Ottawa
If I am not wrong you are skinning the wrong animal.
For citizenship you dont require to show income and I doubt if you will be questioned as to how you managed to survive. This is not same as applying for sponsership so does not come into picture.
To prove that you were here they check your passport for stamps and may ask you to show some utility bills such as phone etc. etc.
You can go to US and still maintain a residence or sembalance of residence here by keeping a phone line active as well as doing some bank transactions.
They wont ask you where you have been after applying, the question is where you were before applying.

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DIE HARD !

Chor Per Mor

Thanks,
I understand your point. But I am somehwat confused. Many of my friends apply for citzenship in last few years and all they had to do to go and take test and oath after 12, 13 months. One of them even did not have the passport as he never apply for new one after he lost the old one. I have phone and other bills and my passport is also with me but since when CIC start checking the passport?Does CIC check for every one now or is like Bighead mention only for few cases to maintain quality assurance? When do they check it? at oath, test or do I will have to comeback only to show my passport at any point?

it all happens before the oath... if you are called in for the oath then your application is pretty much done...

its always a good idea to take your passport with you when you go for the test.. i know of cases where after taking the test, the applicants have been asked to produce passport, and since they had it with them at that point, they saved few months of additional processing with respect to sending copies after the fact to cic by mail...

if they require additional proof of residence, they will send you a letter asking for it... the letters i have seen personally from other applicants asking for evidence of residency do not specify what to give them, they ask for documentary evidence to prove you meet the residency requirement for grant of canadian citizenship... in these cases, the applicants have forwarded variety of different forms of proof... as i said, its very objective...

some of the applicants have been asked for specific documents, usually tax returns, bank statements and pay slips...

chor... coming back to your point, you are right that you dont need to meet minimum income as far as applying for citizenship is concerned, but its very possible that applicant will be asked to show tax returns (as this is the most common and easiest way of verifying employment and hence residency)... this will lead to the obvious questions about if applicant did not have income and hence did not file tax returns how did applicant support himself... if at that point you say "oh i took tutions and did odd jobs" then it becomes tax evasion which is a offence under the criminal code of canada because these things are still "income" including the rent you paid to your relatives which is rental income to them which they should declare (but thats their problem not yours... also ottawa, i hope you have receipts for the rent you paid to your sisters brother)... if cic want to get really thorough then they can... always better to be safe specially in a different new country where you are not yet completely established...

ottawa.. take smiley's advice and file your tax returns, declare any income you have received "under the table" (i am assuming its not a lot of money) and pay the penalty on it and be done with it... its always better to be on the straight and narrow and not get into hassles which can be avoided very easily...

Question from another newsgroup from people who have received this letter from CIC asking for additional Docs:

I applied for citizenship a few months ago. A few months later, I was requested to do my written test which I did. While I was waiting to receive a request for my oath, I got a strange letter from an immigration judge asking for more documents to prove that I fulfilled my residence requirements in Canada. He asked for copies of all pages in my old passports since I enetered Canada, letter of employements, subscription to clubs, etc. My questions are:

1. is it normal to get such a request after doing the written test? or should it happen before the test?

2. What is the objective of this request? and what if not all the documents requested are available for me since they are asking for many details that I usually do not keep.

3. why is this letter coming from a judge and not from a normal immigration officer? do I need to get a laywer?

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We will find a way or we will make one

Thank you guys.
I talked to RC and I am gonna file the taxes for last 2 years tomorrow.