A few questions re: citizenship application...

[ukulele]

Hi everyone:

I am preparing docs for my citizenship application and I would really appreciate if I could get some feedback from those who have already applied...

1. Language skills proof. I graduated from Seneca College (2 year diploma program), do I need a copy of my diploma only? Or should I play it safe and attach an official transcript as well? I work in a law firm too so I could ask one of the lawyers to notarise the copies, any wisdom in doing that, or is it an overkill?

2. When travelling to Country A via Country B and Country B stamps your passport, what do I put on the residence calculator? I will give you an example: I went to Peru for 1.5 weeks, but I had 2 24-hour layovers in Mexico City on the way there and back. I did go out to the city both times so my passport was stamped 2 times by Mexicans. Do I put Peru as a destination and then in the comment section mention that I spent 24 hours in Mexico City on the way there and back? Or do I do 3 separate entries one being for Mexico (1 day) and the other being for Peru (1.5 weeks) and then returning to Canada another stop in Mexico?

3. Copies of passport pages, do they have to be colour or can they be b/w?

4. Is there any wisdom in attaching an explanation letter for all of my travels with copies of boarding passes and bookings? (Yes, I did keep every single boarding pass and every single booking that I printed out since I have always known the risks of RQ in the future... Now the future is here and it's not fun... It's complicated haha). That will mean 30 extra pages of extra stuff. I obviously understand that they do not ask for that, but having travelled quite a bit (10 short holidays in the last 5 years each being 1 week or 1.5 weeks + a couple of 1 day trips by car to Buffalo), I am thinking of any possible way of reducing the risk of Residence Questionnaire. I am not too afraid of it since I have nothing to hide and have documents for every single trip that I have done in the last 5 years, but I still cannot decide whether I should give them all I have to be safe, or whether I should wait for them to decide whether I need an RQ or not...

5. Translating stamps. Do I do it? Or do I wait for them to ask for it? I have 2 sets of stamps that are not in English. 1 set from Egypt (fully in Arabic, I cannot read it myself) and the other one is from Panama (fully in Spanish).

6. I ordered all of my entries to Canada from CBSA and they are all correct. No mistakes there. However, there was 1 day when I entered the U.S. twice in one day. One trip to Buffalo, then came back to Niagara Falls, Canada, and then crossed back to the U.S. side of Niagara Falls with my friends and came back same evening. So basically 2 trips to the U.S. and back in 1 day. Do I do 2 entries or 1 entry on a residence calculator with a comment section explanation? Also, for some reason, when I checked the U.S. Immigration website, they [U.S. authorities] only have 1 entry recorded for that day. I cannot remember why, but I remember we crossed by car both times, maybe that's the reason and they did not scan my passport properly perphaps... Who knows at this point... CBSA has it right though, so I am not too worried about it.

Those are all my concerns, and I would really appreciate if you guys could answer at least some of my questions.

I really appreciate everybody's time and effort in answering these.

Thanks

 

[HamiltonApplicant]

1. Language skills proof. I graduated from Seneca College (2 year diploma program), do I need a copy of my diploma only? Or should I play it safe and attach an official transcript as well? I work in a law firm too so I could ask one of the lawyers to notarise the copies, any wisdom in doing that, or is it an overkill?

copy of diploma should do

2. When travelling to Country A via Country B and Country B stamps your passport, what do I put on the residence calculator?

I would put final destination, in Reason column of physical presence calculator, I would mention in between countries and dates

3. Copies of passport pages, do they have to be colour or can they be b/w?

b/w is adequate

4. Is there any wisdom in attaching an explanation letter for all of my travels with copies of boarding passes and bookings?

Reason column of physical presence calculator can be used for this purpose.

5. Translating stamps. Do I do it? Or do I wait for them to ask for it? I have 2 sets of stamps that are not in English. 1 set from Egypt (fully in Arabic, I cannot read it myself) and the other one is from Panama (fully in Spanish).

Translate only the Non English/French ones

6. I ordered all of my entries to Canada from CBSA and they are all correct. No mistakes there. .....

Make your physical presence calculation truthful the full extent of your knowledge, you don't have to worry about CBSA records. IRCC/CIC will get them I think. I did not bother about CBSA....

 

[sistemc]

There is very comprehensive citizenship application instruction guide available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/CIT0002ETOC.asp

You can find most of the answers there.

In addition:
- several short travels and entries into the Canada would support your residency in Canada more than arrival several years ago then dissapearance under the CBSA radar
- why you ordered entries list from the CBSA? You are explicitly instructed in the application form not to do that

 

[devilhimselff]

The idea is to keep it simple and follow the check list precisely. I will not go overboard as it is unnecessary and might raise a question of Why?

1 - Just a simple photocopy. Or sealed transcripts if you have one. In the interview they'll check originals.

2 - Mentions travel A to B, then B to C and in the explanation write your reason/s.

3 - Black and white will suffice, should be clear and only what is asked for in the check list.

4 - No. Use space provided in the calculator. Again don't overdo it, if they need something they'll ask.

5 - Have the stamps translated and keep it with you for interview. It is not required for initial application, follow checklist.

6 - When checking USA entries it does say that this might not be complete list, they might have a system that we can't see but offcourse the officer should be able to verify everything. Also you know they do mention not to ask CBSA for entries. If you did for clarification then keep it with you.

I will follow checklist, and won't include anything unnecessary. We applied in July and are DM now. I included just the stuff asked in the checklist. They'll have your ROE, tax returns etc. that they can see and verify.

Good luck.