Some tips for virtual oath ceremony

[James Lyrie-Stewart]

Just attended my virtual oath ceremony earlier this week and I wanted to share a few tips.

1. It’s normal to wait a while before you are admitted into the call after joining. I waited about 20 minutes, and I’ve seen reports of people waiting for 30.
2. In the oath invite, you are asked to put in your seat number when you join. However, if you already have a Zoom account and are signed in, you will not get a chance to put in the seat number when you join. That’s totally okay! You can rename yourself after you are admitted into the call by clicking the “…” in your self-view.
3. Turn off any virtual background, blurring, and “Mirror camera.” Those will interfere when you need to hold up your ID to the webcam for IRCC to verify your identity.
4. If your ceremony is “predominantly in English,” you will still need to read the full oath in French. Even if you don’t speak French, it’s good to at least practice it a few times so you don’t feel completely silly mumbling along while swearing in—note that you are required to repeat the oath in French. They need to see your mouth moving; otherwise, you risk not completing the oath.
5. You will have to sing the bilingual version of the national anthem, the one that starts and ends with English, and French in the middle. Again, practice singing that. I didn’t realize we were doing the bilingual version so I felt real silly mumbling along, which kind of took a bit away from the moment.
6. Get a pen and paper ready to write down the name of the IRCC clerk who checks your ID. You will need to include their name in the email subject line when sending the signed oath form back.
7. Be prepared to be on camera for at least 2 hours—pee before you join, for example. You are required to be on camera at all times. Some reported that their ceremony lasted 3 hours. I guess it just depends on the size of each ceremony.
8. Constantly check that your mic is muted. I only had to unmute myself twice times: once during oath and once for the ID check. Some people forgot to or maybe didn’t know how to mute their mic, and so 100+ people had to listen to them whisper and whatever background noise they had.
9. If you want to take a picture with the judge on the screen, you will need to be able to get behind the screen so be prepped for that. Use an iPad or a laptop to join the call, for example, so you can turn it around and hold it up to take a selfie.

Some personal thoughts on the virtual oath ceremony:

Overall I thought it was very well done and went pretty smoothly. It was cute to see how many people put up a Canadian flag behind them.

I had debated requesting for an in-person one, but I really didn’t want to risk potentially delaying it for several months (as some have reported).

At the end of the day, for me, I know that the more significant moment will be when I hold my Canadian passport in my hands, because that’s the real hallmark of being a Canadian. After all, many Canadians, such as those born in Canada, didn’t need to do an oath ceremony so it’s more of a naturalization formality than a “Canadian experience” IMO. Of course, you are welcome to feel differently

Hope this helps!

 

[armoured]

I had debated requesting for an in-person one, but I really didn’t want to risk potentially delaying it for several months (as some have reported).

We had one family member request in-person after getting the invite for virtual. The switch to in-person was all handled smoothly and was two or three weeks after the original (sorry, I just don't recall). I've no idea how representative that is - it was GTA/Scarborough where there are frequent in-person ceremonies, that may have been a factor.

 

[James Lyrie-Stewart]

We had one family member request in-person after getting the invite for virtual. The switch to in-person was all handled smoothly and was two or three weeks after the original (sorry, I just don't recall). I've no idea how representative that is - it was GTA/Scarborough where there are frequent in-person ceremonies, that may have been a factor.

Yeah I've read some got rescheduled to the week after as well, but that's the thing—you never know with IRCC. It's obviously up to the applicant if they want to take the risk.

 

[MJSPARV]

Just attended my virtual oath ceremony earlier this week and I wanted to share a few tips.

1. It’s normal to wait a while before you are admitted into the call after joining. I waited about 20 minutes, and I’ve seen reports of people waiting for 30.
2. In the oath invite, you are asked to put in your seat number when you join. However, if you already have a Zoom account and are signed in, you will not get a chance to put in the seat number when you join. That’s totally okay! You can rename yourself after you are admitted into the call by clicking the “…” in your self-view.
3. Turn off any virtual background, blurring, and “Mirror camera.” Those will interfere when you need to hold up your ID to the webcam for IRCC to verify your identity.
4. If your ceremony is “predominantly in English,” you will still need to read the full oath in French. Even if you don’t speak French, it’s good to at least practice it a few times so you don’t feel completely silly mumbling along while swearing in—note that you are required to repeat the oath in French. They need to see your mouth moving; otherwise, you risk not completing the oath.
5. You will have to sing the bilingual version of the national anthem, the one that starts and ends with English, and French in the middle. Again, practice singing that. I didn’t realize we were doing the bilingual version so I felt real silly mumbling along, which kind of took a bit away from the moment.
6. Get a pen and paper ready to write down the name of the IRCC clerk who checks your ID. You will need to include their name in the email subject line when sending the signed oath form back.
7. Be prepared to be on camera for at least 2 hours—pee before you join, for example. You are required to be on camera at all times. Some reported that their ceremony lasted 3 hours. I guess it just depends on the size of each ceremony.
8. Constantly check that your mic is muted. I only had to unmute myself twice times: once during oath and once for the ID check. Some people forgot to or maybe didn’t know how to mute their mic, and so 100+ people had to listen to them whisper and whatever background noise they had.
9. If you want to take a picture with the judge on the screen, you will need to be able to get behind the screen so be prepped for that. Use an iPad or a laptop to join the call, for example, so you can turn it around and hold it up to take a selfie.

Some personal thoughts on the virtual oath ceremony:

Overall I thought it was very well done and went pretty smoothly. It was cute to see how many people put up a Canadian flag behind them.

I had debated requesting for an in-person one, but I really didn’t want to risk potentially delaying it for several months (as some have reported).

At the end of the day, for me, I know that the more significant moment will be when I hold my Canadian passport in my hands, because that’s the real hallmark of being a Canadian. After all, many Canadians, such as those born in Canada, didn’t need to do an oath ceremony so it’s more of a naturalization formality than a “Canadian experience” IMO. Of course, you are welcome to feel differently

Hope this helps!

Thanks for all the tips! The having to be on camera at all times is a really good thing to know because I am a stay at home mom to three kids 5 and under so note to self to find someone else to be with them during that time

 

[deshu]

Thank you @James Lyrie-Stewart for sharing! Especially the infor about the email subject line.
I've received an oath letter and an instruction to download e-certificate this week, some instructions are the same as you shared here.
But the oath letter I've received instruted that "In the email subject line, add: “Oath form for [your file number], [your family name]” e.g. [C#######], [Smith]." - It doesn't mention about IRCC clerk's name! I will see what instruction we'll receive at our ceremony...

6. Get a pen and paper ready to write down the name of the IRCC clerk who checks your ID. You will need to include their name in the email subject line when sending the signed oath form back.

 

[James Lyrie-Stewart]

Thank you @James Lyrie-Stewart for sharing! Especially the infor about the email subject line.
I've received an oath letter and an instruction to download e-certificate this week, some instructions are the same as you shared here.
But the oath letter I've received instruted that "In the email subject line, add: “Oath form for [your file number], [your family name]” e.g. [C#######], [Smith]." - It doesn't mention about IRCC clerk's name! I will see what instruction we'll receive at our ceremony...

My oath invite doesn't mention including the clerk's name either, but we were given this instruction in the ceremony

 

[Schuffi]

Hi, interesting. I completed a virtual oath when they first started them in 2021, the French bit wasn't absolutely necessary but was encouraged. They definitely checked that you were saying the oath out loud.
Congrats on completing.

 

[James Lyrie-Stewart]

Hi, interesting. I completed a virtual oath when they first started them in 2021, the French bit wasn't absolutely necessary but was encouraged. They definitely checked that you were saying the oath out loud.
Congrats on completing.

I was later told by other people on the internet that it is technically not required to read the oath in both languages; it's just that in the ceremony, the explicit message was “we need to see you reading the oath out loud” and “now we will do it in French, please listen carefully and read after me.” At no point were we explicitly told, “you only need to read the oath in one of the languages.” So in my post here I was just relaying my experience.

 

[deshu]

My oath invite doesn't mention including the clerk's name either, but we were given this instruction in the ceremony

Thank you!
I attended my virtual oath yesterday and yeah, we were given the different instruction during the ceremony.

When I attended the virtual oath, we received a different instruction for the email subject. It was : Oath form-DATE, TIME, Application number.

It was smooth, and I just downloaded my e-certificate today.

 

[deshu]

I learnt that every oath is different... and if someone read this post to get ready for their upcoming oath ceremony, their oath ceremony might be different too. For example:

Before oath, I read many people in this forum said virtual oath means an e-certificate and in-person oath means a paper certificate.
When I attended the virtual oath, they asked me which version I prefer, e-certificate or paper certificate. So both option can be available, but maybe it depends on each officer/clerk.

My oath invitation letter did not mention about this, but I was asked to cut my current and previous PR cards too.

We read the full oath in Engish then French. We were repeating the Oath of Citizenship after the judge in both English and French. Oath invitate letter said "in the official language of your choice" though.

We sang the bilingual version of the national anthem. Thanks to this thread, I did practice and memorize billingual version!

As for e-mail subject, we got different instruction. It was different from the oath invite letter, but the clerk showed us a clear example that was mostly a template. I noted that template, and replaced [Application number] with mine.

Some people chose digital/virtual background. My oath invite instructed that virtual background is prohibited, but it encourages hiding privacy. So I hanged a large flag of Canada in a wall and just sit at the front of it... but it looks like digital/virtual background were okay at the ceremony I attended.

I was invited to the "Citizenship to Passport pilot program". I was sent to a room before the ceremony started to receive extra instruction from the clerk. There were about two-thirds of all attendees in that room, I think. But I got a feeling that the instruction was more likely an introduction. I have already read and submitted my application (it just said the process won't start until I return the oath form), but it seems that we were not supposed to apply to the passport pilot program before the oath.

These are just my experience. I think each ceremony may different just like other processes. Wishing all the best for everyone. And thank you @James Lyrie-Stewart again for this thread!

 

[novemberrain]

Such a lovely post! I know the national anthem by heart, but now I guess I need to learn the French version as well haha