Unlink Joint Applicaiton - Citizenship Application Delay

[yusufali85]

My wife and I submitted a joint application for Canadian citizenship. Her application has progressed to the final stage and is currently awaiting the Citizenship Ceremony. Meanwhile, mine has been stuck in the "Background Verification" stage for over a year.

We’re starting to feel that the delay in my application might be preventing hers from being finalized, even though she likely could have received her citizenship months ago. We're now considering requesting IRCC to unlink our applications, but we're unsure whether this could help speed things up for her or potentially complicate the process further.

Can anyone shed some light on this?
Would unlinking the applications allow the other applicant to move forward independently? Any insights or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[forw.jane]

My wife and I submitted a joint application for Canadian citizenship. Her application has progressed to the final stage and is currently awaiting the Citizenship Ceremony. Meanwhile, mine has been stuck in the "Background Verification" stage for over a year.

We’re starting to feel that the delay in my application might be preventing hers from being finalized, even though she likely could have received her citizenship months ago. We're now considering requesting IRCC to unlink our applications, but we're unsure whether this could help speed things up for her or potentially complicate the process further.

Can anyone shed some light on this?
Would unlinking the applications allow the other applicant to move forward independently? Any insights or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Yes unlinking will help you wife application move ahead.

 

[abff08f4813c]

OP, please keep us posted on how it goes!

I don't understand the benefit of linking citizenship applications together. It seems like it has some negatives to it (such as OP's wife's case getting delayed due to being linked), but I can't think of any positives.

 

[yusufali85]

OP, please keep us posted on how it goes!

I don't understand the benefit of linking citizenship applications together. It seems like it has some negatives to it (such as OP's wife's case getting delayed due to being linked), but I can't think of any positives.

In hindsight, we regret applying for citizenship as a family. When we applied for permanent residency together, the process was smooth—one application, no delays, and everything progressed efficiently. Unfortunately, our experience with the citizenship application has been quite frustrating.

It seems my background verification has taken over a year, while my wife has completed all her steps except for the final citizenship ceremony. At this point, I believe the best course of action would be to unlink our applications and allow her to proceed independently. Meanwhile, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for some movement on my own application.

 

[armoured]

OP, please keep us posted on how it goes!

I don't understand the benefit of linking citizenship applications together. It seems like it has some negatives to it (such as OP's wife's case getting delayed due to being linked), but I can't think of any positives.

I think it was - originally - more about having ceremonies together, from days before virtual ceremonies.

And of course 'family' apps for those with minor children means a joint app with the kids- does save time compared to parents getting citizenship first, THEN applying for minors (but no obvious benefit for spouse, except to extent means all can have ceremony and apply for passports all at the same time).

 

[abff08f4813c]

I think it was - originally - more about having ceremonies together, from days before virtual ceremonies.

Ah, yes, this makes sense. Personally, I'm of the kind that would like the excuse to celebrate twice, but I can see for others how this can be well worth the wait (presuming that the extra delay is reasonable and not surprising).

And of course 'family' apps for those with minor children means a joint app with the kids- does save time compared to parents getting citizenship first, THEN applying for minors

Agreed, that bit I knew.

When we applied for permanent residency together, the process was smooth—one application, no delays, and everything progressed efficiently.

Isn't that a bit different though? I thought for PR one had to apply together (unless one had a non-accompanying spouse). I was under the impression that, for example, two PGWP holders who met in Canada and both had their own independent pathway to PR, but who get married (or even just end up as common-law) have to apply together.

At this point, I believe the best course of action would be to unlink our applications and allow her to proceed independently. Meanwhile, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for some movement on my own application.

Agreed, and good luck.

Not sure if this will ever apply to you, but one thing I've seen on this forum are cases where the couple unexpectedly had to move out of Canada due to some family issue, and were away for so long that both failed RO - meaning both could lose PR and neither may have a pathway back into Canada again.

Ensuring that at least one half of a couple is a Canadian citizen avoids that.

 

[yusufali85]

Isn't that a bit different though? I thought for PR one had to apply together (unless one had a non-accompanying spouse). I was under the impression that, for example, two PGWP holders who met in Canada and both had their own independent pathway to PR, but who get married (or even just end up as common-law) have to apply together.

Ah yes, Once I completed my 1,000+ days in Canada, the thought of applying separately for citizenship didn’t even cross my mind. It felt natural to submit our applications together, just as we had done for permanent residency. That process had gone smoothly, so we assumed the same would apply to citizenship. In retrospect, applying as a family may not have been the best decision.

Agreed, and good luck.

Not sure if this will ever apply to you, but one thing I've seen on this forum are cases where the couple unexpectedly had to move out of Canada due to some family issue, and were away for so long that both failed RO - meaning both could lose PR and neither may have a pathway back into Canada again.

Ensuring that at least one half of a couple is a Canadian citizen avoids that.

One couldn’t apply for Canadian citizenship without first meeting the residency obligation (RO) required for permanent residency. However, once a person has applied for citizenship and later needs to move out of Canada for any reason, their permanent resident (PR) status remains unaffected—regardless of how long the citizenship process takes. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[armoured]

However, once a person has applied for citizenship and later needs to move out of Canada for any reason, their permanent resident (PR) status remains unaffected—regardless of how long the citizenship process takes. Correct me if I am wrong.

You are wrong. One must remain in compliance with the residency obligation until one becomes a citizen.

This is a corner case admittedly - one has to either/and be out of Canada for quite a while and have one's application take a very long time indeed.

 

[abff08f4813c]

Ah yes, Once I completed my 1,000+ days in Canada, the thought of applying separately for citizenship didn’t even cross my mind. It felt natural to submit our applications together, just as we had done for permanent residency. That process had gone smoothly, so we assumed the same would apply to citizenship. In retrospect, applying as a family may not have been the best decision.

To be fair, we might well have made the same decision over here. (This despite having a slightly less smooth experience with PR than you seem to have had.) The main reason we didn't is because my wife decided not to pursue citizenship at all.

One couldn’t apply for Canadian citizenship without first meeting the residency obligation (RO) required for permanent residency. However, once a person has applied for citizenship and later needs to move out of Canada for any reason, their permanent resident (PR) status remains unaffected—regardless of how long the citizenship process takes. Correct me if I am wrong.

You are wrong. One must remain in compliance with the residency obligation until one becomes a citizen.

This is a corner case admittedly - one has to either/and be out of Canada for quite a while and have one's application take a very long time indeed.

In fact, recently we had one person report having a citizenship app stuck for almost four years, see https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...-for-citizenship.333455/page-74#post-11087172

(Though it seems this is related to coming in as a refugee originally, thus, definitely a corner case and not applicable to OP's situation.)

I'd agree that in most cases, the citizenship is approved and gets to oath before enough days are lost for the RO to be put at risk. And this could be worse - it's just the RO that has to be maintained.

So even for those long citizenship cases, one could imagine leaving Canada after having 1095 days of physical presence in the last three years, and then returning after another three years (i.e. returning just in time to prevent RO from going under the minimum 730 days). If it was the stricter citizenship physical presence requirement that had to be met (that is, keeping 1095 of presence post application), one wouldn't be able to leave for as long.

Likewise, if it's a PR married to a Canadian citizen who is in turn applied for citizenship for themselves as well, then the PR can follow the citizen abroad and maintain RO by staying with the citizen, despite being out of Canada. Under the citizenship physical presence rule, those stays spent with the citizen wouldn't count since they're abroad, but those days DO count for RO. So PR would be maintained even for cases where the citizenship app takes extremely long (4+ years) and the PR is abroad (but with the citizen spouse) for the same time period.

Edit: Found another case, that dpenabill mentioned some years ago, where the wait time was twenty years (20) ! https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...ant-waiting-for-the-test.668764/#post-8369537