asking for a friend...
She traveled to Philippines from October 16 to November 16.
She had a side trip and went to Singapore November 6 to 9.
Does she need to mention that on the calculator? Or it will just be included/ counted on her stay in the Philippines? Thank you!
Short Answer: Follow the instructions. They clearly state how to enter this information.
Which is, basically: ENTER the names of additional countries visited in the "Reason" box.
Longer Explanation:
The last I looked at the instructions, they say to list additional countries visited in the "reasons" box. Thus, the primary country visited during the trip abroad is listed in the destination box, and if the PR/applicant traveled to other countries during that trip, to list them in the "reasons" box.
The main reason I emphasize carefully reading and following the instructions is that the instructions are the BEST source of information about how to complete the application, and while we are all well aware how important it is to follow the instructions, the failure to follow the instructions is perhaps the single biggest cause of things going awry. We know to do it. BUT it needs to be emphasized that we actually do follow the instructions.
Moreover, the particulars can change any day.
The instructions can change without notice. ALWAYS use the most current form and FOLLOW the CURRENT INSTRUCTIONS.
HOWEVER, beyond that, in regards to this particular aspect, I notice that the "Travel Journal" template that IRCC provides online (see
www.canada.ca/travel-journal) is structured similar to the Presence Calculator, with columns for entering departure date, return date, destination, and reason, BUT its instructions say: "
Note: if you visited more than one country during the same trip, record all the countries you visited and the dates in the "Destination" column." The sample shown online shows entering the additional country in a separate row, with quotation marks in the depart and return date columns, signifying same trip as in the row above, then dates and country name in the destination column.
Never good when a bureaucracy has conflicting instructions for what are, essentially, the same thing. But it is common. The cure is to carefully read and follow the instructions for the specific form. As I oft say, with much emphasis:
"
If in doubt, follow the instructions; otherwise, yep, follow the instructions."
And that means following the right instructions, those which apply to the form or application being filled out.
AND AGAIN, REMEMBER, THESE THINGS ARE ALWAYS SUBJECT TO CHANGE, SO BE SURE TO USE THE CURRENT FORM AND FOLLOW THE CURRENT INSTRUCTIONS.
(And the latter is a huge, huge reason why ONLY the instructions are the best source of information for how to complete a form, and why anything said in a forum like this could be wrong even if it was perfectly correct when posted.)
