Previous Passports beyond the relevant 4 years for Canadian Citizenship Test

[Toronto86]

I obtained my Canadian PR in 2004 but did not fulfill the citizenship criteria but was eligible to renew my PR which I did in 2009 as I lived in Canada for more than 2 years out of the 5 years of PR.

I applied for citizenship in 2014 and have my citizenship test in couple of weeks. In the citizenship letter, it says that I need to take all my previous travel documents to the citizenship test. It does not say specifically to bring only passports for the relevant four years.

My question is:

Do I only need to show my Passports for the relevant four years (since 2010) preceding the application ?
OR
Do I need to show ALL my passports since I made my first passport (20 years ago) ?
OR
Do I need to show ALL my passports since becoming a Canadian PR (2004) ?

I am in possession of the original Record of landing from 2004.

Was anyone of you asked to show passports beyond the relevant 4 years when you went for citizenship test ?

 

[thecoolguysam]

I think you just need the passports for the 4 year relevant period.
They basically need your passports held in past 4 years to check the stamps (entry/exit) to calculate your residency days and to match with your online residence calculator.

However, if you have your old passports too then take that too. It does not really hurt

 

[moti]

relevant passport would be the one from 2010 to 2014, 4 years prior to applying for citizenship ! if your previous passport covers this period then its good, but if there are 2 passports that cover this period you need to bring both to your test.

 

[shahmad]

Hi Guys,

I have a slightly relevant question.

I travelled to an arabic country in March 2011 (Visa is in English and clearly states that Visa is valid for 30 days only) But the exit/entry stamp is in arabic. I landed in Canada as PR in August 2011 and I applied for citizenship in Dec 2014. Now I am a bit confused, do I have to get that stamp translated or not ? Will interviewing officer be bothered about that stamp because it was before I became PR OR will he count backwards 4 years (Dec 2010 to Dec 2014) and ask for the translated stamp ?

Please advise.

 

[thecoolguysam]

Hi Guys,

I have a slightly relevant question.

I travelled to an arabic country in March 2011 (Visa is in English and clearly states that Visa is valid for 30 days only) But the exit/entry stamp is in arabic. I landed in Canada as PR in August 2011 and I applied for citizenship in Dec 2014. Now I am a bit confused, do I have to get that stamp translated or not ? Will interviewing officer be bothered about that stamp because it was before I became PR OR will he count backwards 4 years (Dec 2010 to Dec 2014) and ask for the translated stamp ?

Please advise.

Usually translations are only requested when you get Residence Questionnaire.
Your situation is bit tricky. If in case, RQ is issued, the CIC officer will ask you for info between August 2011 to December 2014. However, the CIC officer may ask you for info between Dec 2010 to Dec 2014). It totally depends upon CIC officer.

Anyhow, get the translation done in case you get a RQ and if you don't get the RQ, keep the translation handy for your interview, in case if the CIC officer asks about it during the interview. Good luck!

 

[shahmad]

Usually translations are only requested when you get Residence Questionnaire.
Your situation is bit tricky. If in case, RQ is issued, the CIC officer will ask you for info between August 2011 to December 2014. However, the CIC officer may ask you for info between Dec 2010 to Dec 2014). It totally depends upon CIC officer.

Anyhow, get the translation done in case you get a RQ and if you don't get the RQ, keep the translation handy for your interview, in case if the CIC officer asks about it during the interview. Good luck!

Thanks !!

 

[keesio]

I think you just need the passports for the 4 year relevant period.
They basically need your passports held in past 4 years to check the stamps (entry/exit) to calculate your residency days and to match with your online residence calculator.

However, if you have your old passports too then take that too. It does not really hurt

I agree with thecoolguysam. Even though the passport I applied with was older than 4 years, they asked me if I had the passport prior to it at the interview. Luckily I did and they took it to make a photocopy of it (just the bio page). They did not even really check any stamps in there (just flipped through it really quick) so I don't know why they asked (they looked at every stamp in the current one). But better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Goldline]

Hi Guys,
Will interviewing officer be bothered about that stamp because it was before I became PR

I don t know if the date on the stamp is in Arabic numbers or English like 1-2 4-6. If it is in Arabic numbers then how would the agent know if the date is before or after you became PR? If you don t translate it they may think it's an exit stamp for a travel you made recently so I would suggest you translate it before you show up for interview.