Hello Everyone,
I had my
Oath of citizenship and ceremony on
September 12 and received my certificate yesterday,
September 14. I did not receive any notification for the certificate, but just logged in for the third time.
Points to note for those who haven't had their ceremony yet
1. Make sure your computer or phone has
Zoom app installed at least a day prior. Test your camera and microphone before hand. Once joined the call, keep the
video ON, but
mic OFF. Tip: Facing the window will make it easier for the officials to verify your IDs.
2. Enter your
seat number as your
name. Nothing else. For family, enter all the seat numbers separated by comma.
3. The Zoom call
doesn't start exactly at the time given,
so don't panic.
Just wait in the virtual lobby. (
I guess we're all already used to waiting). We got a Zoom message
about 15 minutes after the scheduled time, saying they are letting in groups of 20 people. We had
188 people on that day.
4. After a while one official comes online and gives basic introductions, do's & don'ts, etc.,
5. Next, another official creates break rooms for individuals or families. They verify your PR Card, and ID (DL in our case) and asks you to destroy your PR card in front of the camera.
I didn't even get to use my PR card .
6. Then comes the long wait. After about 45 minutes,
The Judge, came online. Thanked the IRCC staff for their wonderful job. Apparently they processed 300,000 applications in 2022-23. It used to be 75,000 before the pandemic. The Judge was very nice and cheerful. After our Oath in English, we were also asked to do that in French and we lip-synched.
7. You get a chance to take a picture with the Judge.
8.
IMPORTANT: Follow the instructions for
Steps to take AFTER the video oath ceremony. This involves signing of the Oath or Affirmation of Citizenship form. You can either print the page, sign, scan, and email it or scan your signature and insert it to the form. (you get instructions for this from IRCC)
I signed electronically since I had all our signatures as a JPG file.
9. While emailing, do not include anything other than this in the email Subject. “
Oath form for [your file number], [your family name]”. If you do, you will get an automated message not really saying whether they accepted it or not. I did not get a confirmation when I emailed, so I emailed the forms again the next day. There was no acknowledgement.
10. Keep checking
https://portal-portail.apps.cic.gc.ca/ for your certificate even though it says it will show up after 2 business days
I'm leaving the
CanadaVisa forum with my message# 101 (Isn't it cool?). The forum has lots helpful members, and it kept me sane while I dealt with the randomness and role-of-dice of the IRCC.
I wish the best to those still waiting for their citizenship, and I hope you get it as soon as possible.
Now, I'm going to deal with BLS India, which is on another level of incompetence, but it won't stress me out too much.
My entire timeline is in the signature.