Stuck between Citizenship Test and Oath

[poison]

Folks, following are my details. If any one can shed some light based on their knowledge or experience would be a great input.

* Became a permanent resident in July 2010 at Vancouver.
* Traveled a lot to the US however most of the trips were day trips (less than 24 hours) during the weekends.
* Applied for citizenship in Nov 2013.
* Received acknowledgement and discover Canada guide in late Jan 2014.
* Received test invite in June 2014.
* Appeared and cleared test in July 2014.
* Officer asked me to provide entry and exit records between Canada and USA for the 3 years tenure.
* (Relocated from Vancouver to Toronto after test - informed CIC and they told me that they will keep my file at Vancouver location but will provide Oath date in Toronto)
* Contacted CBSA (on Canadian side) and CBP (on US side) for releasing records of movement.
* CBSA completed the request. CBP (under FOIA) said processing is going to take 18 months!!!
* Sent CBSA records and copies of the itineraries for all overnight trips to the US, to Vancouver office - Oct 2014.
* Awaiting Oath..!

I am not sure whether CIC is going to come back to me asking that I "specifically" need to provide records from CBP USA or will they be okay with CBSA records. Now its a wait and watch game as there is nothing that I can do. I called CIC call center to know about my file and all that the agent was able to tell me was "Sir, your file is in process and is at Vancouver location", that's it..!

Is there anyone out here going through similar experience as myself?

 

[thecoolguysam]

you can print your i94 information online and send it to CIC.
Hopefully, you don't have wrong/incorrect exits. If yes, would you be planning to contact CBP for corrections?

 

[poison]

I submitted FOIA request and also called helpline number after waiting for 10 weeks. Someone from CBP responded saying that it will take approx 18 months to fulfill the request due to high volume of backlog.

 

[thecoolguysam]

I submitted FOIA request and also called helpline number after waiting for 10 weeks. Someone from CBP responded saying that it will take approx 18 months to fulfill the request due to high volume of backlog.

Are you a citizen of USA? If no, try the following link:

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html;jsessionid=qwXCJGyM748NKG60LycT222pqcn5Tms4Qnd95pp2JL9RcDRVsdpH!584610959

 

[eileenf]

Assuming you're a citizen of USA, the best you can do is show the CIC that you've done your due diligence. You should send them a copy of your FOIA application for CBP records and a cover letter noting your helpline conversation and the time period to provide the documentation.

As someone whose citizenship took 34 months to be approved, the fact that you've already gotten your test, interview and Cit 520 in 12 months doesn't sound bad. Actually it sounds really fast in the context of the last few years. I know the uncertainty and the lack of responsiveness is frustrating, but at this point it's going to be a waiting game for you. Since your application is now considered "non-routine" the timeline might be longer than you're hoping, but I doubt it will be as long as those experienced by the applicants from 2011 and 2012.

Good luck.

 

[links18]

It might be months before you hear back from CIC after sending in your documents. The best thing you can do is, as Eileen said, show them you applied for CBP, but tell them the current wait time is unreasonable and that you think there is enough other evidence for them to approve your application without them.

 

[poison]

1. I am not a citizen of United States.
2. Just received a notification on my FOIA request. They want some consent forms to be signed by my wife which will allow them to release the information. Hence they have rejected and closed this ticket. They have advised me to open a new ticket if required.
3. When I sent my CBSA records to CIC, I notified them that my FOIA request is already in process. In addition, I have also provided CIC with all travel itineraries for which more than 24 hours were spent in the US.
4. In the process where I was waiting for CBSA and FOIA to release the records, I provided CIC with the printed copies of all I-94s issued till date.

So now I am in confusion, whether to create and submit a new FOIA request and notify CIC? OR just sit-tight and wait for CIC to get back to me?

 

[bambino]

You wrote that they asked for "entry and exit records between Canada and USA ". Did they explicitly state provide us CBSA and CBP records? How was the request actually phrased?

 

[poison]

This is how it is written in CIT 0520 form:

"Entry-Exit Records/Record of Movement from USA for the above-noted period." These are exact wordings from the form.

 

[eileenf]

Poison, if you are not a US citizen all your US border entries should be in the i94 report (link is in one of the above posts).

Why exactly do you need the FOIA report? The i94 report should have all the same info. It's a US border record. It's official.

Can you clarify what you believe is wrong with the i94 report that will be better with the FOIA?

 

[poison]

Eileenf,

I am also not sure about it. As mentioned above, I have already sent I-94 records to CIC but never heard back from them. In addition, CBSA records + travel itineraries, so not sure if CIC is going to satisfied with it or not. What I am thinking is, I will wait for couple of months and if nothing happens by early 2015, then I will send CIC will all possible/available documents like rental receipts, mortgage documents, cellphone bills, credit card bills, hydro bills, etc. to prove my residency in Canada!

This is really frustrating that we have to wait and nothing can be done. Based on your response above, it looks like I have no choice but to just wait and wait for CIC to get back to me. Am I understanding correct?

 

[eileenf]

I am also not sure about it. As mentioned above, I have already sent I-94 records to CIC but never heard back from them. In addition, CBSA records + travel itineraries, so not sure if CIC is going to satisfied with it or not. What I am thinking is, I will wait for couple of months and if nothing happens by early 2015, then I will send CIC will all possible/available documents like rental receipts, mortgage documents, cellphone bills, credit card bills, hydro bills, etc. to prove my residency in Canada!

This is really frustrating that we have to wait and nothing can be done. Based on your response above, it looks like I have no choice but to just wait and wait for CIC to get back to me. Am I understanding correct?

Forgive me as my response is coloured by the sense that you young whippersnappers don't know how hard things were back in the day (2011-2013), but...Oh wow. You only sent these records to CIC a few short weeks ago (oct 2014). That doesn't qualify as "never" hearing back from them. For those of us who have been in the game a bit longer, that seems far too early to worry. (It took CIC 15 months to get back to me regarding my RQ, though others waited and still wait much longer and the CIC used to say it would take 48 freaking months just to process the RQ, never mind the 12-18 months it used to take for applications to go into process).

CIC does not respond immediately to applicants. They are not a responsive organization. That is frustrating for those who care about voting and citizenship, but it is the reality.

Expecting them to respond immediately or even "soon-ish" is a recipe for a lot of unnecessary anxiety. I know personally that waiting is very frustrating, but you've really only been waiting a few days or weeks. Check the processing timelines for general context.

If you gave them the i94 report (as linked above by coolguysam) you have provided the document they requested: Records of movement form the USA. If you want to send them a bunch of other stuff that's your right, but it's probably not going to affect your case or your processing timeline one way or the other. And why put yourself through the hassle of sending a bunch of private documents if the CIC doesn't even really want them and there's little (realistic) potential benefit?

If you don't hear anything within another year, then you might start worrying.

The CIC's lack of responsiveness is not unusual and it doesn't mean there's a problem with your application or documentation.

3. When I sent my CBSA records to CIC, I notified them that my FOIA request is already in process. In addition, I have also provided CIC with all travel itineraries for which more than 24 hours were spent in the US.

It would be stronger proof to provide ALL itineraries of travel outside Canada including day trips, rather than just choosing to prove the longer trips. However, given that they only asked for records of movement/entry-exit records from USA, itineraries are probably not necessary now unless there are discrepancies in the border records.

 

[poison]

Thank you very much for the detailed response. So essentially I will wait!

I will keep you guys posted in case CIC responds.

 

[bambino]

This is how it is written in CIT 0520 form:

"Entry-Exit Records/Record of Movement from USA for the above-noted period." These are exact wordings from the form.

Thanks.

I really think providing a printout from the link Eileen gave you should suffice. You may also want to include a consent letter stating that you authorize CIC to access that information using the DHS website. That way they can verify the dates themselves, should they have any doubt the printout is legit.

The web tool only goes back 5 years, and I cannot get any record of my (many!) trips prior to October, 2009. Unfortunately, in my case, the relevant 4-year period extends as far back as August, 2008. Not so in yours, and it may be a good idea to get on this now, before your relevant trips start disappearing from the DHS website. Perhaps you should also point this out to CIC so that they don't sit on your application for months on end before trying to pull that information themselves.

 

[poison]

As mentioned in my post(s) above, I have already provided CIC with a printed copy of my I-94 records from the same URL provided by thecoolguysam.