I applied for citizenship in feb2007 after the required 1095 days of physical presence. I received the letter for giving the test in July 2007.When I arrived at the Mississauga centre, I was in for a rude shock. The officer asked me if I knew to speak English .When I answered in the affirmative, she looked at my application and told me that I had to meet with the judge as I was out of Canada for six months after my arrival in 2003.I consider myself quite methodical and was sure nothing was wrong with my application. I tried explaining to the officer in vain. She didn’t ask for any documents and asked me to leave the room as she was busy. I felt humiliated when the officer asked me to leave the place and felt discriminated. After speaking with the supervisor I was allowed to write the test which I completed successfully. I once again went through all the citizenship rules for applying and found no reason why I had to meet with the judge.
I talked to the call centre who advised me to fax for an appointment with the Mississauga officer. When 2 weeks passed with no result I decided to go there to personally speak with some officer. Speaking to a microphone outside on the wall seemed stupid enough, what is worse is that there was nobody to talk to me. Luckily I received a letter and a date for the interview with the judge. However I had to fill the residency Questionnaire and also make tons of photocopies worth about 100$, time off from work and evidence to prove my residency in Canada. I was happy at least it didn’t take much time before I got to meet with the judge.
I finally met with Judge in Aug 2007, who interviewed me for about a hour and half. I had to show what I did in Canada for the last three years- I had to submit employment documents, bank deposits, bills, credit card accounts, tax summary,T4,T5,Educational certificates, community involvement .The judge was finally convinced that I was a potential Canuck in the making! The Judge told me in addition to the physical presence, one has to also prove his/her establishing ties to Canada and the interview was done on case to case basis. The judge credited me for having kept all the necessary documents/receipts right from the day one in Canada to prove my ties to Canada.
I finally took the oath after a month and became a proud Citizen
..... Or am I?
Some questions are still unanswered as far as I am concerned
Why is one invited to write the test if it did not meet their undisclosed \"criteria?\"
Why don’t they mention all the requirements to become a citizen including that one should “establish” oneself to show ties to Canada?
If they were so particular about entry/exits why can’t they just stamp in/out in the passports as in other countries?
Thank you for all your wonderful posts which truly helped in getting valuable info through my ordeal. My advice to people applying for citizenship is not to apply before 1095 days of physical presence and also keep all documents right from the day of arrival no matter how trivial it may seem.
Tiru,
This was despite the fact that you had submitted your residency questionnaire with your application? I mean you still had to resubmit it along with everything else later on?
Location: Western Hemisphere
Posted on: 01-10-07 11:50:57
Your advice in the last couple of sentences states not to apply before 1095 completion. Did you too? From your post, looks like you took every step to document your timing from landing to citizenship.
Anyway, I normally don't go in with too much expectation when dealing with Govt people. They all share the same quirkiness, with Canada being on the better half. Having said that, what you went through was probably normal among applicants chosen for "audit" or "special review" or one of those sorts that they don't or don't have to disclose.
They do check if you can speak English. How they do it depends on the people skills of the officer. And the people skills of the officer pretty much drove your day on that day.
Look at all the positives: you were able to talk to a supervisor, you wrote the test, the Judge was impresssed at your document keeping and you are a Canuck. So, it's all in the game.
I do however think Canada should start stamping at entry via airport.
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Dimple2001
Yellowknife I had to fill the questionnaire only once and take it along with the photocopies to the judge.
Dimple2001 you are right that the officer needs people skills while interacting with people.I was not bugged because she asked me if i knew to speak english.
However it is my understanding that the officer must check the passports and other documents before sending me to the judge as i was already fulfilling the 1095 days of physical presence on the date of application.Also i did not find the requirement anywhere in the website or application form that one has to show ties to canada by \"establishing\" in Canada.
In other words if a permanent resident stays in canada for three years but doesn't have proof to show that he/she is employed or chose to remain unemployed,he/she would not be granted citizenship although the 1095days of physical presence is satisfied and will have a tough time in explaining or convincing the judge.
It is not all in the game!! as you say. I feel we need to have specific and clear cut requirements.
Everybody's case is entirely different from others. I had a very smooth process in my citizenship but I always had problem with CRA people since i am working in US and staying in Windsor. I think it all depends on your luck, officer's mood, crowd of the day etc,. I always convince myself by comparing Canada with India. Guess if canadians have to come to India for immigration and deal with Indian government people
Quote:
Originally posted by tiru
Yellowknife I had to fill the questionnaire only once and take it along with the photocopies to the judge.
Dimple2001 you are right that the officer needs people skills while interacting with people.I was not bugged because she asked me if i knew to speak english.
However it is my understanding that the officer must check the passports and other documents before sending me to the judge as i was already fulfilling the 1095 days of physical presence on the date of application.Also i did not find the requirement anywhere in the website or application form that one has to show ties to canada by \"establishing\" in Canada.
In other words if a permanent resident stays in canada for three years but doesn't have proof to show that he/she is employed or chose to remain unemployed,he/she would not be granted citizenship although the 1095days of physical presence is satisfied and will have a tough time in explaining or convincing the judge.
It is not all in the game!! as you say. I feel we need to have specific and clear cut requirements.
tiru,...what was your citizenship (before you became Canadian)?
Quote:
Originally posted by tiru
.....The judge credited me for having kept all the necessary documents/receipts right from the day one in Canada to prove my ties to Canada....
That is exactly what I did, just in case....
