, sexism and xenophobia until the minister's lawyer will respond to your lawyer's requests with some indications to that prejudices, or some attempts to hide them.
Try to talk to your lawyer about filing for Mandamus, and if there is some indication for discrimination, that can be another lawsuit against CIC apart from Mandamus.

 

[frankwhyte22]

This is starting to become really ridiculous. As I mentioned earlier, my case is ideal. Both my wife and I spent every single day in Canada either studying or working, and we provided adequate evidence for this. We also provided complete school records for our 3 children showing day-by-day attendance. Also, entry-exit records from both Canada and the US were given during the interview, though not required. There isn't a single factor that might raise concerns regarding our integrity, no police report, previous misrepresentation, fraud, etc.

However, we got both RQs and a CIT0520 forms. I was shocked when I got them and thought that was some kind of a joke. We sent them back filled with more documents proving our residency claim: Tax returns, TA forms, entry-exit records from 4 countries (one of them I've spent 10 hours in during my travel), health care history, rental and mortgage agreements, university transcripts and certificates, etc. It's been more than 3 months now and nothing happened. I'm pretty sure that the workload at the CIC office is very light since they already processed most of the applications on the 3-years systems and are processing a few on the new system. For some reason, they don't want to look into our application. I ordered two ATIPs and both are showing the same thing, the application is on-hold for a mysterious reason.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I'm smelling something fishy here, something beyond normal bureaucratic inefficiency and carelessness. I'm under the impression that I have been targeted by the visa officer for my ethnic and religious background. This is the only plausible explanation I could think of for the prejudice I've been facing. Maybe the CO wants to keep me in limbo forever because she doesn't like my kind. Maybe my success in study, work and life in general annoyed her. Maybe if I was a taxi driver, not a university scholar, she would be more forgiving.

However, I'm not going to apologize for what I am or what I have accomplished. I'll pursue what is a right for me: fair and equitable treatment just like everyone else. If my suspicions are proven right, I'll escalate the matter to the highest levels. My question now is: whom shall I contact first? I know that I can contact the MP of my constituency, but she can't do much at this stage. I want someone who oversees the COs and can investigate the matter in depth to figure what is going on. Maybe some director at the CIC itself, any suggestions?

Sorry to hear about your case but sadly there is nothing you can do. CIC officers are like powerful gods. They do what they like regardless because no one questions their actions and they are not held accountable for anything. They can dump your file for 2 years..nothing will come out of it. Even a lawyer will tell you to wait before they can file anything. Canada is no different from a dictatorship country esp with CIC. You never know what is truely going on with your file no matter how much notes you order.

My advise is to focus on life and forget about CIC...health is wealth. One could easily suffer hypertension and high blood pressure because CIC ..your race determines alot with CIC and I am a victim myself but what can I do?

 

[sfaisalm]

Hi ambient2,

How much Lawyer charged fee for? and what progress do you have? I did test also last august and waiting since then, nothing different in ATIP.

Thanks

SM

 

[quasar81]

Sorry to hear about your situations. Anybody can be stuck in those. Bad process at CIC.

I recommend to take an appointment with John McCallum in Ottawa and go see him "as a group" together. Tell him your story. Call his office and say we are a group of xyz number of people and would like to personally meet Minister McCallum to showcase our stories. Fly to Ottawa and tell. Bit costly, but tells the minister something needs to be done. IMHO.

Best wishes.

 

[HighFive]

Sorry to hear about your situations. Anybody can be stuck in those. Bad process at CIC.

I recommend to take an appointment with John McCallum in Ottawa and go see him "as a group" together. Tell him your story. Call his office and say we are a group of xyz number of people and would like to personally meet Minister McCallum to showcase our stories. Fly to Ottawa and tell. Bit costly, but tells the minister something needs to be done. IMHO.

Best wishes.

You have to write an email to request a meeting with Minister. you can't do it over the phone, we have learned that a week ago when we sent an email to minister@cic.gc.ca.
The best way is to get him in Markham, he is MP of Markham-Thornhill, that is 10 minutes driving away from my house.
P.S.: Also fella on a phone (minister's office) said you can get an appointment with the minister over email and only if they reply on it. So looks like chances to get reply and appointment are very slim.

 

[dpenabill]

Both my wife and I spent every single day in Canada either studying or working, and we provided adequate evidence for this.

. . . Also, entry-exit records from both Canada and the US were given during the interview . . .

. . . We sent them . . . entry-exit records from 4 countries (one of them I've spent 10 hours in during my travel)

I am confused. Did you spend every day in Canada or did you travel?

Applicants who report spending the entire time in Canada appear to be targeted for elevated scrutiny similar to those who traveled frequently. For obvious reasons unless the applicant is a refugee or it is otherwise an individual for whom it obviously makes sense there was no travel at all.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I'm smelling something fishy here, something beyond normal bureaucratic inefficiency and carelessness. I'm under the impression that I have been targeted by the visa officer for my ethnic and religious background. This is the only plausible explanation I could think of for the prejudice I've been facing.

Anticipating that you have been targeted for elevated scrutiny is an easy inference. Why is the far more difficult question.

While IRCC, like any huge bureaucracy, suffers its share of inefficiency and carelessness, that is not the likely reason for your delay. Nor is being targeted based on ethnic or religious background (there are occasions when individuals do encounter and suffer such prejudices, but for a long time now these appear to be limited to decisions by particular individuals, and are fairly rare).

Moreover, while it appears you have been targeted for elevated scrutiny that is no indication that there is any inappropriate prejudice involved. Remember, of course the process specifically discriminates; thus, for example, there is overt discrimination against applicants with a criminal history, prior immigration problems, lack of official language ability, sketchy residency histories, associations or connections to other individuals or organization implicated in previous investigations, among many others, almost any aspect which might reflect on the applicant’s history, credibility, residency, and so on. In other words: way, way too many possibilities to consider as potential issues.

And, some are unfortunately dragged into the elevated scrutiny randomly as part of a quality control check; which is unfair to those individuals but it is a typical part of bureaucratic processing.

Moreover, there are scores and scores of incidental circumstances which can elevate the risk of more extensive scrutiny, background checking, and residency or presence related inquiries if not investigations. Contrary to what many in the forums seem to believe, those who apply with a small margin over the minimum, for example, are more likely to be dragged into a residency case or (for applicants since June 2015) a presence case.

Again, impossible to sort through all the possible reasons why a particular individual, who does not otherwise know himself or herself why (the vast majority will, if they objectively look at their circumstances), will get dragged into the residency case mire of additional inquiries and lengthy processing delays.

Note, for example, it can be something so incidental as the postal code for the applicant’s address: if an address in that area has been used in the past by applicants working with certain identified consultants, that alone can trigger a fraud investigation (not just residency case scrutiny). This should not affect many (other than those who have themselves used one of those consultants on some occasion, even if many years ago), but does affect some. And of course those affected will feel abused and hard-done-by, but it is of course IRCC’s mandate to fully enforce the immigration and citizenship law and in doing so to screen all applicants for citizenship, and to follow and resolve all questions. Unfortunately coincidence happens and more than a few are sometimes affected no matter how innocent.

. If my suspicions are proven right, I'll escalate the matter to the highest levels. My question now is: whom shall I contact first? I know that I can contact the MP of my constituency, but she can't do much at this stage. I want someone who oversees the COs and can investigate the matter in depth to figure what is going on. Maybe some director at the CIC itself, any suggestions?

As I said, it is highly unlikely that there is any illegal discrimination taking place.

Otherwise, I have not followed the details of your situation so I do not even know, for example, when you applied or how long it has been overall. While overall timelines are decreasing, there are still many cases pending for applications made as long ago as 2011, even 2010. The vast majority of those cases, though, have already gone to a CJ hearing or are scheduled for a CJ hearing.

My sense is that applicants should begin to take affirmative action to push their cases if it has been more than 30 to 36 months since they applied.

If in that range, beyond the usual case inquiry and ATIP procedures, the next step would be to contact a quality lawyer to review your case, including all the paperwork submitted so far. Where to go from there depends in large part on how long the process has been to date, and especially how long since IRCC last took any action on it. A formal inquiry from a lawyer may be sufficient to get things moving, or perhaps it will take a lawyer’s beginning the preliminary steps toward seeking Mandamus . . . or in some cases, actually making the application for Mandamus. This is not something an individual should do for himself or herself, even if law-trained.

 

[vop]

This is starting to become really ridiculous. As I mentioned earlier, my case is ideal. Both my wife and I spent every single day in Canada either studying or working, and we provided adequate evidence for this. We also provided complete school records for our 3 children showing day-by-day attendance. Also, entry-exit records from both Canada and the US were given during the interview, though not required. There isn't a single factor that might raise concerns regarding our integrity, no police report, previous misrepresentation, fraud, etc.

However, we got both RQs and a CIT0520 forms. I was shocked when I got them and thought that was some kind of a joke. We sent them back filled with more documents proving our residency claim: Tax returns, TA forms, entry-exit records from 4 countries (one of them I've spent 10 hours in during my travel), health care history, rental and mortgage agreements, university transcripts and certificates, etc. It's been more than 3 months now and nothing happened. I'm pretty sure that the workload at the CIC office is very light since they already processed most of the applications on the 3-years systems and are processing a few on the new system. For some reason, they don't want to look into our application. I ordered two ATIPs and both are showing the same thing, the application is on-hold for a mysterious reason.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I'm smelling something fishy here, something beyond normal bureaucratic inefficiency and carelessness. I'm under the impression that I have been targeted by the visa officer for my ethnic and religious background. This is the only plausible explanation I could think of for the prejudice I've been facing. Maybe the CO wants to keep me in limbo forever because she doesn't like my kind. Maybe my success in study, work and life in general annoyed her. Maybe if I was a taxi driver, not a university scholar, she would be more forgiving.

However, I'm not going to apologize for what I am or what I have accomplished. I'll pursue what is a right for me: fair and equitable treatment just like everyone else. If my suspicions are proven right, I'll escalate the matter to the highest levels. My question now is: whom shall I contact first? I know that I can contact the MP of my constituency, but she can't do much at this stage. I want someone who oversees the COs and can investigate the matter in depth to figure what is going on. Maybe some director at the CIC itself, any suggestions?

Asaif,

That is really unfortunate and sorry to hear that. I'm almost certain that your application will be approved by the end of the year because I think I heard during the second hearing of the bill that the citizenship backlog would clear by the end of 2016 but then again, they had said that April 2016 was their previous target and they missed that so cant say for sure. Which was the local office where you did your interview if I may ask ? I've heard certain ones harass more than others. The rules have been increasingly inconsistently inconsistent since the conservatives got their full majority in 2011. While I do read that the minister is trying to fix some of these issues, unless we really see concrete changes, you are still left to filing court challenges etc in which case, your case would be approved more quickly for sure because the CIC wouldnt want to lose in court. But it costs money and that too, quite a bit.

I've read a few stories of people filing court challenges and within days, the petition is approved and that was during the conservative years(2014, 2015). Judges are quite strict in ensuring the CIC has no excuses for legit cases. But many of them were waiting for 2-3 years. Meeting with the minister is helpful but i know they are inundated because IRCC is considered sadly not well run(to put it mildly). If 80-90% of constituent issues that an MP sees are those related to this department, that is definitely not the fault of the applicant but a problem with the dept.

We can hope they fix it because significant change has to be made but in the meantime, if you do think you can afford it, a court challenge will surely get your case expedited or at least reach out to a lawyer and they can give you an option.

 

[quasar81]

Asaif,

That is really unfortunate and sorry to hear that. I'm almost certain that your application will be approved by the end of the year because I think I heard during the second hearing of the bill that the citizenship backlog would clear by the end of 2016 but then again, they had said that April 2016 was their previous target and they missed that so cant say for sure. Which was the local office where you did your interview if I may ask ? I've heard certain ones harass more than others. The rules have been increasingly inconsistently inconsistent since the conservatives got their full majority in 2011. While I do read that the minister is trying to fix some of these issues, unless we really see concrete changes, you are still left to filing court challenges etc in which case, your case would be approved more quickly for sure because the CIC wouldnt want to lose in court. But it costs money and that too, quite a bit.

I've read a few stories of people filing court challenges and within days, the petition is approved and that was during the conservative years(2014, 2015). Judges are quite strict in ensuring the CIC has no excuses for legit cases. But many of them were waiting for 2-3 years. Meeting with the minister is helpful but i know they are inundated because IRCC is considered sadly not well run(to put it mildly). If 80-90% of constituent issues that an MP sees are those related to this department, that is definitely not the fault of the applicant but a problem with the dept.

We can hope they fix it because significant change has to be made but in the meantime, if you do think you can afford it, a court challenge will surely get your case expedited or at least reach out to a lawyer and they can give you an option.

As suggested, please form a group and pitch to meet the Minister 'together' to show how life's are being impacted. Needs efforts and money, but worth it.

 

[keesio]

I am confused. Did you spend every day in Canada or did you travel?

I am also confused. If he stayed everyday in Canada and never left, then yes I am really shocked that his application is being delayed as such. But it sounds like that is not the case.