The problem is that on any given business day, CPC Sydney receives at least hundreds of citizenship applications. Guess how many were delivered today? Guess how many rushed the last few days to get theirs in by June 10 and missed? My guess is that the answer to both is at least in the many hundreds, and that tomorrow the regular post and couriers will be delivering hundreds more applications made using the now outdated, unacceptable forms. My guess is these will go into a special pile, applications to be summarily returned to sender.
How to appeal to CIC for a special exemption?
That said, I suppose there is some possibility that CIC in Sydney will accept some applications after today as if they were delivered today. There are fairly high odds that the last couple days have taxed the local couriers' capacity to deliver on time. It would be no surprise at all that this is not an isolated example, but one among a large number.
So, in this situation, perhaps there is a possibility that Sydney will accommodate the couriers and accept some packages tomorrow as if delivered today. Seems very unlikely. But Sydney is a small place. I suspect the couriers there are well known to the receiving department at the CPC. So, maybe . . . but I hesitate to even acknowledge the possibility since the mere possibility may escalate the level of anxiety and this is probably already a painful enough, disappointing enough experience.
Some related observations regarding how CIC went about this:
CIC has been a bit coy and manipulative relative to the transitional provisions in the SCCA.
The information CIC has posted online states that as of June 11, only applications made with the revised forms will be accepted, the revised forms to become available on June 11. This is within CIC's authority per the Citizenship Act and already in force Regulations.
The Citizenship Act as revised states that an application is made as of the date a complete application is signed.
The transitional provisions in the SCCA provide that what determines whether the old or new requirements govern is based on the date the application is made.
Thus, technically, CIC is bound, by law, to govern a complete application made (signed) prior to June 11 pursuant to the old requirements, regardless of the date it is delivered to CIC, so long as it is not stale dated.
CIC, this government, wants a firm cut off, and not have to deal with trickling in applications using the old forms and the applicant expecting to qualify under the old requirements.
So, CIC has modified the application form as of June 11 and will return any application that is not complete using the new form as of June 11. Thus, any applications received June 11 or later using the old forms will not be accepted, they will be incomplete and returned, and will not constitute a made application, even though signed prior to June 11 by an applicant qualified as of the day before signing it.
We have not seen the new form as yet. No one will have the new form until tomorrow. Thus no one can sign the new form before Thursday, before June 11. Thus leaving no way to apply under the old law as of June 11 even if one could complete the new form and push for the old law to apply . . . postdating the form will not work because it will be obvious on its face it is postdated (since the form is not even available until June 11). Tricky CIC.
I am not sure of the legality of this maneuver but I am confident it will work, that this government will get away with skirting around the technicalities of the law about when an application is made in order to implement this absolute cut off. Tricky. Typical Harper government maneuvering.
This is probably why they are not making the form available until tomorrow, Thursday June 11.
