Vancouver vs. Halifax

[colocho13]

Hello members

I am currently based in Vancouver, BC and become eligible for citizenship in December 2014. I plan to move to Nova Scotia in Feb 2015.

- a friend told me a change of address may result in further delay in my application
- Also I wonder about the timeline in Halifax CIC office, I read some members complaining it is a bit slow compared with other offices while Vancouver seems to have more officers and funding to process citizenship applications in less than a year.

I have the option to applying in Dec in Vancouver or applying in Halifax in Feb 2015

What's your advice to me ?

Thank you in advance

 

[vias]

You have to consider few things before you apply for Vancouver office.

You have to fly back to Vancouver minimum twice Test & Oath ....If its family application then it will be more expensive

In case CIC asked for finger prints , You have to approach RCMP .... In this case I assume you have to travel back to Vancouver as you applying from here

When you move to Halifax you will be changing Drivers license, Health card etc .... Vancouver officer during Test/Interview may ask you to show Vancouver address ID's which you submitted with your application package.

 

[eileenf]

My advice is to:
1. Figure out if something is really a problem trying to avoid the problem,
2. If there is a problem, how severe is it? (is it 24 months longer in Halifax or 2 weeks?)
3. Figure out what the risks and benefits of trying to avoid the problem would be.

And, given that hundreds of thousands of people apply for citizenship every year, I wouldn't recommend deciding something's a problem based on the guesses of one or two people. I would recommend trying to find actual evidence of that problem. Statistics, newspaper articles, etc.

Regarding 1 and 2, you can check this ATIP of internal CIC timeline statistics of different regions. residencequestionnaire.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/cic_processing_network_stats_q12013.pdf

It shows that between 2008 and 2013, BC timelines varied between 4 months faster than Atlantic region timelines to 2 months slower.

So, from the evidence at hand, it doesn't look like a huge problem. It might even be faster in Halifax.

Regarding #3, contorting your life to avoid the CIC realizing that you've moved to Vancouver could easily undermine your credibility with CIC. It would probably look like you were hiding something, because you would in fact be hiding something. And when CIC officials see documents and identity cards not matching up with what the applicant says, they will worry that you may be lying on your application. And you may not actually qualify for citizenship. And that means that in your bid to save yourself 2 months of waiting, you've given yourself an RQ, a citizenship hearing and years of waiting.

In short. Just apply when you want to apply. Don't lie or manipulate things for a problem that barely exists if it exists at all. If and when you move to Halifax, let the CIC know. They will transfer your file. Call a month later to verify that they've updated your address (mailing and residential, because they often send mail to the residential address). It'll be fine.

If you really want them to keep your file in Vancouver, you could request that, but why would you want that? To save a month or two MAYBE? And obligate yourself to fly back and forth at high cost on a week's notice?

 

[poison]

I am also from Vancouver and was in the same city when I applied for citizenship. After that things changed and I had no choice but to relocate to Toronto. Luck by chance, I received a notification from CIC to write the test just a day before I was departing. I wrote the test in Vancouver and informed Citizenship Officer that I am moving (with family). Citizenship Officer told me that we will keep you file here but will provide you with an opportunity to take Oath in Toronto. However, that process is delayed due to entry/exit Canada-US border records - altogether a different topic.

But in a nutshell, if you have not yet submitted your citizenship application, I encourage you to apply at your local office after you relocate.

All the best.