July 2019 - Citizenship Applicants

[parvisingh]

I wish I applied from Calgary too. Calgary people are killing it.

 

[sumg]

Anyone from the Halton region got the test invite yet?

Oakville resident.
Appl delivered: Jul 11
AOR: Sept 24th
In Process: Nov 4th
Awaiting test invite

I have to mention that we have 1300+ days of presence, but 10-12 short trips in between - could that be the reason for delays?

 

[VPCanada]

Hello Fellow Member,


As many of you are a senior members, I am looking for a piece of advice regarding my Citizenship application. I am Oct 2019 Applicant and received my AOR on 10th January 2020. I want my Citizenship application to be processed quickly as my Father is suffering from Liver Cancer which was diagnosed last year in February. Now his cancer is spread in his entire body and can't be treated or cured. Doctor's asked him to leave the hospital as its no more treatable. For the last 5 months and his condition is getting worse day by day.


What you guys suggest me to do at this point as I don't have any documentary evidence that He is seriously ill and got Cancer except the medication prescriptions from his doctor. I can travel on my Current Passport and get back to my country to spend time with my Father. But I don't know my return date as I want to spend time with my father until he is alive. Therefore I want my application to be processed quickly so I can go back to my home county with the piece of mind from IRCC. I don't want to rush back to write my Citizenship Test and attend the Oath Ceremony.


Can you please let me know how Can I approach IRCC to expedite my application. Your advice will be highly appreciated. I am looking forward to hearing from your side.

Regards,
Amber

Sorry to hear that.
You can give it a try and tell CIC your father's problem and wait to see what CIC can do for you. I suggest to get a letter from your father's doctor to support your reasons.

 

[harry112358]

Burlington resident here.
AOR: June 17th
Application in process: October 2nd.
Submitted fingerprints: October 19th.
Still waiting for test invite.

Oh man!!! I think Hamilton is one of the processing offices in Canada which is skewing the time to 1 year (by taking more than a year by itself)..Damm!!

 

[vishalv]

Oh man!!! I think Hamilton is one of the processing offices in Canada which is skewing the time to 1 year (by taking more than a year by itself)..Damm!!

Yes it is pretty unfortunate. I had figured from previous timelines that Hamilton office would issue a test invite by mid January but I guess I may be wrong.

 

[livingevening]

Ottawa applications seem to be stalled too. Been a month without any activity.

 

[ksuresh24]

We passed our tests on 16th Jan and decision made today on 21st Jan 2020. Please update.

 

[BA2LAMAZ]

Hey guys, what do you guys suggest I do.

So I am travelling in March for 2 weeks and I fear that my test could be scheduled during that time. Is it possible to email CIC and request for an earlier test date?

Quick update: so I raise a CSE last week (Wednesday or Thursday). Got a response from them yesterday saying they have directed my email to the right department. Now, just a few minutes ago, I received another email from Vancouver Citizenship Office stating:

"...your file has not yet been scheduled for a citizenship test. Please note it may take 2 - 6 months after submission. You will receive 3 - 4 weeks notice prior to your scheduled date"

Duh I know . I was asking for an earlier time ugh

 

[sumg]

Quick update: so I raise a CSE last week (Wednesday or Thursday). Got a response from them yesterday saying they have directed my email to the right department. Now, just a few minutes ago, I received another email from Vancouver Citizenship Office stating:

"...your file has not yet been scheduled for a citizenship test. Please note it may take 2 - 6 months after submission. You will receive 3 - 4 weeks notice prior to your scheduled date"

Duh I know . I was asking for an earlier time ugh

I have travel plans for a week in March. I called the call centre and had them add a note that I will be unavailable during that week. Not sure if they will honour that - i thought it was easier this way than having to reschedule if at all the test invite was during that week.

 

[danchomu]

Hello Fellow Member,


As many of you are a senior members, I am looking for a piece of advice regarding my Citizenship application. I am Oct 2019 Applicant and received my AOR on 10th January 2020. I want my Citizenship application to be processed quickly as my Father is suffering from Liver Cancer which was diagnosed last year in February. Now his cancer is spread in his entire body and can't be treated or cured. Doctor's asked him to leave the hospital as its no more treatable. For the last 5 months and his condition is getting worse day by day.


What you guys suggest me to do at this point as I don't have any documentary evidence that He is seriously ill and got Cancer except the medication prescriptions from his doctor. I can travel on my Current Passport and get back to my country to spend time with my Father. But I don't know my return date as I want to spend time with my father until he is alive. Therefore I want my application to be processed quickly so I can go back to my home county with the piece of mind from IRCC. I don't want to rush back to write my Citizenship Test and attend the Oath Ceremony.


Can you please let me know how Can I approach IRCC to expedite my application. Your advice will be highly appreciated. I am looking forward to hearing from your side.

Regards,
Amber

My suggestion would be: Even if you do submit a RUSH Processing request and IRCC does approve it, it will still take you few months to receive your passport/oath and ceremony. You will need to prepare your documents, then submit them, then it will take few weeks for them to look at your request and whether they will approve or not you won't know so definitely will take 2 months. Instead of doing that I would suggest you to go to your father tomorrow and stay there with him, it will take another 3-4 months for you to receive a Citizenship test invite and then another month for you to write it (which you can re-schedule)...

This is what I would've done. Because I don't believe that IRCC will easily approve your request.

 

[anustays]

Anyone who requested for speedy processing of file without any official reasons(listed on their site), do they still transfer ur request to local office? And how and when do you know if they are going to consider ur request?

 

[MR21]

Congrats, @MCDJSS & @MR21.
I've just updated your entries.

Hello Everyone,
Yesterday I got my citizenship test. I am a July 2019 applicant from Montreal.

Anyway, I am writing today to share some of my experiences about the Citizenship test with you guys and I hope It will help to to prepare good and be confident and stay chill!!

Keep your agenda empty for at least 3 hours for the whole test session. On the test day, two things will happen:

• The Citizenship Test
• Citizenship Interview (no matter what you pass or fail)

The Citizenship Test

1. We showed up at the test center 15-20 minutes before the test time (our time was 12.30 pm). They took 20-30 min to make the applicants check-in to the exam hall. They called the couples first and let them in to the exam hall at the very beginning! So, this not a privilege, rather they wanted to make sure that we are not sitting together... LOL . Once everyone is in they started the instruction session and ultimately started the exam around 12.50 pm.
2. The Documents (printed hard copies and original copies) you need to carry with you:
   • The citizenship test invitation letter (you would get over the email)
   • Passports (valid, expired, all)
   • PR card, Drivers License, Medicare card
   • PR Landing paper (COPR)
   • Language Proficiency proof (for us, it was our Masters degree certificate done from Canada)
   • Photocopies of your passports
   • Just in case docs: CSQ (if you are a QC applicant), your job offer letter). These docs are not required but good to have.
3. You absolutely don't need to bring anything like pen or pencil, they provide everything.
4. NO CHEATING is ALLOWED! If they find you cheating, they would immediately make you stop writing the exam and expel. However, there are 4-5 sets of exam to prevent the cheating.
5. Total 20 MCQ Questions, 30 min time. Believe me, it would take max 10 min to finish! You need to make 15 correct answers to pass the exam.
6. Question Pattern:
   • Its STRICTLY forbidden to share the questions by the IRCC! Doing so would bring a very negative consequences.
   • Just read the 'Discover Canada' booklet. Its only 50 pages of reading. You just need to read ONCE! we took the day and night before the exam to read the book. it was about 3-4 hours of non-continuous reading. Important Note: That one-time 3-4 hours of reading made us to score 18/20, but making 20/20 score should need a through 2-3 times reading.
   • We took the practice test from www.yourlibrary[.]ca/citizenship/
   • The question types for me was: 70% fill in the blanks (MCQ, you need to pick the correct answer from the 4 choices for the blank space) + 15% true/false + 15% regular MCQ
   • Questions are pretty straight forward, no confusing answers, if you know the topic then you can find the answer easily, and thats why it takes only 8-10 min to finish.
   • You dont need to memorize the years mentioned in the history section. SO dont take stress!
   • Lastly and Again.... Just give a through reading to "Discover Canada" booklet and you will be able to pass!
7. Once the test is over, they will collect the whole package and start checking the answer right there.
8. They will make you seat at another room and there you will wait for your citizenship interview with an officer. The wait time is roughly 15-40min. Ours was around 20min.
9. The quicker you fish the exam, the quicker they will finish checking your answers and the quicker you will get the interview.

Citizenship Interview

1. No matter what you pass or fail, they would call you for the interview.
2. They call me and my wife together, but took the interview individually, the interview officer was the same. They made my wife waiting outside of the interview room during my interview.
3. Total interview time is 10min, maximum.
4. What happens during the interview:
   • The interview officer would have the citizenship application package open in-front of her (the application and documents we sent on July)
   • She asked me for my PR card, passports, A piece of photo ID which has my signature on it (drivers Lic or medicare card) and COPR
   • She started checking those documents
   • While checking the docs, she was asking me some very basic questions like
     • How long I have been in Canada
     • What was my status when I came to Canada.
     • What do I do for living
     • What is my current address and am I renting or owning
     • Do I file my Canadian taxes regularly or not
     • Where are my parents and are they alive
     • How did I calculate the amount of days I was absent in the "Physical Presence Calculator" document.
     • Do I have a child and where did the child born
   • These are roughly the questions I remember and I thing thats it.
   • She was verifying all the answers those are verifiable from the application.
   • They asked my wife a question : do you know the neighboring area of your area of living and can you name one of them?
   • Anyways, lastly She congratulated me for passing the exam and told me my score.
   • She said, everything is okay with my application and she would be finally taking the decision on my file. I would hear back from IRCC soon about the next step (I believe that the Oath ceremony)
5. You are all done and just walk away from the building!

These are roughly our experience. Dont be very biased from it and then again dont be very stressed! Coz, you may experience 99% same like us.
Good luck for your exam!

 

[BA2LAMAZ]

Hello Everyone,
Yesterday I got my citizenship test. I am a July 2019 applicant from Montreal.

Anyway, I am writing today to share some of my experiences about the Citizenship test with you guys and I hope It will help to to prepare good and be confident and stay chill!!

Keep your agenda empty for at least 3 hours for the whole test session. On the test day, two things will happen:

• The Citizenship Test
• Citizenship Interview (no matter what you pass or fail)

The Citizenship Test

1. We showed up at the test center 15-20 minutes before the test time (our time was 12.30 pm). They took 20-30 min to make the applicants check-in to the exam hall. They called the couples first and let them in to the exam hall at the very beginning! So, this not a privilege, rather they wanted to make sure that we are not sitting together... LOL . Once everyone is in they started the instruction session and ultimately started the exam around 12.50 pm.
2. The Documents (printed hard copies and original copies) you need to carry with you:
   • The citizenship test invitation letter (you would get over the email)
   • Passports (valid, expired, all)
   • PR card, Drivers License, Medicare card
   • PR Landing paper (COPR)
   • Language Proficiency proof (for us, it was our Masters degree certificate done from Canada)
   • Photocopies of your passports
   • Just in case docs: CSQ (if you are a QC applicant), your job offer letter). These docs are not required but good to have.
3. You absolutely don't need to bring anything like pen or pencil, they provide everything.
4. NO CHEATING is ALLOWED! If they find you cheating, they would immediately make you stop writing the exam and expel. However, there are 4-5 sets of exam to prevent the cheating.
5. Total 20 Questions, 30 min time. Believe me, it would take max 10 min to finish! You need to make 15 correct answers to pass the exam.
6. Question Pattern:
   • Its STRICTLY forbidden to share the questions by the IRCC! Doing so would bring a very negative consequences.
   • Just read the 'Discover Canada' booklet. Its only 50 pages of reading. You just need to read ONCE! we took the day and night before the exam to read the book. it was about 3-4 hours of non-continuous reading. Important Note: That one-time 3-4 hours of reading made us to score 18/20, but making 20/20 score should need a through 2-3 times reading.
   • We took the practice test from www.yourlibrary[.]ca/citizenship/
   • The question types for me was: 70% fill in the blanks + 15% true/false + 15% regular MCQ
   • Questions are pretty straight forward, no confusing answers, if you know the topic then you can find the answer easily, and thats why it takes only 8-10 min to finish.
   • You dont need to memorize the years mentioned in the history section. SO dont take stress!
   • Lastly and Again.... Just give a through reading and you will be able to pass!
7. Once the test is over, they will collect the whole package and start checking the answer right there.
8. They will make you seat at another room and there you will wait for your citizenship interview with an officer. The wait time is roughly 15-40min. Ours was around 20min.
9. The quicker you fish the exam, the quicker they will finish checking your answers and the quicker you will get the interview.

Citizenship Interview

1. No matter what you pass or fail, they would call you for the interview.
2. They call me and my wife together, but took the interview individually, the interview officer was the same. They made my wife waiting outside of the interview room during my interview.
3. Total interview time is 10min, maximum.
4. What happens during the interview:
   • The interview officer would have the citizenship application package open in-front of her (the application and documents we sent on July)
   • She asked me for my PR card, passports, A piece of photo ID which has my signature on it (drivers Lic or medicare card) and COPR
   • She started checking those documents
   • While checking the docs, she was asking me some very basic questions like
     • How long I have been in Canada
     • What was my status when I came to Canada.
     • What do I do for living
     • What is my current address and am I renting or owning
     • Do I file my Canadian taxes regularly or not
     • Where are my parents and are they alive
     • How did I calculate the amount of days I was absent in the "Physical Presence Calculator" document.
     • Do I have a child and where did the child born
   • These are roughly the questions I remember and I thing thats it.
   • She was verifying all the answers those are verifiable from the application.
   • They asked my wife a question : do you know the neighboring area of your area of living and can you name one of them?
   • Anyways, lastly She congratulated me for passing the exam and told me my score.
   • She said, everything is okay with my application and she would be finally taking the decision on my file. I would hear back from IRCC soon about the next step (I believe that the Oath ceremony)
5. You are all done and just walk away from the building!

These are roughly our experience. Dont be very biased from it and then again dont be very stressed! Coz, you may experience 99% same like us.
Good luck for your exam!

Wow, thank you for taking the time to share these details. Congrats to you and your wife

 

[robteix]

She asked me for my PR card, passports, A piece of photo ID which has my signature on it (drivers Lic or medicare card) and COPR

First of all, congratulations and thank you for taking the time to detail your experience.

I was super surprised that we need the COPR. I always assumed the COPR was no longer needed once we get our PR cards. I had to go check if I still had ours. Fortunately I did but I got scared for a minute there.

 

[Ba7]

hi, in one of the above discussions, i see that test is given 70% fill in the blanks? is that so?

but i heard test would be all multiple choice ques?

pls correct me if any one knows the test pattern. Thank you