Withdraw and reapply?

[armoured]

I’ll likely wait until the 10 months processing time is over and then contact my MP if they’re of any help at all.

If I don’t withdraw I’m going with mandamus before end of year.

That is your choice but I believe the test for mandamus is excessively delayed or similar concept. Ten months - barely current estimated processing time.

Mandamus timelines - think two-three or more standard deviations, not "more than average."

This is to have chance of succeeding in mandamus. Of course many hope the demand letter will work on its own.

My info based on what I've heard. YMMV. And it's your dime, of course.

 

[anuj_25]

Your discrepancy of entering US should not cause reduction in your days of physical presence as any partial day in Canada due to entry / exit in Canada is also counted as a full day towards your citizenship.

You don’t have to get the travel history report from CBSA or even send it to IRCC as IRCC can by themselves get it from CBSA if needed, in fact if you try requesting the report directly from the CBSA, it will cause a significant delay to your citizenship application process. Please see link below with this information

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/pia-efvp/atip-aiprp/thr-rav-eng.html

 

[Kiranmayi]

Hi @ibimmer Any update on your application?

 

[Kiranmayi]

Hi @armoured @Seym @Copingwithlife and seniors here

I’m looking for some guidance from experienced members regarding my citizenship application.

My previous application (submitted in 2018) was unfortunately marked abandoned in Jan 2023 after I missed multiple oath ceremonies due to COVID travel restrictions and family circumstances. IRCC advised me to reapply.

I submitted my new application on Oct 2, 2024. Background check was completed on Dec 13, 2024, and my file was referred for Program Support review for residence/presence.

From my GCMS notes (Feb 2026), my physical presence was calculated at around 954 days, so I am below the 1,095 requirement.

Recently (April 2026), I received an update that I’m scheduled to take the citizenship test between April and May 2026.

My questions are:

1. Has anyone seen cases where an application still proceeds to the test stage despite being short on physical presence?
2. Does receiving a test invite indicate that Program Support review may have already been completed?
3. In such situations, what usually happens after the test — is refusal still the most likely outcome, or have there been approvals?
4. How long does it typically take to receive a final decision after the test in non-routine cases like this?

Any insights or similar experiences would be really helpful. Thanks in advance!

 

[Seym]

@Kiranmayi
1) yeah, the test and PP assessment are separate.
2 and 4) dunno really, but in practice, it doesn't matter much because of the answer to 3.
3) 99.999999999% refusal. The citizenship act is very clear, you cannot be given citizenship as you're not admissible, unless you get it through subsection 5(4), the minister's discretionary grant. But that's a very very high bar, which was probably used at times, to answer your question, but yeah, forget it... Or, you're the next Messi and Canada is winning the world cup if they can squeeze you in their squad. No? Tough luck.

Please withdraw your application, and if there's a third try, be serious about it and don't waste your and IRCC's time. Not to sound too harsh, but falling nearly 5 months below the 1095 days threshold is ridiculous at best. What were you thinking? It was doomed from the start and you must have known.

 

[armoured]

3) 99.999999999% refusal. The citizenship act is very clear, you cannot be given citizenship as you're not admissible, unless you get it through subsection 5(4), the minister's discretionary grant. But that's a very very high bar, which was probably used at times, to answer your question, but yeah, forget it... Or, you're the next Messi and Canada is winning the world cup if they can squeeze you in their squad. No? Tough luck.

Please withdraw your application, and if there's a third try, be serious about it and don't waste your and IRCC's time. Not to sound too harsh, but falling nearly 5 months below the 1095 days threshold is ridiculous at best. What were you thinking? It was doomed from the start and you must have known.

WARNING: while I agree that if the applicant is certain that they are under the 1095 days, I'm not clear that this is the case for @Kiranmayi . (But I might have missed something, or one of us may have confused with another case)

Even for cases where it is referred to program support for residence/presence, there ARE cases where it's referred for checks where IRCC either accepts the physical presence evidence or does its own checks and decides the PP is met.

 

[Seym]

WARNING: while I agree that if the applicant is certain that they are under the 1095 days, I'm not clear that this is the case for @Kiranmayi . (But I might have missed something, or one of us may have confused with another case)

Even for cases where it is referred to program support for residence/presence, there ARE cases where it's referred for checks where IRCC either accepts the physical presence evidence or does its own checks and decides the PP is met.

Thabk you for the clarification! As @Kiranmayi has been a PR for many years, I don't see how there would be such a discrepancy here to be honest. I'd understand for a visitor status where the applicant may be able to prove their presence and convince IRCC, but this isn't the situation here. Obviously, if there's something "special" in @Kiranmayi 's application, it goes from "you're not eligible" to "well, these things will take time".

 

[armoured]

Thabk you for the clarification! As @Kiranmayi has been a PR for many years, I don't see how there would be such a discrepancy here to be honest. I'd understand for a visitor status where the applicant may be able to prove their presence and convince IRCC, but this isn't the situation here. Obviously, if there's something "special" in @Kiranmayi 's application, it goes from "you're not eligible" to "well, these things will take time".

I do not know the answer. I simply don't see info about where @Kiranmayi is actually residing/how much time in Canada. Other posts refer to being 'in Europe' re test, that is, I understand to mean 'now', and presumably the previous abandoned app meant was away back around time of that oath invite.

So it could be you're exactly right - if @Kiranmayi is residing outside Canada nad didn't have the requisite 1095 days, then it's not a viable application.

@Kiranmayi : the ball is in your court to clarify. Nobody can provide useful info, really, without that basic info.

A reminder: two 100% requirements for a valid citizenship app are to a) have 1095 days in Canada (physically) in the five years prior to the date of citizenship application, and b) to remain compliant with the PR residency obligation (730 days in last five years /as at any date/) until the date of oath.

If you did not meet a) above, your application was never viable. Since you applied in October 2024, you could potentially fail b) now if you have been outside of Canada much since then (depending on details of your absences from Canada going back to 2021).

 

[armoured]

Thabk you for the clarification! As @Kiranmayi has been a PR for many years, I don't see how there would be such a discrepancy here to be honest. I'd understand for a visitor status where the applicant may be able to prove their presence and convince IRCC, but this isn't the situation here. Obviously, if there's something "special" in @Kiranmayi 's application, it goes from "you're not eligible" to "well, these things will take time".

Just to clarify, I believe we have seen some apps go for clarification where eg the applicant's presence info was contradicted by CBSA. When that happens, it's not automatically fatal to an app, just depends on the facts. (CBSA info can sometimes be wrong, or sometimes the discrepancy isn't large enough to make a difference)

I don't know that my spouse's app went to this unit, but there was a discrepancy (missing exit in CBSA records) that could /potentially/ have been large enough to make a difference, but we had the records to show when the exit actually occurred.

 

[Kiranmayi]

WARNING: while I agree that if the applicant is certain that they are under the 1095 days, I'm not clear that this is the case for @Kiranmayi . (But I might have missed something, or one of us may have confused with another case)

Even for cases where it is referred to program support for residence/presence, there ARE cases where it's referred for checks where IRCC either accepts the physical presence evidence or does its own checks and decides the PP is met.

Hi @armoured @Seym

I understand your point. I would not have submitted the application, but I did so based on my understanding of my application status at the time. In hindsight, this was due to a lack of full clarity on the requirements.

I have been living in Canada since 2011 and became a Permanent Resident in early 2016. I originally applied for citizenship in late 2018, completed the test, but unfortunately missed four oath ceremonies due to COVID, travel restrictions, and family circumstances. I am currently valid PR in Canada.

When I later contacted IRCC to request another oath ceremony, I was informed that my file had been closed and that I would need to reapply. I interpreted this as being able to submit a new application immediately, without waiting to meet the physical presence requirement again. However, I did provide a detailed explanation regarding my previous application in my submission.

I requested ATIP notes in February 2026 for my new application and I noticed a note stating “PP waiver requested”, which has been assigned to Program Support.

I am currently visiting Europe for a month, but I reside in Canada. If this application is not successful, I understand that I will be eligible to apply again in mid of 2027.

 

[armoured]

When I later contacted IRCC to request another oath ceremony, I was informed that my file had been closed and that I would need to reapply. I interpreted this as being able to submit a new application immediately, without waiting to meet the physical presence requirement again. However, I did provide a detailed explanation regarding my previous application in my submission.

I requested ATIP notes in February 2026 for my new application and I noticed a note stating “PP waiver requested”, which has been assigned to Program Support.

I am currently visiting Europe for a month, but I reside in Canada. If this application is not successful, I understand that I will be eligible to apply again in mid of 2027.

Okay, now I understand. It would indeed be required for you to have met the PP requirement as at the time of the new application. As far as I'm aware, there is no such thing as a PP waiver, and even if they understood and are sympathetic about the reasons for missing the oath ceremony (i.e. covid), my understanding is that there is no ability to "waive" the PP requirement, as it's written in statute.

Now I'm not a lawyer and if you wanted to discuss with one, by all means - there are things like ministerial discretion grants of citizenship, but I don't think those would really be viable (different purpose). But I could be wrong, and it's up to you to decide whether getting a consultation with a lawyer to determine if it's feasible/realistic/'worth it.'

But failing that, I think the PP waiver is probably going to be declined and the citizenship application refused. It should have no impact on future application when you have the physical presence days.

I have no opinion on whether it makes sense to withdraw the app as of today. When you apply in future, I'd include a short letter of explanation about the history of the first and second citizenshp apps (i.e. could not do oath due to covid travel restrictions, and applied mistakenly in 2024 thinking that there was some leniency about covid-related physical presence issues.)

 

[Kiranmayi]

Okay, now I understand. It would indeed be required for you to have met the PP requirement as at the time of the new application. As far as I'm aware, there is no such thing as a PP waiver, and even if they understood and are sympathetic about the reasons for missing the oath ceremony (i.e. covid), my understanding is that there is no ability to "waive" the PP requirement, as it's written in statute.

Now I'm not a lawyer and if you wanted to discuss with one, by all means - there are things like ministerial discretion grants of citizenship, but I don't think those would really be viable (different purpose). But I could be wrong, and it's up to you to decide whether getting a consultation with a lawyer to determine if it's feasible/realistic/'worth it.'

But failing that, I think the PP waiver is probably going to be declined and the citizenship application refused. It should have no impact on future application when you have the physical presence days.

I have no opinion on whether it makes sense to withdraw the app as of today. When you apply in future, I'd include a short letter of explanation about the history of the first and second citizenshp apps (i.e. could not do oath due to covid travel restrictions, and applied mistakenly in 2024 thinking that there was some leniency about covid-related physical presence issues.)

Thanks for the response.
I’m not in a rush for citizenship, so I’m okay to reapply if it gets refused. If it does get approved, then that’s great—it saves time and effort
I will keep you posted if I receive any updates after the test.

Based on what I understand, it seems better to complete the test rather than withdraw the application. Please let me know if you agree.

 

[armoured]

Thanks for the response.
I’m not in a rush for citizenship, so I’m okay to reapply if it gets refused. If it does get approved, then that’s great—it saves time and effort
I will keep you posted if I receive any updates after the test.

Based on what I understand, it seems better to complete the test rather than withdraw the application. Please let me know if you agree.

I don't see any reason not to complete the test.

 

[Seym]

I’m okay to reapply if it gets refused

"When" not if.
Also, none of my business, but it may still take more time to be refused than to withdraw and reapply with the LOE @armoured spoke about once you're back from your trip and get the citizenship. You never know what the future has for you, you're not in a rush today, but circonstances may change some day, so what's the point of waiting for something that is doomed to fail?

 

[Kiranmayi]

"When" not if.
Also, none of my business, but it may still take more time to be refused than to withdraw and reapply with the LOE @armoured spoke about once you're back from your trip and get the citizenship. You never know what the future has for you, you're not in a rush today, but circonstances may change some day, so what's the point of waiting for something that is doomed to fail?

You are absolutely correct, but I will only be PP qualified in Oct 2027.