After applying in 2017, being asked for additional information in 2018, and being told in 2019, that they don’t have an application from 2017, so why am I sending information to them
I re-applied and paid again in 2019, I was just watching my progress ‘praying for it to move’ when I noticed they are now claiming they received my 2019 application and started processing December 2020, even though I have a letter / email dated July 2019 stating they have received my application ? That’s 18 months after I re-applied ? and almost 30 months after my initial application.
I have the receipt of posting / delivery / payment for 2017
i have the receipt of posting for the additional information request from 2018
i have the proof of payment . Receipt of delivery and payment ‘again‘ July 2019.
why could it take 18 months to open my application ?
is the date change to help with their back log targets ?
if this was my company I would be bankrupt with this level of stupidly and professional negligence.
which date do I use for a start date ?
I have no explanation for the experiences you describe, but going forward the date previous steps in the process were completed make no difference to how long it will be for IRCC to take the next step on an application. Whichever queue an application goes into following the completion of any step in the process determines its place in that queue for the next action to be taken.
Illustration: regardless when an application was opened, passed completeness screening, and got AOR, it is the date the application reaches the queue for processing in the local office that determines its place in the queue for the local office to open and process the application. Thus, for example, if a December 2018 application is held up by something while still at CPC-Sydney, and for whatever reason it takes much longer to get to the local office than most, so that it arrives into the local office queue after an application made in January 2020, it is in the queue BEHIND the application made in 2020. Does not matter when the application was made. Matters when it was put in that particular queue (first into the queue, next opened).
Any "back log targets" are largely window-dressing. Obviously IRCC cannot "change" the date certain events occurred. What populates a given report of dates can vary, sure, but since there is no substantive or operational significance no one in IRCC has any motive to deliberately manipulate or "change" dates being reported or change records of dates. In the meantime, whatever explains the discrepancies you report has no impact on the timeline for the next step in the process (
unless the discrepancies derive from some problems with the application, which I hope we can assume is not the case).
That is, while it appears somebody has done something to jumble dates, in some respect, that's
water-under-the-bridge.
What a morass eh. Illustrates that when things go awry some, they then tend to go
off-the-rails and it can be, well, rather difficult to get them back on track.
But, you have passed the knowledge of Canada test now. So, looks like things are at least close to being back on track. Fingers crossed.
I will say, yeah, there is something strange. Assuming you are not mixing up dates, discrepancies in the information you get from IRCC or based on other sources is disconcerting . . . and difficult to explain. Noting:
[information reported December 8, 2021]
I applied in 2016, paid the fees , in 2018 they confirmed they ‘never’ received the application (paper) I have the receipts for the payment, in 2018, I reapplied and paid again, they sent a letter requesting more information in feb 2019 , advising me that I would need to pay the fees, as my application would be starting again . . .
[information reported January 26, 2022]
October 2017 submitted 1st package
July 2019 received a letter requesting more information, November 2019 received a response claiming they never received an application from me ?
So, yeah, rather hard to untangle and sort out what is connected to what. Was the request for information in February 2019 related to the 2016 application? The October 2017 application? Or the application when you re-applied in 2018? Obviously not the application for when you re-applied again in 2019.
Similarly the July 2019 request for more information you reference, which unlike the request in February 2019 could have been about the application made in 2019, assuming it was not about the 2016 application, the October 2017 application, or the 2018 application. In today's post you reference it being "18 months" after making an application, referring that to a January or February 2018 application.
Then there was the request for additional information in 2018 (as referenced in your post today).
Did I acknowledge what a morass this is? Yeah, really does illustrate that when things go awry some, apparently does not take much, then things tend to go
off-the-rails and it can be, well, rather difficult to get them back on track. As I have oft noted, bureaucracy is what bureaucracy does. Hard pressed to find efficiencies in those weeds.
But, again, since you have passed the knowledge of Canada test now it looks like things are at least close to being back on track. Fingers crossed.
[And that is without so much as a glance at other incongruities. Not sure how you were even eligible for citizenship for the 2016 application, since you were still a FN in 2013 and the presence requirement then was a minimum of four years with no credit for pre-PR days; for the October 2017 application the precise date of the application matters, since an application at the beginning of that month had to meet the four year presence requirement (again with no credit for pre-PR days) while an application at the end of that month would get pre-PR credit and only need to meet the 3/5 requirement. Problem with applications in late 2017, after the effective change in the law, was there was a huge rush of applications since all of a sudden many tens of thousands of PRs were suddenly newly eligible; at the time there were mixed, conflicting views in the forum about whether it was better to apply sooner to get an application in as early as possible in the rush or to wait, to avoid being in the mass-rush, recognizing the risk a bureaucracy will struggle to properly handle a sudden influx of applications.]
On another note; some cautionary observations for others:
While I assume it was not an issue for you, it warrants cautioning others that if and when they might have multiple files of a similar sort in the pipeline at IRCC, like submitting or resubmitting an application for the same thing, or even different things (fairly common, for example, for a PR to have both a PR card application and a citizenship application in process at the same time, given the uncertain and inordinately long timelines these days) it is important, really important, to correlate file numbers in handling and responding to IRCC communications. Once things get messed up a little, since a
bureaucracy is what bureaucracies do, there is a big risk of things
going-off-the-rails.
Additionally, for many if not most PRs who need to re-submit a citizenship application, such as where an application has been returned (and probably where it appears an application has been lost or otherwise is not being handled by IRCC), even though applicants can fix the application and re-submit, it is probably a better approach to submit a totally new application based on the dates the new application is being made. Does not work for everyone, depending on personal situations, but should for most, and for most this will mean applying with additional credit for the presence requirement, which is usually a good thing.
Finally, knowing when to submit an application because a prior application appears to be lost is a very difficult calculation. Fortunately it is extremely rare for an application to, in effect, get lost (if delivered to CPC-Sydney). But unfortunately there can be a long period of time between the date an application is submitted and when the applicant will know for sure whether it will go into process or be returned, and it is impossible to find out until one or the other actually happens. This was probably a more common scenario for applications made in late 2017 or early 2018, in the big rush, but through all periods of time and going forward, applications are out of reach and cannot be addressed in any way, unless and until the completeness screening is passed and there is AOR, that is the application is in process,
OR the applicant has actually received a returned application. Given the extent to which there is a tendency to cause problems if two citizenship applications are in the pipeline at the same time, resubmitting an application without for sure knowing the status of an earlier one should be a last resort and ONLY AFTER being very confident IRCC does not have the first.
