Questions about online oath ceremony and passport application

[ugterrier]

Hi everyone! I finally got my oath invitation (August 2019 applicant)!! It's scheduled for next Monday, November 8th at 9am. However, I'm a really not happy with their timing. I'm a teacher and really can't afford any more time off this fall. Not to mention I have to find a sub. Then there's the problem of plans to go home to the US for the first time in two years for the holidays. I'm hoping someone can please answer the following questions for me:

1) How long does the online oath ceremony usually last?

2) If I expedite both the citizenship certificate and passport, how long will it take to get them?

Thanks in advance!

ugterrier

 

[enigma304]

I attended oath ceremony today. It started at 1:30 and we are all done by 2:23. There were around 104 people attending the ceremony.

 

[bellaluna]

1. An hour on average, 90 minutes at worst (including the wait times)--it might be possible to request the clerk to serve you first right after the ceremony if you really have to get back to work

2. Not sure exactly how soon it'd be with the citizenship and passport offices in Quebec City... but it should be possible to get your passport within 2-4 weeks of your oath (with some generous buffers)

 

[jan_svab]

Related to this question - is it possible to leave Canada after the ceremony, before getting the passport?
I mean in the situation where I have a valid passport from another country and I still have someone in Canada. The expected course of actions would be:
- take the oath
- fill in the passport application
- leave Canada
- once the certificate arrives to my address, someone from my family would attach it to the application and send
- passport arrives to my address
- someone from my family will send/bring it to me abroad

Would this work and is this allowed? Or is some part of that illegal/not possible?
I haven't found anything against this approach at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-passports/new-adult-passport/apply-how.html

If it works, maybe this would be a solution for the original post of this thread as well.

 

[bellaluna]

Related to this question - is it possible to leave Canada after the ceremony, before getting the passport?
I mean in the situation where I have a valid passport from another country and I still have someone in Canada. The expected course of actions would be:
- take the oath
- fill in the passport application
- leave Canada
- once the certificate arrives to my address, someone from my family would attach it to the application and send
- passport arrives to my address
- someone from my family will send/bring it to me abroad

Would this work and is this allowed? Or is some part of that illegal/not possible?
I haven't found anything against this approach at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-passports/new-adult-passport/apply-how.html

If it works, maybe this would be a solution for the original post of this thread as well.

It’s been discussed on this forum several times.

IRCC’s official position is, understandably, don’t travel out of Canada without your Canadian passport in hand. These days, they do allow for expedited/express/urgent processing if you must travel in the near future, in as little as the next day (not sure if they still do same-day as they did before). There’s no excuse to travel without a Canadian passport.

What you describe isn’t necessarily illegal/not allowed, but since passports are still printed in Canada and then forwarded to consulates, expect processing times to be much, much longer.

 

[Seym]

@jan_svab it's doable, but you will need your certificate number before you can sign your application and leave the country. You'll need to make sure that you have it after the ceremony. Speak with a clerc about this number right after the oath.

Obviously, the preferred approach is the one listed by @bellaluna in the previous post.

 

[CaBeaver]

Hi everyone! I finally got my oath invitation (August 2019 applicant)!! It's scheduled for next Monday, November 8th at 9am. However, I'm a really not happy with their timing. I'm a teacher and really can't afford any more time off this fall. Not to mention I have to find a sub. Then there's the problem of plans to go home to the US for the first time in two years for the holidays. I'm hoping someone can please answer the following questions for me:

1) How long does the online oath ceremony usually last?

2) If I expedite both the citizenship certificate and passport, how long will it take to get them?

Thanks in advance!

ugterrier

From what I see here, it takes between 1-2 hours. During the ceremony, ask the agent that you have travel plans for the holidays. You can get your certificate in a couple of days, and your passport in a week or so for urgent processing.

 

[Miaaa S]

From what I see here, it takes between 1-2 hours. During the ceremony, ask the agent that you have travel plans for the holidays. You can get your certificate in a couple of days, and your passport in a week or so for urgent processing.

I’ve been waiting for 3.5 weeks but haven’t received anything ... I talked to a guy on Facebook who got his after 5 weeks. As the timing is so unreliable, I wouldn’t leave without getting the certificate. Too much trouble to come back if your certificate timeline is like mine

 

[ugterrier]

From what I see here, it takes between 1-2 hours. During the ceremony, ask the agent that you have travel plans for the holidays. You can get your certificate in a couple of days, and your passport in a week or so for urgent processing.

Awesome! Thank you so much! =)

 

[ugterrier]

I’ve been waiting for 3.5 weeks but haven’t received anything ... I talked to a guy on Facebook who got his after 5 weeks. As the timing is so unreliable, I wouldn’t leave without getting the certificate. Too much trouble to come back if your certificate timeline is like mine

Did you tell them you needed it faster, or is that with a normal wait?

 

[Scottpark77]

Look at your benefit package clearly. there might be a special off days section and you might have one day off.
my workplace do have a Citizenship Hearing section and gives me 1 day off for oath.

 

[jan_svab]

Thanks for the feedback, bellaluna and Seym. I understand it's not illegal, but it's also not recommended.

I have one question though, to make sure I understand it right:

What you describe isn’t necessarily illegal/not allowed, but since passports are still printed in Canada and then forwarded to consulates, expect processing times to be much, much longer.

Here goes the question - I don't understand the "then forwarded to consulates" part. In my scenario, the passport was sent to my regular Canadian address, not to a consulate abroad. Are we on the same page here? My question was about having my passport sent to my address in Canada, picked up by a family member and delivered to me overseas (by hand or by courier) - is this approach what you meant when you said it's allowed? Or would this be for some reason illegal?

These days, they do allow for expedited/express/urgent processing if you must travel in the near future, in as little as the next day (not sure if they still do same-day as they did before). There’s no excuse to travel without a Canadian passport.

I'm not concerned about the time it takes to issue the passport. I'm concerned about the time it takes to receive the certificate. It can be a week, three weeks, five weeks. It's hard to plan around that if it's not reliable. Multiple weeks of waiting with no clear deadline sound like a good enough reason to at least explore the options of travelling using a non-Canadian passport.

 

[bellaluna]

^ Ah, I was assuming you were planning to send the passport application and certificate to a consulate abroad. I didn’t understand your premise entirely.

Now that I understand it, that is even more wrong than the foreign consulate route, lol.

The very first question on the passport application page is where are you applying from, and proceeds to instruct you to apply at a consulate abroad if you are not in Canada or the United States.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-passports/new-adult-passport/apply-how.html

The implication is your plan wouldn’t be allowed…are they going to find out about it if you proceed with it? I’m not sure either. Would you want to take that risk?

I understand your concern about the citizenship certificate, and I have also seen a few unfortunate members waiting for months, but they are more the exception than the norm. If there is some way you can request the clerk to get in-person pickup or expedited/tracked delivery in valid urgent scenarios, that is also an accommodation that’s been extended.

 

[jan_svab]

Thanks for your response.

The very first question on the passport application page is where are you applying from

So I think my timeline was: fill in the application form -> leave Canada. So while filling the application form (and on the date provided on the form), I am still in Canada, so I'm answering truthfully that I'm in Canada. I don't see that as a concern, do you? Or do you think there is some other concern?

 

[bellaluna]

It’s your application, do whatever you want. I’ve said my piece.