Middle Eastern immigrants applying for citizenship....update here

[PR2008]

Hi There,

We are applicants who moved from Middle East and applied for Citizenship Last year in July 2011. We appeared for test in May 2012 and were not asked for RQ but officer did ask us to submit transalation of visa pages on our current and expired passports.

If you have lived or worked in Middle East then I suggest to carry translation of visa pages on your passport when you go for citizenship test.

Translation can be done at your nearest community centre.

I hope this info will help fellow members of this forum.

Cheers

 

[newcomer]

Hi There,

We are applicants who moved from Middle East and applied for Citizenship Last year in July 2011. We appeared for test in May 2012 and were not asked for RQ but officer did ask us to submit transalation of visa pages on our current and expired passports.

If you have lived or worked in Middle East then I suggest to carry translation of visa pages on your passport when you go for citizenship test.

Translation can be done at your nearest community centre.

I hope this info will help fellow members of this forum.

Cheers

Thanks for the info!

Wish you a speedy oath .

 

[Pharo]

Hi all,
I am Canadian Citizen from ME background. My wife and daughter applied for citizenship on:
07/2010
05/2011 did the test and get an RQ at same time
To date 06/2012 No response

1) does it help to involve MP in this process?
2) We moved to US a year ago for work purpose, will this affect the application in anyway? When we applied my wife and daughter have already completed their due time in Canada. Should we consider return to Canada?
3) what is the average timeline to get a response, it has been a year and we were told it might take up to 3 years?

Thanks for response

 

[newcomer]

Hi all,
I am Canadian Citizen from ME background. My wife and daughter applied for citizenship on:
07/2010
05/2011 did the test and get an RQ at same time
To date 06/2012 No response

1) does it help to involve MP in this process?
2) We moved to US a year ago for work purpose, will this affect the application in anyway? When we applied my wife and daughter have already completed their due time in Canada. Should we consider return to Canada?
3) what is the average timeline to get a response, it has been a year and we were told it might take up to 3 years?

Thanks for response

Well though I am not an expert regarding RQ cases still as per my little knowledge :

1)It doesnt hurt to involve MP but it might be of little help.
2)Well tht could be a point of concern as if you need to see the citizenship judge in future ,it will be very hard for you to prove that you intend to reside in Canada for good, in future.
3)Usually the timeline varies,the cases which do not see a citizenship judge are usually decided relatively sooner than the ones who need to see a judge, but in every case it takes atleast 1+ year.

Hope it helps.

P.S. Regarding your 2nd question, I think "Leon" will be the best person to answer it.

 

[basharar]

I don't think you have to show intentions to reside in canada, the law is very clear, if you have spent 3 years at the time of applications then its NO ones business what you do after that or what your INTENTIONS are....

 

[newcomer]

I don't think you have to show intentions to reside in canada, the law is very clear, if you have spent 3 years at the time of applications then its NO ones business what you do after that or what your INTENTIONS are....

You might be right but as I have mentioned earlier I am no expert and my knowledge is based on inputs from different applicants . I have read experiences of applicants who found it hard to convince the judge ,when different members of family were residing in different countries.May be Leon could shed some more light on it.

 

[us2yow]

Generally speaking, I sincerely hope they are not now 'newly but sneakily' engaging in some form of profiling. I would like to think not.

I wonder if a much larger / very high percentage of recent applicants are getting RQs as almost an unwritten rule. Good luck to us all. We all already have challenges of finding gainful employment and now even the world economies are slowing down. Fair enough that we need to work somewhere (especially if the Canadian economy which was always conservative has now become very risk averse and does not have much to offer qualified foreign professionals).

Good Luck to everyone !

 

[SusanG]

Hello everyone,

I had my citizenship test today, but you would not believe what happen to me there.

when the test time came they called all applicants to the test room, we sat on chairs and they started to call each one to see the papers, After 4 hours of waiting the officer called us (me and my husband) we were the last one (they usually calls family members together). They were running out of time. the officer saw our PR card, health card, driver licence and then she ask for the passport. at that time the people in the room started to move chairs to prepare for the written test, other officer said to her "are you going to see their passport?" she looked at the people in the room and said will no I will not let the judge do it and she gave as a RQ out of the blue without even asking us any question, just because she wanted to finish. I have to mention that her self and other officers spent more than half an hour with each applicant reviewing their document. I was shocked. we try to ask why she kept saying that is OK it is just going to delay the process !!! I can't believe such a thing can happen here in Canada, I'm still in shock!!! we came here in 2007 and my husbent is working, and paying taxes. I'm studying in the University we never thou

 

[SusanG]

Sorry .. we've never been afraid of getting RQ!!! I'm really disappointed and wanted to share my story with you (

 

[Leon]

Sorry .. we've never been afraid of getting RQ!!! I'm really disappointed and wanted to share my story with you (

Go to your member of parliament and complain about this incident. Things will only change if enough people complain about it. When I took the test, they did look at everybody's documents but not even nearly for half an hour each and the process took nowhere near 4 hours. After all, your application was already approved, that is why you were called for the test.

 

[sbg92]

As always, good advice Leon!

Hi SusanG,

If time constraint at their end was the only reason they gave you an RQ, then it's really not fair at all.
The case officer should have prioritized checking the passport, after all, you already submitted photocopies of other required documents. Only the pages of the passports need to be closely scrutinized as to entry/exit stamps, right? If they need to verify the original versus what you previously submitted, surely, it would not take 30 minutes.

More or less, they would know how long a routine verification process would take. It's a given that they should not schedule more applicants than they can handle for any given period of time.

Well, just saying... assuming that the case officer really just ran out of time. Since we are not privy to all the details, we can only hope that the RQ was warranted. Otherwise, your experience is definitely bad news to other applicants who are yet to write their tests.

 

[Mary Chad]

Well i also felt that officer's are not professional at least at Glen Erin office, Susan better that they gave you RQ on spot and not wasted your time, in my case
my interview was cleared and after 5 months they sent me RQ, i did filed the formal complain with MP, you should too, this way they might change their practice...

 

[Standing-by]

This is a good attempt to provide heads-up to the people who are having similar background and share information

Here is my timeline for reference,

Became Canadian PR in Mar 2004, went back to UAE and returned

Landed in Canada for Permanent Residence Jan 25, 2007
Went to US on a business for 3 days in Oct 2009, wife didn't leave Canada at all since Jan 2007
Applied for Canadian Citizenship Feb 01, 2010, claiming the request completion of the days as of Jan 31, 2010
Received booklet for exam in Nov 2010
Appeared for written test on Feb 22, 2011 and the citizenship officer handed me and my wife the RQ

The reason was that our UAE residency showed the expiry date of Jul 2007, although it was cancelled and had the cancellation stamp but she did not understand Arabic stamp. I have submitted my employment record, health records, records from border control, my children's school records, Notice of assessments, copied of passport with attested translations of the stamps. I did not had my credit card or bank statements so did not submit them. However I the documents that I have submitted are enough to prove our residency.

How long does it usually take in the situations as I am?

Just FYI one of my colleagues, he does not have any history of working in the ME, got the RQ after his test. He submitted the papers he had, not all listed in the RQ, and got his oath within a few weeks of submission of his papers

 

[Mary Chad]

There is no timeline how long will it take for RQ'ed applicants to get oath invite, but this is really good
if your colleague got his oath in few weeks

 

[RAEDSARA]

HELLO,

I CHALLANGE ANYONE IN THIS FORUM TO BE THE LONGEST CASE I EVER HEARD OF. I LANDED IN THE SUMMER OF 2005, APPLIED IN THE SUMMER OF 2008, TESTED IN SPRING OF 2009, GOT A RQ IN FALL OF 2009 AND STILL WAITING. IT WILL BE EXACTLY 3 YEARS SINCE MY RQ IN 3 MONTHS. DID EVERYTHING IN THE BOOK TO KNOW WHAT TAKING THEM THAT LONG. VISITED MY PREVIOUS MP TWICE, MY CURRENT ONE SEVERAL TIMES. VISITED A LAWYER AND A CONSULTANT. WROTE LETTERS. LEFT THE COUNTRY FOR 19 DAYS IN 2007 AND THEY ARE DOCUMENTED. LIVING IN THE SAME PLACE FOR OVER 7 YEARS. I HAVE A WIFE AND 3 CHILDREN ONE OF THEM WAS BORN HERE. THEY ALL GOT IT IN THE SAME MONTH I GOT MY RQ BUT THEY WERE IN A SEPARATEFILE. I FIGURED THAT I WOULD APPLY ALONE SINCE THEY CAME AFTER ME BY FEW MONTHS THEY GOT IT IN 10 MONTHS. I RUN MY OWN SUCCESSFULL BUSINESS MY CHILDREN ENROLLED IN SCHOOLS AND EVEN MY MP AND CONSULTANT ARE PUZZLLED. ACTUALLY MY MP SAID THAT IAM THE LONGEST CASE HE GOT IN HIS OFFICE. I LIVED IN KUWAIT IN MY CHILDHOOD UNTILL HIGH SCHOOL. BEEN IN THE USA SINCE 1987 TILL 2005 SINCE I LANDED IN BETWEEN LIVED 2.5 YEARS IN JORDAN.
I THINK IAM A GOOD CITIZEN I MIND MY OWN BUSINESS AND BUSY 24/7 BETWEEN MYSELF, MY FAMILY AND MY BUSINESS. I HAVE BEEN DEPRIVED THOUGH FROM TRAVELLING ALONG WITH MAY FAMILY WHENEVER THEY GO IN THE LAST FEW YEARS SINCE MY PASSPORT HAVE EXPIRED. I FEEL ALIENATED AND SINGLED OUT FOR NO OBVIOUS REASON. I KNOW MANY PERSONS WHO GOT IT IN FEW MONTHS EVEN THOSE WHO GOT RQ EVENTUALLY GOT IT WITHIN A YEAR. MY COMBINED WAITING PERIOD NOW IS AS FOLLOWS:
7 YEARS 2 MONTHS SINCE LANDING(86 MONTHS)
4 YEARS 1 MONTH SINCE APPLICATION(49 MONTHS)
2 YEARS 9 MONTHS SINCE RQ( 33 MONTHS ).
I WELCOME ANY COMMENT, FEEDBACK OR SYMPATHY.