November 2013 Citizenship Application

[OTTAWA2013]

Hi everyone,
Just wondering if there is anyone waiting for oath in Ottawa? My application was recd on the 12th. AOR recd on February 3, I think. In June I got a letter for Fingerprinting then another one for the test date scheduled on Sept 8. Recd a RQ letter after the test a month ago. Now, I'm waiting for the oath.
During the interview the judge mentioned it's 4 months to oath in Ottawa. So, I'm curious to know from others experience.

HELLO ae03yy

i'm a November 2013 applicant and my test was on sept 8th as well in Ottawa
is there anybody who had test on sept 8th in Ottawa got oath letter yet ?

Good Luck everyone!

 

[hasanipooyan]

Hello everyone

Update from Montreal

I finally got the notice to write the citizenship test on 4th Nov.

here is my timeline:

Application Received : Nov 8th, 2013
In process date : Feb 1st 2014
Receive line disappeared : Jun 20th 2014
Test date : Nov 4th 2014

 

[bidur78]

Hello Ottawa2013,

I had my test on Sept 09,still not oath letter.Ottawa is very slow on oath invitation.We will probably get in December 2014.

 

[xzb33]

I received invitation letter to write the test on November 27

Application Received : Nov 21 2013
In process date : Feb 18 2014
Test date : Nov 27 2014
surrey office

 

[OTTAWA2013]

Hello Guys New Update for Ottawa
*****************************************

New Oath ceremonies in OTTAWA NOV 10,12,13 anyone got invitation letter? {NOV 2013 APPLICANTS}??

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE STILL WAITING!!

 

[Kronz]

Hi everyone,

I am also a November 2013 applicant. I usually just lurked around the forum and read other people's experience, but I thought I would also contribute to the forum which has helped me a lot. I finally took the oath today and became a Canadian citizen

Here's my timeline:
Application mailed: End of November 2013
Application started processing: End of February 2014
"Received" line disappeared: Early May 2014
Received Citizenship Test notice: Early October 2014
Citizenship Test: October 22, 2014 [Scarborough Town Centre]
Oath and Ceremony: October 30, 2014 [Scarborough Town Centre]

I find the whole citizenship application process to be very opaque because there are a lot of questions to which we still do not know the answer. I tried to keep myself calm by focusing on my current work and life, and I often reassured myself that even as a PR, I could still enjoy a lot of things that Canada has to offer (other than voting and being able to visit a lot of countries without a visa, I was still able to do everything else). I don't know if that advice works for everyone, but I think we need to enjoy the present more and try not to worry too much about the future or things we can't control


A few things about my process:

- I studied here in Canada, worked, got my PR, and then applied for citizenship. As a result, I was able to apply for citizenship only after 2 years of becoming a PR (the two years before I was a PR was counted as half). I really cut it close because I applied after only 1096 days, but I REALLY, REALLY made sure that I calculated all my absences correctly (I saved all my plane/bus tickets, used the online calculator, and entered all the dates exactly). I didn't have a problem at all.

- I travelled A LOT during the past few years (Europe, Asia, and trips to the US every few weeks as I was dating someone in Buffalo). I was a bit worried that my extensive travel history would trigger an RQ, however I declared all my absences correctly and kept all my travel documents, so I was fine. I didn't get any RQ.

- I spent about 3 days studying for the exam and took hundreds of practice exam questions online. NONE of the exam questions was identical to the practice exam questions online, however because I was well-prepared, I was able to pass the test (20/20). I would say, make sure to study really, really well. For me, the test wasn't hard because I really was well-prepared.

- After the citizenship exam, everyone went into a big room where each of us was called to speak one-on-one with an officer. My officer assessed my language ability by conversing with me (she asked me about my job), and she verified the documents I submitted. She also went through each stamp on my passport. I had brought a travel history document which I ordered from the CBSA, but she didn't need it (she had the exact same copy as the one I had, so she laughed and said that I was on top of my game). After the one-on-one, we all received a pink slip stating that we would be taking our oath about a week later

I hope I am able to provide some perspective and hope to some of us who are still waiting. I know the feeling, but try not to fixate on it too much, there is still a lot to enjoy out there. And if I can help you answer some questions, I would be happy to help as well!

 

[Kronz]

Have you got any RQ before your test ?
I read as well that people with routine application start to get oath invitation right after the test in Scarborough

I can vouch for this as well.

After my citizenship test (held on October 22, 2014 in Scarborough Town Centre), all of us had to wait in this big room and wait for our turn to be called. Somehow, I was one of the last ones to be called so I was able to overhear other applicants' conversations with the officers.

- One person miscalculated his absences, but because he had allocated some buffer days, the officer said he was still above the 1095 days of physical presence requirement. He got the oath invitation right away.

- One person declared his presence incorrectly as he had missed some gaps. The officer told him to step aside to fix the mistake on the application form, and then he was called up again. I think he got the oath invitation right away too after that.

- There were single applicants and people who applied as a family. All of them came up, spoke to the officers, and they all got the oath invite.

- There were also some people who seemed to have some other issues with their application (I couldn't hear their conversation very well), and these people spent a very long time with the officers. However, I noticed that in the end everyone still got the oath invite.

- Finally it was my turn, and as I've described above, I didn't have any problem at all and received my oath invitation on the spot too.

Now I don't know if everyone at the Scarborough Town Centre was just being super nice that day, but all the applicants I saw got the invite despite some of them having some issues with their application. I think this is a good sign that things are moving faster, and everyone at the Scarborough Town Centre was super nice, very friendly, and accommodating - it was such a wonderful experience!

If you weren't so lucky and didn't receive an invite on the spot, don't worry about it! Perhaps they ran out of spot or were not able to schedule a ceremony right away, so look forward to an invite in the mail. If you THINK you made a mistake in your form, don't worry because I've seen the officers being lenient and allowing the applicants to fix the error during the interview (my point is that it is not the end of the world ). It really felt like the officers really wanted us to succeed in becoming Canadian citizens.

Good luck everyone!

 

[saywisdom]

Congrats Kronz and thanks for sharing your experience...

 

[sazamizi]

Thanks Kronz for your info

Cheers,

 

[Michels]

Hello everyone

Update from Montreal

I finally got the notice to write the citizenship test on 4th Nov.

here is my timeline:

Application Received : Nov 8th, 2013
In process date : Feb 1st 2014
Receive line disappeared : Jun 20th 2014
Test date : Nov 4th 2014

Congratulations!
Did you get an Oath photo to sign and Note that you might pass the Oath with the invite?

 

[OTTAWA2013]

Hello everyone!

Another quick update :- OTTAWA
******************

New Oath ceremony in Ottawa on Monday, Dec 08 ,2014

So 3 days for the month of Nov and Now ONE day for Dec !!!

Please share your update !!!

Good luck to everyone still waiting for test/Oath !!!

 

[Michels]

Test and Oath today in MTL. Am proudly Canadian!
The whole process took 11 month and 5 days

 

[OTTAWA2013]

Congrats.. Michels on your citizenship !!

Fair processing timeline !

wish you the best of luck.

 

[novembre2013]

Test and Oath today in MTL. Am proudly Canadian!
The whole process took 11 month and 5 days

congrats!!!!!!

 

[timbermere]

Folks,

Finally the wait is almost over for me. Got the oath invitation for Dec9.

Applied Nov.2013, test in June 2014 and now comes the time for oath.

Good luck to all those waiting. Thanks!!