Is providing CBSA useful?

[AliceF3231]

Hi everyone,

For those who recently applied for Canadian citizenship, did you request your CBSA Travel History Report and upload it as an optional document, or did you just let IRCC obtain it?

I am sure of my travel days, so I don't need the report to confirm, but wondering if attaching it is useful for IRCC and could potentially speed up the process.

I’ve seen some comments saying that if you request the report through ATIP, it could potentially delay IRCC if they also request it from CBSA during processing. I’m not sure if that’s actually true.

 

[Seym]

The only reason to ask for the CBSA report would be to double check the trips in advance. As it's not the case for you, it's useless to you.
The only things that potentially speed up the physical presence assessment :
1) Very precise application with no mistakes.
2) Good buffer over 1095 days.
Thse 2 things leave no doubt in the mind of the officer making the assessment.
Adding a useless document (and the CBSA report here is useless, IRCC will make their own verifications regardless of the stuff you attach!) probably just "delays" the application by a minute, the time it takes the officer to open and dismiss the document. Or, you never know, maybe they check it a bit longer to see if you forged the document, and it's a longer delay :d

 

[armoured]

I'm going to overall agree with @Seym with one small caveat:

-do NOT include the CBSA report - it is not asked for and not required - UNLESS you have some very good and specific reason to do so.

For my spouse we DID include it - but we did so because we were applying with a not very large buffer, there was an error in the CBSA records (a missing departure), and we included a short explanation (obviously my spouse did not arrive twice in a period without a departure in between them).

I believe this helped although there was also a subsequent interview where some addl info was requested and provided. (Physical presence was cleared the next day). That said, I cannot (of course) prove that it helped.

I would - again - NOT include unless there was some comparable good reason to include. In my spouse's case, for example, we would not have included if the missing departure would not (arithmetically) possibly meant not in compliance with the residency requirement.

And I'm going to go so far as to say that for the vast, vast majority of applicants, there should not be any such reason requiring clarification, and if there is, for the most part, applicants will be better advised to simply delay applying to have a bit more buffer. (I think that may have been better approach in our case too, but obviously didn't end up being a big issue)

 

[AliceF3231]

I'm going to overall agree with @Seym with one small caveat:

-do NOT include the CBSA report - it is not asked for and not required - UNLESS you have some very good and specific reason to do so.

For my spouse we DID include it - but we did so because we were applying with a not very large buffer, there was an error in the CBSA records (a missing departure), and we included a short explanation (obviously my spouse did not arrive twice in a period without a departure in between them).

I believe this helped although there was also a subsequent interview where some addl info was requested and provided. (Physical presence was cleared the next day). That said, I cannot (of course) prove that it helped.

I would - again - NOT include unless there was some comparable good reason to include. In my spouse's case, for example, we would not have included if the missing departure would not (arithmetically) possibly meant not in compliance with the residency requirement.

And I'm going to go so far as to say that for the vast, vast majority of applicants, there should not be any such reason requiring clarification, and if there is, for the most part, applicants will be better advised to simply delay applying to have a bit more buffer. (I think that may have been better approach in our case too, but obviously didn't end up being a big issue)

Thank you both so much, it is really helpful.

In this case, I am thinking of at least requesting it now to check if everything is correct in the report. If it is, I won't attach it.

On the CBSA request page, it says "When your travel history is needed as part of an application, such as the application for Canadian citizenship, check the form for the option to release your report. Using this option means that you will not have to request it yourself. When this option is available, requesting the report directly from the CBSA will cause a significant delay to your application process. Listed below are the three applications that do not require you to request your report directly from the CBSA."

The delays here are only meant if I apply while the application is processing, right? But it should be fine if I apply before submitting my application?

Thanks so much!

 

[armoured]

Thank you both so much, it is really helpful.

In this case, I am thinking of at least requesting it now to check if everything is correct in the report. If it is, I won't attach it.

On the CBSA request page, it says "When your travel history is needed as part of an application, such as the application for Canadian citizenship, check the form for the option to release your report. Using this option means that you will not have to request it yourself. When this option is available, requesting the report directly from the CBSA will cause a significant delay to your application process. Listed below are the three applications that do not require you to request your report directly from the CBSA."

The delays here are only meant if I apply while the application is processing, right? But it should be fine if I apply before submitting my application?

Thanks so much!

-I am not suggesting at all that most (including you) need to apply for the CBSA report. It made sense in our case because a lot of travel (a LOT) and partial days and we were applying with not much of a buffer (better to do so with more of a buffer). If you're sure of your travel days, well, it won't HURT, but that doesn't mean it's necessary. It is of course up to you.

-What I understood from the text you quoted is that there is no need to get the CBSA report separately - instead you check the box allowing them to get it directly. And if you DO decide to order it, it will delay your application because you're waiting to get it from CBSA. I'm not aware of any 'extra' delay that would be caused by getting it, beyond the time waiting for the CBSA report itself. (The language they use is a bit odd so I'm reading between the lines)

 

[dpenabill]

Hi everyone,

For those who recently applied for Canadian citizenship, did you request your CBSA Travel History Report and upload it as an optional document, or did you just let IRCC obtain it?

I am sure of my travel days, so I don't need the report to confirm, but wondering if attaching it is useful for IRCC and could potentially speed up the process.

I’ve seen some comments saying that if you request the report through ATIP, it could potentially delay IRCC if they also request it from CBSA during processing. I’m not sure if that’s actually true.

We do not know anywhere near enough about the underlying criteria that triggers complex or non-routine steps in processing grant-citizenship applications to definitively identify a lot of the factors or circumstances that can lead to delays. Some are obvious, of course, which includes various incongruities and inconsistencies in the information submitted in the application looming large (yeah, if an applicant reports being outside Canada for months during a time period they report their address was in Canada, good chance that rings a bell, raises a flag), as well as any other reason to question the applicant's credibility, any reason to suspect the applicant's information is inaccurate or incomplete.

Nonetheless, even though we cannot definitively say, it is likely, if not highly likely, there is no truth to claims that an ATIP request to CBSA will trigger delays in processing a citizenship application by IRCC.

In terms of what to submit with the application, the general consensus is that applicants should follow the instructions and provide what is requested and no more unless there is a specific reason to include additional information or documents to address an overt issue needing clarification. If there is an issue or aspect of the application needing explanation or clarification, that means the application is likely to involve complex/non-routine/more-than-the-usual processing anyway, so that is an application which is likely to encounter some delay anyway.

Meanwhile machines (yeah, computers employing AI components) play a big role (if not the dominant role) in the primary screening/sorting process which will include determining whether an application goes into a queue for more complex processing (and which queue in particular). So for most (not all, some cannot avoid complexities) the best opportunity to be routed (by the machines) into a not-complex processing queue and then sail through the formalities (no guarantee, but the better odds), will be to submit a simple application in line with the instructions, the information clearly indicating the applicant meets the requirements, a good buffer (30+ days sufficient for most; some of us having reason to wait longer and apply with more buffer), no extras.