While it may be the case that IRCC is not currently using RQ (CIT 0171) and instead is only issuing the PPQ - QAE with CIT 0205, that is NOT for sure, that is NOT known.
What is known is that the QAE did NOT replace RQ "in the new rules (3 out of 5)." This is known because
the PPQ - QAE has been in use since at least May 2017, some five months prior to when the 3/5 rules took effect and a month prior to Bill C-6 even becoming law. (Currently used version CIT 0205 is the 11-2017 version; participants in this forum who received the PPQ prior to the change in rules report having received the CIT 0205 05-2017 version.)
While it is not absolutely certain, it is almost certain that IRCC will continue to issue a residency/presence questionnaire to SOME applicants based on risk indicators or reasons-to-question-presence. That is, RQ or a version of RQ will continue to be used, triggered by fact-based criteria; that is,
FOR CAUSE. If in fact IRCC is now sending such applicants, selected pursuant to fact-based criteria, the PPQ CIT 0205, rather than RQ (CIT 0171), that can happen at ANY STAGE of processing, and as previously
correctly noted, in the last two to three years this has more commonly happened at the time of the test/interview or following the test/interview.
NOT at the time of IP. While most (BUT not all) of the approximately two dozen forum participants reporting PPQ - QAE since October report getting it proximate IP, NO WHERE NEAR enough time has passed to ascertain to what extent there will be more reports such as the recent one by
@hmilywsx who reports receiving PPQ nearly three months after IP.
There is simply not enough evidence to support the proposition that nearly all applicants who will be issued a questionnaire about their presence will get it around the time the application is put into process. And if the percentage of applicants issued a questionnaire is much less than nearly all, that is NO assurance at all that two months after IP the applicant will not be required to respond to RQ (real RQ, CIT 0171) or PPQ - QAE (CIT 0205). (Note: "most" leaves a lot of room for many who are not among the most. That is arithmetic. Not particularly complicated arithmetic either.)
Perhaps RQ is more popular for you. But frankly I am not familiar with any other applicants for citizenship who consider RQ in any way popular.
That is not what you meant? I get that. Nonetheless, in an effort to better understand how things work and to learn ways to better navigate the process, there is a big difference between RQ CIT 0171 and PPQ CIT 0205, the latter in particular requires applicants to submit a Canadian citizen reference, includes a Finger Print request, and purports to be issued RANDOMLY.
The difference between issuing a profoundly intrusive questionnaire randomly, and issuing it for cause, should not be understated or underestimated. It is huge.
No popularity poll necessary to recognize that it is important to recognize such big differences. In this regard, applicants should be aware what is at stake when they have been issued a presence or residency questionnaire FOR CAUSE. That means there is some question about their qualification for citizenship. That means they need to take the opportunity to respond in a way which will fully meet the burden of proving their qualifications, with proof of presence in Canada high on that list. That means they can not rely on IRCC to give them the benefit of an inference of presence between last date of entry and next exit date, an inference which the vast majority of routinely processed applicants benefit from.
SUMMARY:
It is not certain that RQ has been replaced by PPQ (indeed, there have some reports of RQ (as in actually RQ, not PPQ confused with RQ) since IRCC began issuing PPQ).
To the extent participants in the PPQ - QAE are in fact being RANDOMLY selected, those will come from CPC-Sydney and around the same stage of processing. There are, however, significant questions about whether, despite IRCC's statement in its correspondence claiming it is random, whether the PPQ - QAE really is random; even if it is random, at least one report suggests it is sometimes issued at a later stage. And, moreover, either RQ or PPQ will almost certainly continue to be issued at various stages of processing where risk indicators are identified . . . .such as failure to present all passports at interview; discrepancy between passport stamps and presence calculation; discrepancy between presence calculation and CBSA travel history; suspect address identified; suspect employer identified; inconsistent information about applicant discovered in open source like LinkedIn, among other potential triggers for elevated scrutiny and requiring the applicant to affirmatively prove presence.
In the meantime, there is a lot to learn about how IRCC is going to proceed with those randomly selected for the PPQ - QAE, those who may be selected based on CAUSE, and what future criteria will be employed to trigger elevated scrutiny and demands for more information and documentation from some applicants. If we can be fairly precise, that should help us sort out the limited information available.
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