Didn't see that one coming...

[GK]

Man, was I ever excited being called for the interview & test last week. It didn't take more than 7 months from CIC received my application until I was called for test - and that included fingerprinting. I did the test but during the interview the lady had to go thru all my passport stamps. The thing is, although I have my required days, I have a lot of international business trips. To give you an idea, I’ve been Air Canada Super Elite for the past few years, averaging 150,000 miles a year, but I’m usually not out of the country for more than 3 days, even if I go to Johannesburg or Shanghai. My out of country calculator prints 2 pages… I honestly felt bad for the lady going thru all my passport stamps trying to match them. Shame on me I hadn’t properly verified every single stamp and after a good 20 minutes she gave up put a RQ form on the desk with the words “if we are to go thru all trips we will be here all afternoon”.

I have spent 6 hours straight collecting Tax Assessment, T4s and mortgage papers, etc. Hope to get the “package” done by today’s mail collection… and then wait for another 6 months before seeing the Judge.

Word of advice for the frequent flyers out there: verify your passport stamps and travel documents and your interview will go much smoother.

 

[Rosebud]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your experience. It will help a lot of people and will save CIC from trouble.


Good Luck

Rose

 

[AnonymousB]

I am so sorry that you had to go through this, the officer was probably hungry thinking of her stomach than your interest, pathetic. What do you mean by verifying? You have logged everything on the paper and the stamps are on your passport, what else can one do in this situation!

 

[SenoritaBella]

You can also request your travel records(air and land) from CBSA and their American counterpart(if you take trips to the US).

 

[GK]

Thought of doing that but there is only a difference in 4 days for me. Most cases, my flight was late and I passed Immigration past midnight, hence my own record tells me I arrived on November 3rd, but passport stamps says 4th.

 

[jollygill]

hi GK,
i am a truck driver and had lot of travel to U.S and had to spend few nights in U.S although i work for canadian truck company.i was just wondering how to declayer the absences from canada for trips to U.S.A. i dont remember dates and only have rough guess.cbsa trveller report cant clarify this either b'cos of too much travelling entries.
CIC site says----

Q11: I travel often because of my work (truck driver, employee for an airline company, etc.). Do I have to declare those absences?

A11: Yes. All absences from Canada, regardless of the reason, must be declared. The only trips you do not have to declare are those where you left and came back to Canada on the same day.


did you counted days of your travel as absences and were there any discussion about this with citizenship officer.
i am lot in dark about this any views will be helpful.

 

[rajmalhotra7]

hi GK,
i am a truck driver and had lot of travel to U.S and had to spend few nights in U.S although i work for canadian truck company.i was just wondering how to declayer the absences from canada for trips to U.S.A. i dont remember dates and only have rough guess.cbsa trveller report cant clarify this either b'cos of too much travelling entries.
CIC site says----

Q11: I travel often because of my work (truck driver, employee for an airline company, etc.). Do I have to declare those absences?

A11: Yes. All absences from Canada, regardless of the reason, must be declared. The only trips you do not have to declare are those where you left and came back to Canada on the same day.


did you counted days of your travel as absences and were there any discussion about this with citizenship officer.
i am lot in dark about this any views will be helpful.

Yes you have to declare absences from Canada while on trucking job to USA.

There is a way where you can get list of entry/entries into USA, but I am not sure about website name/office and procedure. And CBSA entries give you list of entries made in Canada. This way you can reconcile your absences from Canada while trips to USA.

I remember someone on this forum who applied for Canadian citizenship and was a US green card holder was asked to submit record of entries into USA from an office in USA.

 

[jollygill]

thanks rajmalhotra7,

i got CBSA and am still waiting for USCBP exit entry records.
canada is taking 2-3 months and i read somewhere 6 months for U.S records.so still need to wait 3 more months for U.S records.

i may be able to figure out the days absent in last 3 years which i feel will not be more than 30.

what i am trying to find about is that will those days be counted in as canadian days or not.
also comments will be appreciated from anybody who was in similar situation as mine because of daily employment travelling to U.S and had gone through this calculation puzzle

 

[jollygill]

website for U.S ENTRY EXIT record request

cbp.gov/xp/cgov/admin/fl/foia/foia_requests/how_entry_exit.xml

 

[GK]

I was really expecting a JH but to my surprise I came home to an Notice To Appear for Oath this coming Canada Day! I honestly thought I wasn't going to hear anything until next year...

 

[sweetakash]

I was really expecting a JH but to my surprise I came home to an Notice To Appear for Oath this coming Canada Day! I honestly thought I wasn't going to hear anything until next year...

Congratulations GK.
The title you coined in NOV-2012 to start this thread suits aptly for your todays status. cheers!!!

 

[janoo]

Congratulation, and prey for me am in same time line.

 

[Montrosco]

How to get CBSA report and how long it takes

Thank you

 

[Michels]

I was really expecting a JH but to my surprise I came home to an Notice To Appear for Oath this coming Canada Day! I honestly thought I wasn't going to hear anything until next year...

GK, congratulations!
where is your local office? I am also an AC FF by virtue of my job, applied 7 month ago and waiting for the test.. Calculator also took 2 full pages..Will translate all stamps and prepare an excel for reference.. Have lots of stamps before moving for good on old passports that will need to be mentionned/translated .
Did submit employment letters and T4s for the last 4 years.. They returned my documents the first time requesting all the official transcripts for my kids from school, even though we applied for their citizenship earlier with my wife.. Thought why they would ask for those.. And it delayed my submission for a couple of month.
For info My wife got RQed 4 month ago and is going for test next month.. All the documents we submitted for her RQ would support my application too just in case.. But our files are separate..and guess COs won't bother linking both...