nubee said:
Hi everyone,
I received my AOR last week. I have a need to travel out of the country for 1-2 months for my wedding but I am afraid to finalize wedding dates as I am not sure of the impact of travel on the process.
Can members advise if it impacts the application process in any manner? Does anyone have any experience with out of country travel?
I so appreciate your help.
Thanks,
Many of us traveled out of Canada during the application process, some of us often, for various reasons and various time periods.
But you are not asking about merely traveling outside Canada. You are, rather, asking about an extended absence.
CIC's only direct advice is that there is no prohibition on traveling but those who will be absent for more than two weeks are advised to inform CIC.
That is more or less a guideline. It is more about scheduling events and making sure notice is timely received. It does not disclose any internal CIC policies or practices regarding applicants who are abroad for extended periods of time while the application is pending. CIC does not disclose how such factors may influence internal processing.
Overall, spending up to 60 days abroad for a specific, temporary purpose, for someone that makes sense for (after all, many immigrants if not most cannot afford to take two months off from their employment), with proper notice given to CIC, is
probably NOT a problem, with emphasis on "probably" meaning not for sure.
There is no definite guideline for what may invite CIC to question the residency of an applicant due to absences after applying, but it is probably reasonable to anticipate that longer than two months or multiple extended absences increases the risk proportionately.
To be clear, for anyone whose complete application was received by CIC as of June 10, there is no disqualification for being abroad while the application is pending. So long as the applicant is qualified, remains in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation, timely responds to any requests from CIC, and appears for events as scheduled, being abroad does not compromise the applicant's qualification. (Applicants applying after June 10, 2015 must, at least in effect, continue to reside in Canada while the application is pending.)
More about leaving-Canada-after-applying:
There are multiple topics in this forum, and in others as well, addressing the issue of
leaving-Canada-after-applying. It is a complex subject because, of course, the circumstances, reasons, particulars, all vary greatly from one individual to another. And CIC is secretive about what inferences it makes, what questions it has even, related to post-application absences.
One month is almost certainly no big deal, not likely to make a difference. If it was soon you might even forego giving CIC notice since you would likely be back before a test/interview event was scheduled (although you want to be sure someone reliable was collecting and examining your mail very regularly, to be sure you had notice in time to respond to any communication from CIC).
Beyond a month . . . well, one could easily say the same, no big deal, about five weeks . . . but what about six? Most people like definitive markers, specific guidelines. There are none. At some point, perhaps three or five months, CIC is likely to perceive the applicant to be
residing abroad rather than just absent from Canada, which seems likely (we do not really know) to invite at least some inquiry if not increased scrutiny. But even this is highly variable since oft times CIC does not even realize there is such an extended absence. Moreover, some reasons for being abroad are more clearly
temporary. Attending a six month university program abroad, for example, is not likely to raise an eyebrow let alone lead to elevated scrutiny or problems. Working abroad for a non-Canadian employer, on the other hand, is more likely to draw unwanted attention as soon as noticed. There are scores of reasons, some more or less clearly temporary, some not easily embraced as credible by a total stranger bureaucrat processing the file, some very likely to raise questions.
And context matters.
If CIC even looks into things beyond the surface. Sometimes they will. Often they do not. We do not even know, with any degree of definiteness, what is likely to trigger a closer look by CIC, just that in some cases an extended absence is related to CIC taking a closer, sometimes harder look at things. Which is no problem for most applicants. Which can be a problem for some applicants, including qualified applicants (not everyone has perfect records to show where they have actually resided the whole time in Canada, for example).
