Good day everyone,
In mid-February I was invited to take the test online. Since I was not in Canada, I sent an email and mentioned "Outside Canada" as instructed. They then replied and confirmed that I can proceed to take the test; however,
in that same email they also asked that I have to provide colour copies of all my passport pages upon returning to Canada (including boarding passes and confirmations of arrival and departure). I took the test by end of February and it is now shown as "Completed" in the online tracker. All the rest are still "In progress", except for citizenship ceremony which shows "Not started". So my questions are:
- Is it normal to have the test done while no other earlier step is "Completed" yet?
- What is the next step? Will I be receiving any formal communication soon (any similar experiences)? I have not received any formal confirmation of test results yet...
- Does the fact that they asked me to provide the copies of my passport pages "after returning to Canada" mean that my application is on hold until I return and provide the copies? If yes, do you think it would be a problem if I return to Canada (to provide the copies and do some other things) and then leave Canada again?
- What will happen after I provide the copies? Does this mean an interview is coming? If yes, (and I know it is hard to say) but roughly how long after the copies are sent an interview is arranged? Most importantly, do I have to be physically in Canada for an interview too? Is it online or are they back to physical interviews these days?
Too many questions, sorry for that... Thank y'all very much. Any input helps and I truly appreciate it
1. Since Background / Prohibitions involve other agencies and responses could be delayed, proceeding with test is probably going to be the norm going forward. Based on some other cases here, they are even processing families separately.
2. You'd probably seen an update / ghost update on the tracker, until they are ready to invite you for oath.
3. Oath cannot be taken outside, so if you choose to come back, at the time of Oath you have to confirm again that you are physically in Canada. If you cannot do that, it will be postponed. It is totally up to you to take that call. The reason they want copies after your return, is to confirm that you are in Canada.
4. Some people have reported online interviews. In person interviews are still not happening. Maybe they will start soon as restrictions are being lifted, but you never know. If IRCC finds this process faster, this might as well continue.
5. By now, you would have guessed that there is no trend for processing times. Each case is unique. However, if you were to look at all the cases processed by IRCC in its history, they would follow the normal bell distribution curve, but there will always be outliers like me and a few others here who are still not citizens, despite applying in 2016, 2017 and 2018. I'm from 2018.