July 2019 - Citizenship Applicants

[s23srinivas]

Thanks for the response. It's always good to see some positivity in the air

Nothing hurts to be positive my friend and I just shared my experience if it can help someone then so be it.

 

[jawad87]

Nothing hurts to be positive my friend and I just shared my experience if it can help someone then so be it.

One more question, is it mandatory to take my original IELTS transcript to the interview? I think I submitted the original to IRCC during my immigration application. I just sent them a soft copy of it when applying for the citizenship. That's the only one I have now

 

[s23srinivas]

One more question, is it mandatory to take my original IELTS transcript to the interview? I think I submitted the original to IRCC during my immigration application. I just sent them a soft copy of it when applying for the citizenship. That's the only one I have now

The only documents they mentioned on the notice board for interview were COPR, Passport, Ids like PR, Health card and Driver's license.
I had my original expired IELTS score report handy. But they did not ask for it and they also did not look at the COPR.
So just keep the IELTS report handy if you have it but I doubt they will ask as they already have it from the PR time.

 

[keypad]

You might get lucky and they may not ask to see any stamp translations. If they do, though, it’s not the end of the world. You will just have to get them done and mail it to them which is what I had to do. I’ve just been advising people to do it beforehand so they don’t experience any sort of delay.

Hi @Lulu91
I am also thinking to get my passport stamps translated from Chinese to English. Do you have any references for a certified yet economical translator in or around Surrey, BC?

 

[Lulu91]

Hi @Lulu91
I am also thinking to get my passport stamps translated from Chinese to English. Do you have any references for a certified yet economical translator in or around Surrey, BC?

I’m located in ON so I’m not sure about BC. I used http://www.docsbase.ca/home which other people on this forum recommended. Their prices were very reasonable and I think they can mail you your translations too.

 

[VPCanada]

I didn't know that. My interview is scheduled for tomorrow. It was not mentioned anywhere to get those translated. How am I supposed to do that now?

I didn't know either and they asked me to translate all non English stamps and send them by mail. I did so (translation took 2 weeks) and now my application's status is Decision Made (24 days after interview) Don't worry, everything will be fine.

 

[AshesNdust]

When is your test date?

March 24th

 

[danchomu]

There is no requirement to translate stamps into English! I believe it is only asked from a few people only if there is any kind of concerns the specific officer might have.

My passport had full of stamps of all sorts of countries, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Russian and several different languages..... The officer didn't ask for any extra information... They don't need to READ the stamps, all they are looking for are the DATEs.... They just want to make sure the dates you listed in your calculator are in your passport... and usually, most of the dates of the stamps read the same...


So, I would just advise you to BE CALM and don't worry about extra things that 1-2 people Out of Thousands faced during the application!


Cheers, be positive! No need to Translate!

Daniiar

 

[Lulu91]

There is no requirement to translate stamps into English! I believe it is only asked from a few people only if there is any kind of concerns the specific officer might have.

No one is saying there is a problem if you do not translate your stamps before your interview; if they ask you, you will just have to get them done and mail it after. It is just being suggested that you should have them done beforehand so that if you do get asked you can have them ready and not experience a delay.

I will quote a response from another thread regarding translations:

Good idea.

That said, just for clarification, the instructions do say to have stamps translated . . . not specifically "stamps" but ANY DOCUMENTS not in one of the official languages. This is a STANDARD instruction for most IRCC application processing. It is repeated multiple times in the guide for the citizenship application.

And of course the passport is a document. So, if and when it is submitted or presented for examination, if it has information in it which is not in one of the official languages, it is covered by the instructions that clearly say such documents should be accompanied by a properly authenticated translation of the information that is not in one of the official languages.

Not necessary to do this at the time of making the application (unless there is information on the passport bio pages which is not in one of the official languages) because there is no information submitted (in the copies submitted) that is not in an official language. But for the interview, the whole passport is presented, and specifically so for the purpose of allowing an inspection or examination of the information included in stamped pages.


REASON for CONFUSION:

However, IRCC does not uniformly or consistently enforce these instructions. IRCC does NOT engage in gotcha games, and accordingly all sorts of minor slips and stumbles, and failures to follow the instructions, do not result in extra-processing let alone derail the application process. If there are minor mistakes, inconsequential inconsistencies, small discrepancies, even omissions so long as they are not significant and do not affect eligibility, and IRCC personnel are otherwise readily satisfied with the application and the applicant, many, many times there is NO PROBLEM.

Thus, many have reported not having stamps translated without it being brought up at any time, not at the interview and not otherwise, let alone it being an issue. Me included.

BUT more than occasionally IRCC will enforce the instruction to provide a properly authenticated translation of any document containing information that is not in one of the official languages.

This is one of those aspects of the processing which illustrates why the oft posted logic: "it was OK for me, so it will be OK," is erroneous. That's not how things work. Not even close.

In particular, not all non-official language stamps are created equal. Not all presence calculation related information is created equal. So sometimes the failure to follow the instructions and bring a properly authenticated translation is not even mentioned, no hint of a problem (my experience). Other times the failure to follow the instructions and bring a properly authenticated translation will lead to a request to the applicant to provide this after the interview. For qualified applicants with a solid application, nothing in their application or records to invite concerns or questions, this is usually the worst of it, having to scramble to get a translation soon and submit it, and hope that has very little impact on the timeline. But sure, sometimes this is one more straw-on-the-camel's-back, and sometimes it is an even bigger load than that if there are a lot of stamps needing translation and the applicant's travel history is already inviting questions.

As always, best approach is to follow the instructions. The instructions are to have a properly authenticated translation for ANY DOCUMENT (including passports of course) containing information that is not in one of the official languages.

 

[hi2kunal]

Hello Everyone;

Me and my wife both passed the test yesterday at Mississauga location. Got 20/20 and my wife 17/20. Test was relatively easy. Just read Discover Canada and do sample questions on - yourlibrary.ca.

Interview went very well, it was short may be 5-7 minutes out of which most of the time office takes to validate the IDs. Have not asked us to review the original documents but it is always best to keep all the ORIGINAL documents with you.

1. Passport ( Take current and expired if any )
2. License
3. Health Card.

In my Eligibility period, i have long travel history almost 4 pages long, +40 Trips to USA. I kept the copy of my i94 Travel record with me. I also have submitted the same in my application. Officer has already verified all the trips ahead of the time so no questions asked. He just asked my wife where does she work. Officer was very nice and helpful. He said that Oath ceremony will be held in next 4 to 8 weeks, 8 weeks max. But they are trying to gather everyone for first couple of week of April for Oath ceremony.

Don't sweat much and read Discover Canada , it is only 50 pages. takes couple of hours straight. then do the sample questions. Again, read the discover Canada. You will be set.

Good luck to everyone.

 

[lulykibuly]

Hello Everyone;

Me and my wife both passed the test yesterday at Mississauga location. Got 20/20 and my wife 17/20. Test was relatively easy. Just read Discover Canada and do sample questions on - yourlibrary.ca.

Interview went very well, it was short may be 5-7 minutes out of which most of the time office takes to validate the IDs. Have not asked us to review the original documents but it is always best to keep all the ORIGINAL documents with you.

1. Passport ( Take current and expired if any )
2. License
3. Health Card.

In my Eligibility period, i have long travel history almost 4 pages long, +40 Trips to USA. I kept the copy of my i94 Travel record with me. I also have submitted the same in my application. Officer has already verified all the trips ahead of the time so no questions asked. He just asked my wife where does she work. Officer was very nice and helpful. He said that Oath ceremony will be held in next 4 to 8 weeks, 8 weeks max. But they are trying to gather everyone for first couple of week of April for Oath ceremony.

Don't sweat much and read Discover Canada , it is only 50 pages. takes couple of hours straight. then do the sample questions. Again, read the discover Canada. You will be set.

Good luck to everyone.

what centre? Scarborough?

 

[hi2kunal]

Mississauga, please read the second line of my message.

 

[Anastasia_Y]

Hello Everyone;

Me and my wife both passed the test yesterday at Mississauga location. Got 20/20 and my wife 17/20. Test was relatively easy. Just read Discover Canada and do sample questions on - yourlibrary.ca.

Interview went very well, it was short may be 5-7 minutes out of which most of the time office takes to validate the IDs. Have not asked us to review the original documents but it is always best to keep all the ORIGINAL documents with you.

1. Passport ( Take current and expired if any )
2. License
3. Health Card.

In my Eligibility period, i have long travel history almost 4 pages long, +40 Trips to USA. I kept the copy of my i94 Travel record with me. I also have submitted the same in my application. Officer has already verified all the trips ahead of the time so no questions asked. He just asked my wife where does she work. Officer was very nice and helpful. He said that Oath ceremony will be held in next 4 to 8 weeks, 8 weeks max. But they are trying to gather everyone for first couple of week of April for Oath ceremony.

Don't sweat much and read Discover Canada , it is only 50 pages. takes couple of hours straight. then do the sample questions. Again, read the discover Canada. You will be set.

Good luck to everyone.

I also had a lot of trips to the US and was asked for my I-94 travel history. I was only able to get the latest I94 record, but when I was trying to get my travel history - the site kept telling me that there is no record for the traveler. Called US Border control and was told that this website for I94 is not a reliable source and only my passport can tell me my entry record to the US with stamps. So I had to find all of my flight tickets for 5 years eligibility period, print and mail them to CIC. It's been almost a month and I am still waiting to know if it satisfied their request.

 

[erwinjohn997]

It seems that Calgary Office is very quiet in sending OATH invitation

 

[lulykibuly]

Same goes to Scarborough office.....Nothing on invitation