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January 2020 - citizenship application

Nkhalidvmc

Star Member
Feb 24, 2021
74
32
Yea not sure, husband has travelled frequently to US for work/business. We have had lot of one day trips in there as well. physical calculator sheet had over 12 pages of travel history. We did our best to record all the absences. Wrote a letter as well explaining that there could be some which might have got missed out so maybe they did check and got the correct number of physical days in there...
 

Nkhalidvmc

Star Member
Feb 24, 2021
74
32
Interesting thing to note is that CBSA records I believe up until June 2019 don't show any exit records they only have entry records, I think they never kept a track of exits (not sure?). We got the list from CBSA many months after we had applied (they took a few months to deliver that) however it was incomplete since there was no exit record, then we used the i94 CBP website for entry/exit records unfortunately they have a limit of 100 records or something so there were definitely dates where we "guesstimate" our entry/exit. However a 50 days + difference we were not expecting that lol
 

omarnabsws

Hero Member
Jan 13, 2016
463
140
Beirut
Category........
Visa Office......
Paris
NOC Code......
2174
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
04-01-2017
Nomination.....
16-12-2016
AOR Received.
04-01-2017
File Transfer...
17-02-2017
Med's Done....
03-01-2017
Passport Req..
17-03-2017
Curious, when you apply for GCSM notes, do you get them until the date you applied for them or until the date they started processing them?

Example, if you applied on the 1st of Feb but they were processed by IRCC on the 20th, till which dates will it be?
 

Nkhalidvmc

Star Member
Feb 24, 2021
74
32
Curious, when you apply for GCSM notes, do you get them until the date you applied for them or until the date they started processing them?

Example, if you applied on the 1st of Feb but they were processed by IRCC on the 20th, till which dates will it be?
I think it covers everything until the time they actually retrieve your GCMS notes. So even though I applied on January 24th I believe I got them on the 25th, and it had all the information up until Feb 24th 2021
 

Nova Scotia

Star Member
Jul 13, 2020
119
102
@Nova Scotia Almost exact timeline my husband has. He just ordered his GCMS notes last month and got it yesterday, same due date in his notes as well of Aug 26, 2021. Notes say criminality passed and rcmp trace didn't show anything... does it mean he won't be requested for fingerprints or that request can still come through? Also in his physical presence calculator sheet that he attached had 1178 days, the notes mention that number to be 1125 (not sure if they ran any checks?) current status says TFR-Eligibility which I suppose probably means that the file now has been sent to the local office which in his case is IRCC ottawa. I am guessing they just review all these details and if everything looks good they send a test invite/interview etc?
What a coincidence! :D I would say at this stage they are not likely to request fingerprints... Typically they request fingerprints within a month after the application status changes to "in process", but there are always exceptions...
I am not sure about the issue regarding physical presence tho... The discrepancy seems pretty big. But anyway 1125 is still over their minimum requirement, so it makes no difference. :)
 

Nova Scotia

Star Member
Jul 13, 2020
119
102
Curious, when you apply for GCSM notes, do you get them until the date you applied for them or until the date they started processing them?

Example, if you applied on the 1st of Feb but they were processed by IRCC on the 20th, till which dates will it be?
In my case, they generated my GCMS report the same day as I requested, but sent me a month later... LOL
 

raaj051

Star Member
Feb 20, 2021
199
17
I'm NOT in urgent processing. The app was delivered on Jan 6, 2020, and AOR on March 11, 2020. I have received the test invite today.
Probably unrelated but I've filed my taxes 2 days ago and I've submitted an ATIP request yesterday.

Otherwise, not much more to add than that. They've given me from March 1st to March 21st to finish the test. Time to cram. :D Study up guys it's coming. I'll keep on my timeline updated in the google sheet.

Edit: Reading through the letter again, it seems that the email was sent from the IRCC's Vancouver office (or something), so YMMV and you may be fast or slow depending on where your test center should have been (this is just a guess).
how u get test invite, by email or paper based ?
 

Nkhalidvmc

Star Member
Feb 24, 2021
74
32
In my case, they generated my GCMS report the same day as I requested, but sent me a month later... LOL
Lets hope they don't take the full 6 months indicated via the "due date" and we get some good news well ahead of that date! I think its all up to the local office. Because if main hurdles are out of the way all they have to do basically is send a test invite - maybe review the file once - most of the processing has been done by the Sydney, NS office I believe.
 

Nova Scotia

Star Member
Jul 13, 2020
119
102
Lets hope they don't take the full 6 months indicated via the "due date" and we get some good news well ahead of that date! I think its all up to the local office. Because if main hurdles are out of the way all they have to do basically is send a test invite - maybe review the file once - most of the processing has been done by the Sydney, NS office I believe.
Their "due date" is not binding, it's completely up to them whether to process a case or not... But that being said I do found most cases can be finalised around the "due date", some are a month behind the due date but not too far behind. :) I don't expect they can finish ahead of the "due date" tho...

In my impression all Sydney office does is checking completeness, entering some basic info into GCMS, (they may now also scan applications so local office employees can process applications from home), and mailing the physical file to the local office. The local office does the majority part of the work, such as background checks, physical presence verification... Once all these are done, then they send out the test invite.
 

Nkhalidvmc

Star Member
Feb 24, 2021
74
32
Their "due date" is not binding, it's completely up to them whether to process a case or not... But that being said I do found most cases can be finalised around the "due date", some are a month behind the due date but not too far behind. :) I don't expect they can finish ahead of the "due date" tho...

In my impression all Sydney office does is checking completeness, entering some basic info into GCMS, (they may now also scan applications so local office employees can process applications from home), and mailing the physical file to the local office. The local office does the majority part of the work, such as background checks, physical presence verification... Once all these are done, then they send out the test invite.
So in that case, the rcmp/security clearance was all requested by the local office - as for those pieces it shows as being "passed" etc..... Then im wondering the physical presence number being off by over 50 days was calculated by the local office after getting entry/exit data from cbsa and cbp(US)
 

Nova Scotia

Star Member
Jul 13, 2020
119
102
So in that case, the rcmp/security clearance was all requested by the local office - as for those pieces it shows as being "passed" etc..... Then im wondering the physical presence number being off by over 50 days was calculated by the local office after getting entry/exit data from cbsa and cbp(US)
Yeah I would say yes... These are all done by your local office. Sydney Office is not likely to be involved in such detail.

Edit: Oh I could be wrong... I looked through my GCMS notes again and found the Sydney Office actually completed my criminal check before forwarding my physical file to my local office. Apparently Sydney does do something meaningful, but not a lot... LOL
 
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Nkhalidvmc

Star Member
Feb 24, 2021
74
32
Yeah I would say yes... These are all done by your local office. Sydney Office is not likely to be involved in such detail.

Edit: Oh I could be wrong... I looked through my GCMS notes again and found the Sydney Office actually completed my criminal check before forwarding my physical file to my local office. Apparently Sydney does do something meaningful, but not a lot... LOL
lol...yes it seemed like that when I read through the GCMS notes. However you are right the physical presence ones and security clearance related stuff was requested by the local office (however the file status is showing up as "in-transit" not sure how they did everything. under assessments is it showing as not started for residence, knowledge and language? Notes indicate they haven't been started however all relevant information has been provided/accessed to make a formal decision on those 3 things :/
 

Nova Scotia

Star Member
Jul 13, 2020
119
102
lol...yes it seemed like that when I read through the GCMS notes. However you are right the physical presence ones and security clearance related stuff was requested by the local office (however the file status is showing up as "in-transit" not sure how they did everything. under assessments is it showing as not started for residence, knowledge and language? Notes indicate they haven't been started however all relevant information has been provided/accessed to make a formal decision on those 3 things :/
It is a little weird that you paper file is still in transit... But I guess this shouldn't prevent your local office from starting working on your file as I heard the Sydney Office scans every application now.

In my GCMS notes under "Assessments", I can only see that I passed "Criminality", all other things (like knowledge, residence, language) are showing as "Not Started". Throughout the notes there isn't much useful information other than "Not Started" LOL... I ordered my notes back in January so things might have been changed since then.