What if some entry / exit stamps not clear or shady ?

[osamaamany]

I got two entry / exit stamp on my passport which are shady and not clear but the visa is clear and the date of the visa is also clear .. So in this case what is the officer tool to check the stamp ? Or he will consider the visa given for the same period? Does he use magnifier to check it or what is the procedure ? I am afraid to get RQ because of that ?

 

[torontonian2003]

I got two entry / exit stamp on my passport which are shady and not clear but the visa is clear and the date of the visa is also clear .. So in this case what is the officer tool to check the stamp ? Or he will consider the visa given for the same period? Does he use magnifier to check it or what is the procedure ? I am afraid to get RQ because of that ?

What to expect:
1. CIC will inspect your passport for departure/arrival stamps
2. You may be asked for an official translation for stamps that are not in English

Although a visa from another country is indicative that you (may) have traveled outside Canada, note that, the inclusive expiry date period in the visa is practically not evidence of whether you did leave Canada or not, and also for how long. Therefore, CIC will have to rely on legible stamps.

Recently, reentries to certain Canadian borders, provided a PR card is presented, are not stamped. This also poses a question on how accurate your absence dates are.

In the citizenship application form (CIT0002E), question #9, it is recommended that you click YES to the question:
I hereby authorize CIC to collect the histories of my entries into Canada from CBSA. (Yes or No)

Nevertheless, to avoid unnecessary delay, even though you answer yes to question #9 on CIT0002E, if you have ambiguous or missing stamps in your passports, it will be to your advantage to secure your CBSA travel history yourself. Some folks are actually smart enough to access their CBSA history prior to submitting so they can compare and verify what they recall for their travels and what the CBSA has in their records. It is not uncommon for people to lose track of short trips they did (especially by land) and realize after application has already been submitted. In a situation like this, it's more like "Better late than sorry" (that is, postpone submission until you verified all your supporting documents including residency calculation are well in order.

You can obtain your travel history from CBSA (only reentries to Canada are reported) online through this link:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/pia-efvp/atip-aiprp/req-dem-priv-eng.html
It takes a minimum of 30 days for CBSA to provide your history, so planning ahead to request this before CIC begins asking for more residency proof will benefit your application.

Some notes about the CBSA request:
1. The request is free and can be done online or through a letter
2. You have the option of receiving the result on paper or by email
3. Select that you're making the request under the "PRIVACY ACT" - this is for us requesting information about ourselves; the alternative choice "Access to Information Act" is used by third parties like the CIC to access information on other people
4. Which agency to request info from (this is a question in the online request): CBSA (not CIC!!!)
5. You need to write a small statement specifically requesting your travel records with CBSA for a given period (say the last four years considered in the citizenship application; some who like to be clearly transparent with CIC opt to until the present so all travels even after citizenship application are known to CIC).
6. You need to scan your PR card (both side), biographical pages of your relevant passports (both current and expired in which you traveled), and submit it online as a PDF document (no more than 2 MB size).

The less you leave room for doubt on your residency/absences, the better.

 

[RajevSantik]

I got two entry / exit stamp on my passport which are shady and not clear but the visa is clear and the date of the visa is also clear .. So in this case what is the officer tool to check the stamp ? Or he will consider the visa given for the same period? Does he use magnifier to check it or what is the procedure ? I am afraid to get RQ because of that ?

Hi,

I also have one shady stamp, did you face any issues with that?

 

[rmust]

I got two entry / exit stamp on my passport which are shady and not clear but the visa is clear and the date of the visa is also clear .. So in this case what is the officer tool to check the stamp ? Or he will consider the visa given for the same period? Does he use magnifier to check it or what is the procedure ? I am afraid to get RQ because of that ?

If the "shady" stamp on your passport is more than 4 years preceding the date of your citizenship application, then you do not have to worry about it.
But if it is within the 4 years, then as torontonian2003 mentioned above, you may want to order your travel record from CBSA.
(In my personal experience, when I had my citizenship interview last month, the officer did not even properly check my passport for all the travel stamps, my interview was less than 1 minute!)

 

[edm_AS]

Hi,

I had my test on July 15th. Everything went fine except one entry/exit to USA for a day trip was missing on my file. I did not put it as I had the re-entry stamp but there was no exit stamp on my passport for that particular date. The officer raised the issue and finally noted the re-entry date on my file and said if they need anything they will send a letter, otherwise if we don't receive anything for 2 weeks oath letter will come. I have 60 extra days before I applied for citizenship. I am thinking to get the entry/exits records beforehand to save time in case they ask for it. But Canada border will give only entry dates which I already have. Should I apply from USA border for USA entry dates? pLEASE HELP. Will it make my application non-routine??

 

[thecoolguysam]

Hi,

I had my test on July 15th. Everything went fine except one entry/exit to USA for a day trip was missing on my file. I did not put it as I had the re-entry stamp but there was no exit stamp on my passport for that particular date. The officer raised the issue and finally noted the re-entry date on my file and said if they need anything they will send a letter, otherwise if we don't receive anything for 2 weeks oath letter will come. I have 60 extra days before I applied for citizenship. I am thinking to get the entry/exits records beforehand to save time in case they ask for it. But Canada border will give only entry dates which I already have. Should I apply from USA border for USA entry dates? pLEASE HELP. Will it make my application non-routine??

Is it the entry for USA side missing? Does the entry on Canada side shows up in CBSA records?
Was it a road trip? Were you issued i94 card because of which the passport was not stamped? Does the passport have entry stamp on Canada side?

 

[b52shot]

I have a similar situation. I have ordered entry records from both CBSA and CBP. It was a day trip, entry record into the US is missing while entry into Canada is listed (no stamps on my passport from either side), and happened to have my I-94 in my passport when re-visited the US. What do you think I should do ?

Thanks

 

[keesio]

I had so much travel history when I applied that I had many stamps that were stamped on top of each other. For some I had 3 or 4 stamps stamped in the same area. Hence they were very difficult to read. The interviewer tried and did some guesses but usually just took my word for it. Really, it depends on how your interview goes and if you have any other red flags. I had no issues and got my oath letter an hour later (Mississauga sometimes gives them out on the same day) and took my oath a week later.

 

[ItkExpert]

I had so much travel history when I applied that I had many stamps that were stamped on top of each other. For some I had 3 or 4 stamps stamped in the same area. Hence they were very difficult to read. The interviewer tried and did some guesses but usually just took my word for it. Really, it depends on how your interview goes and if you have any other red flags. I had no issues and got my oath letter an hour later (Mississauga sometimes gives them out on the same day) and took my oath a week later.

My issue was that I had an entry to Canada stamp in my passport however this entry was missing in the CBSA (as I found out later). At the interview the officer said that everything looks fine only to send me and RQ few days later (imagine my disappointment as I was expecting to receive oath invitation). This was back in October 2013 and this was a pretext for delaying my application for 20 months only to be decided upon this week (I am still waiting for the oath).

The upside is that CIC thinks that applicants who applied in 2015 and later are more worthy than older applicants (although both are tax paying residents) so issues for new applicants will most likely be resolved much quicker.

 

[edm_AS]

Is it the entry for USA side missing? Does the entry on Canada side shows up in CBSA records?
Was it a road trip? Were you issued i94 card because of which the passport was not stamped? Does the passport have entry stamp on Canada side?

Yes it was a road trip, might be a one day trip and already had i94. I do have stamp of re-entry into Canada.

 

[fid1]

Re: What if some entry and exit not recorded

I need help with this people. My test date is July 28 in Calgary, I traveled out of the country to Africa in 2013 using travel document that only valid for a year and the travel document was renewed which I had to send back the old one that has the stamp of my exit or the date I got into the country I was visiting. I sent a request to CBSA for my exit and entry record to be sent to me but unfortunately the record sent back to me doesn't have the exit from Canada but has the record of entry into Canada. How do I explain this to the interviewer's on the day of the test or how do I go about this. thanks all

 

[thecoolguysam]

Yes it was a road trip, might be a one day trip and already had i94. I do have stamp of re-entry into Canada.

This is how it works here in Vancouver/Washington Border during road trip by private vehicle like car.

When a person enters USA, he is issued i94 and at that point of time the passport is stamped once. I94 is usually valid for 6 months. On the way back to Vancouver(Canada) the CBSA officer usually scans the PR card and does not stamp the passport.
On the next trip to WA, USA, the officer simply scans the visa (on usa side) and as the person has a valid I94, the passport is not stamped. When i94 is reissued then the passport is stamped again.

I am not sure how the process works in Alberta.

In any case, CBSA records will show the entries into Canada and FOIA will show entries into USA.
As you have your CBSA records, you will see your entries into Canada.
For USA, if you order your FOIA records then you will see your entries into USA.

Its your wish whether to order USA CBP FOIA records right now or at a later point of time if CIC asks about it.
Usually for some people it took less than a week to get USA CBP FOIA records. For me it took less than 1 month and for some people it took many months.

You can order FOIA records using the following link:
https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/request/publicPreCreate

Don't "Continue as Guest". Make sure you create an account in order to get the results.

Also, in the meanwhile you can click the following link to check your entries into USA(its an alternative way to access your usa records) however if you order FOIA records those would be more detailed.

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/

 

[edm_AS]

This is how it works here in Vancouver/Washington Border during road trip by private vehicle like car.

When a person enters USA, he is issued i94 and at that point of time the passport is stamped once. I94 is usually valid for 6 months. On the way back to Vancouver(Canada) the CBSA officer usually scans the PR card and does not stamp the passport.
On the next trip to WA, USA, the officer simply scans the visa (on usa side) and as the person has a valid I94, the passport is not stamped. When i94 is reissued then the passport is stamped again.

I am not sure how the process works in Alberta.

In any case, CBSA records will show the entries into Canada and FOIA will show entries into USA.
As you have your CBSA records, you will see your entries into Canada.
For USA, if you order your FOIA records then you will see your entries into USA.

Its your wish whether to order USA CBP FOIA records right now or at a later point of time if CIC asks about it.
Usually for some people it took less than a week to get USA CBP FOIA records. For me it took less than 1 month and for some people it took many months.

You can order FOIA records using the following link:
https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/request/publicPreCreate

Don't "Continue as Guest". Make sure you create an account in order to get the results.

Also, in the meanwhile you can click the following link to check your entries into USA(its an alternative way to access your usa records) however if you order FOIA records those would be more detailed.

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/

Thanks

 

[BasilBrush]

If stamps are shady or missing, then it is best to find some other documentation to prove your movements. Copies of airline tickets or boarding passes, credit card statements can also show where you were and when.

 

[Hope for best]

Dear all,
I need your advice. I already wrote my test on July 2, 2015. The officer then asked for a full translation of our older (expired) passport, knowing that we already provided a full translation of all the stamps in the 4 years preceding the application but he wanted all the stamps since the date of issuance of the passports (2005). Anyways, we received the CBSA records as well, which we ordered once we received our test invite.
The good new is that all the entries matched what we had on the RC, EXCEPT the entry on the landing day.
We were already in Canada when we got our PR visa so we drove to the border, made the U-turn and made the landing.
It is clear that the date and the border is the landing date and border entry showing on our PR cards, and both my husband and my daughter did not have a US visa by that time to enter the US so they can't enter anyways.
Will this be an issue??
Please share your opinions