Hi everyone, I'd like to share my experience with the citizenship application and the whole process... I have followed many posts on here and it was the main source of information, strength and patience throughout, so thank you! I also apologize for posting this a few months late but better late than never and hopefully my experience can be helpful to others!
Here it goes! (Sorry for the long post)
I applied for citizenship soon after I completed the required days (applied with 1099 days) and left Canada due to other commitments and to pursue my Masters degree elsewhere, note during all the time below I did not return to Canada due to various reasons until you get to the part where I say I returned... I was planning my return to be around when I would get called for the oath, again due to many personal reasons.....
Anyways... waited as usual and received AOR on 27 Sept 2021.... while I was in my masters I received the test and fingerprint requests... did the test as "outside Canada" and submitted fingerprints through an agency ...more and more waiting later I get an email from Saskatoon office on 13 July 2022, requesting copies of every page of all passports for past 5 years... had some stamps translated and sent copies as requested the next day!
Now this is when things started to get interesting, after more and more waiting ... 9 September 2022 I receive another email this time from the West citizenship office asking me again to submit my passport copies... very strange, I replied within the hour, attached the copies and referenced that I had already sent this before to the Saskatoon office and even referenced the officer's name... no reply ofcourse other than the auto-reply.... I called the call center and asked what's going on they said that my passport copies were already received since July and uploaded and they're confused why I got another request and they would send an internal memo about this... ofcourse never heard back and just more and more waiting.......... on 22 September 2022 I get another email from the West office asking me yet
again to .... you guessed it! Submit my passport copy once again LOL..... but this time the letter had something different....
it asked if I am abroad (which I was) to indicate the date I left, and when I am expecting to return, or if I had returned, to send proof that I returned such as boarding pass and/or entry stamp... and to also send the copies of my passport and a valid provincial ID!
After reading so much here about how processing sped up for people who were abroad as soon as I returned I took their last email as a clear sign of them saying 'when are you returning? otherwise we wont process your application'... so I booked a ticket, replied to the email with the passport copy, date of leaving and attached my ticket indicating my return on October 1.... as soon as I landed I replied to their email again with my boarding pass and entry stamp.... ofcourse as usual no reply or anything just the auto-reply.... October 7th I get an email from West office again, this time its the processing officer themselves asking me for **drum roll** passport copies again "as requested in previous email" ..... what you know I replied right away and sent as required, this is now the 4th time!..... this time the officer replied right away saying he reviewed my passports and found some "discrepancies" and asked if I had anything to say to explain them... the discrepancies were about stamps on my passport and related to my reported absences... ofcourse I got really scared as I was 100% sure I had every single entry and exit and counted my physical presence down to the hour!!.... I looked at my passport and found that he just mistook one stamp for an arrival into a country I visited when it clearly said departure... and the other one he mistook a stamp that said : 3 / Jan 2018 for 3
1 Jan 2018, i.e he mistook the "/ " for a "1" this would have put me waaay out of the physical presence 1095 number... needless to say I was terrified! ...... anyways I clarified this, sent detailed close up pictures and a looong email with a super detailed explanation on the same day 07 October 2022 and asked if he could confirm he received everything... as usual radio silence
...
so I sent another follow up email on 12th October and got a reply on the 17th October saying he reviewed all my explanations and emails and he is moving my file forward for oath ceremony scheduling!!! MASSIVE relief, you have no idea the weight that was lifted off my shoulders specially because I returned so suddenly and everything was everywhere and I was just a mess... very thankful to my best friend who helped me immensely and let me stay at his apartment this whole time !
Fast forward 10 days later I got the oath email on the 27th October and the ceremony was scheduled for 16th November.... I needed urgent processing as I had to travel by 1st December, so I booked my flight ticket and replied to the oath email as instructed and indicated the urgency request and attached my ticket.... no reply but on the 16th I did the oath and became a very happy Canadian citizen! The agent mentioned they received my urgent request and accepted it and will be shipping my certificate "urgently" .... I re-iterated the urgency request when sending the signed oath form on 16th November (same day) back once again and waited.... on 21 November I again emailed the oath office asking for an update on my certificate and whether it's been shipped (I read here that offices sending urgent certificates usually give you the tracking number) ... the officer replied 2 days later (now its 23 November 2022) saying she will let me know when she has concrete info to tell me.... I lost hope that I would receive my certificate that week or next because it takes at least 1.5 weeks to reach from Winnipeg to Toronto and I needed to travel by December ..... so I had an idea !!
.... I was even surprised at what happened next!....
I replied to the officer asking if I could collect my certificate in-person if I flew to the Winnipeg office early on the 24th November.... the officer was super nice and said that I absolutely could and I should just let them know when I'm coming!! Immediately I booked a ticket with Flair airlines from Toronto to Winnipeg and notified them I would collect in the morning ..... departed Toronto 24 November 2022 at 6am, arrived at 8am in Winnipeg (was super cold)... took a cab to the IRCC office and after some back and forth with the security guard downstairs I went up and the guard was sitting there waiting for me with my certificate in a nice envelope with a Canadian flag pin and a nice folder and welcome to being a citizen inside!!!
I checked my information on the certificate and needless to say just sat in the waiting chairs and breathed a BIG sigh of relief.... now it was time to relax a bit get some food and catch my flight back on the same day to Toronto and arrived at 11pm!
The final push was to get the passport, so early on the 25th November (Friday) I went to the Passport office on 74 Victoria St in Toronto, and waited in line, I reached the office at 6:30am and there were about 10 people ahead of me (I prepared my forms, references, guarantor, photo, etc since I got the oath date!) ... I showed my ticket (my ticket was on the same day 25th November... paid the fees plus the extra 110$ for urgent processing and to my luck the officer said come collect your passport at 2pm the same day!!! I was pleasantly surprised about that! They called my guarantor and I collected my fresh passport that same day ...... but ended up delaying my flight as I was just exhausted!!! Slept like a baby that day and went out to celebrate with friends!
Overall it was an absolute rollercoaster of a ride with lots and lots of unnecessary complications and stress! I'm glad it's now over and I wish you all get to experience this very soon! I hope sharing my story helps, if there's anything I'd say is just persevere and keep pushing and it will all work out eventually!
Type: Online application
Location: Mississauga
Physical Presence Days: 1099 days
Application: Single
Application sent: 29 June 2021
AOR: 27 September 2021
Test invite: 02 March 2022 (SCR office)
Fingerprints requested: 02 March 2022 (VCR office)
Test date: 22 March 2022
1st time Passport copy request: 13 July 2022 (Saskatoon office)
2nd time Passport copy request: 09 September 2022 (West office, assuming this is also VCR office)
3rd timePassport copy request: 22 September 2022 (West office)
4th time Passport copy request: 22 September 2022 (West office)
Decision made: 17 October 2022
Oath letter: 27 October 2022 (Manitoba & Saskatoon office)
Oath ceremony: 16 November 2022 (Manitoba & Saskatoon office)
Certificated received (flew and picked up at Winnipeg office): 24 November 2022
Applied and received passport same day (in person): 25 November 2022
