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Virtual Citizenship Ceremony Experience in detail!

abhi84712

Full Member
Dec 8, 2021
49
58
You'll have to sign the form in 2 places. I think the date would be pre-filled in the form. If you are signing electronically, you'll be asked to do it after the ceremony ends on your own and send it to IRCC via email. .
@rajkamalmohanram
Could you please tell me what is to be done if a person opts to sign the document by hand? Do we have to take a print, sign it by hand, scan it and email it back?

If the above process is correct, and I do the above steps and email the scan of the signed oath form during the virtual oath, will the processing be as fast as in case of electronic signature? Thanks
 

CasioLottoMax

Star Member
Feb 2, 2017
147
42
@rajkamalmohanram
Could you please tell me what is to be done if a person opts to sign the document by hand? Do we have to take a print, sign it by hand, scan it and email it back?

If the above process is correct, and I do the above steps and email the scan of the signed oath form during the virtual oath, will the processing be as fast as in case of electronic signature? Thanks
There is no difference as far as the processing is concerned. The difference is whether you sign the Oath Form electronically or by hand.

1) SIGN
Sign the Oath or Affirmation of Citizenship form on paper (using a black pen) or electronically at both places indicated “Signature of applicant”
a) If you printed and signed the form on paper, scan or take a picture of it;
b) If you chose to sign the form electronically, extract only the last page corresponding to the oath form in a PDF file;

2) EMAIL
Email the PDF or JPG (PDF files are preferred) of the signed Oath or Affirmation of Citizenship form immediately; it should NOT be more than 2 days after the ceremony.
 

chs

Hero Member
Sep 14, 2019
392
241
Quebec
@rajkamalmohanram
Could you please tell me what is to be done if a person opts to sign the document by hand? Do we have to take a print, sign it by hand, scan it and email it back?

If the above process is correct, and I do the above steps and email the scan of the signed oath form during the virtual oath, will the processing be as fast as in case of electronic signature? Thanks
I printed mine in advance and, after the Oath is over, they'll tell you to sign it and then scan it and email it back to the email address listed in the attachment to your Oath invite. Pay specific attention to the format of the "Subject" line in the email - it appears to be very specific to you and the Oath.
 
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labamba

Member
Jan 2, 2017
19
0
Hi please help me. I saw an update on ECAS that my ceremony will be on Feb 9th. I still have not received an invitation letter. I would like to know how you can request for them to expedite the mailing of the citizenship certificate because I have travel booked for the last week of March. Has anybody had success with requesting for expedited mailing of the certificate due to travel? My application is being processed through Montreal.
 

labamba

Member
Jan 2, 2017
19
0
Travel date is a little far to request urgent processing of certificate in my opinion but it does not hurt to try asking the officer.
thank you for your reply.

I still have not received my invitation letter. Only on the tracker it says the ceremony is on Feb 9th, which is quite close so I'm worried about why they still haven't sent the letter. Any idea about timelines and what I can do? I've been trying to call CIC but it doesn't less me go through
 

116sg17

Hero Member
Jan 26, 2021
220
123
thank you for your reply.

I still have not received my invitation letter. Only on the tracker it says the ceremony is on Feb 9th, which is quite close so I'm worried about why they still haven't sent the letter. Any idea about timelines and what I can do? I've been trying to call CIC but it doesn't less me go through
I received my invite email just 3 business days (5 in total including the weekend) before the oath. I don't think you need to worry yet. For calling IRCC, I try between 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM but you may need a few tries to get on the phone.
 

ms453

Star Member
Mar 9, 2014
141
46
Visa Office......
New Delhi
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Hi,

Does anyone here work in tech for any of the banks? Did you try to do your Oath ceremony on a work laptop using the bank's VPN? Does it work? I think the ceremony is over a Zoom link (we don't need to download and install Zoom and that's great because my bank does not allow Zoom installations). I do have MS Teams installed on my work laptop though.

I am asking because I only have a work laptop and can only access the laptop's internet using VPN.

Any guidance is appreciated!
 

labamba

Member
Jan 2, 2017
19
0
I received my invite email just 3 business days (5 in total including the weekend) before the oath. I don't think you need to worry yet. For calling IRCC, I try between 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM but you may need a few tries to get on the phone.
thank you! I got my invitation. I sent them a request to expedite my certificate post-ceremony with proof of ticket. They said I need to mention it during the one-on-one in the ceremony, but did not indicate whether they would accept or reject my request.
 

sammoe

Star Member
May 20, 2016
188
41
PART 3
Breakout Room - After administering oath ( 12 minutes - From 9:32 AM to 9:44 AM)

1. I had to wait in the breakout room for about 6 minutes before the clerk (same clerk who verified documents before the ceremony) joined the room.

2. He asked to see my PR card again and he asked me to cut the PR card in 4 pieces and to hold up the hand to the camera while cutting it.

3. As soon as he said that, I told him "This is the worst part of the ceremony" and he started laughing.

4. He carefully saw me destroy the PR card and then told me that the card won't be active anyway and he asked me to "throw it out".

5. He again mentioned that if there are issues with the oath form, he will call me in 2 business days to get it corrected.

6. He then confirmed my address and the postal code.

7. He then asked if I had my landing papers or COPR (he called it "Copper").

8. He said that my video froze and I had to restart the video.

9. I showed him my COPR and he read the details on it.

10. He asked me to write "HOLDER IS NO LONGER A PERMANENT RESIDENT" on the COPR.

11. He said the video froze again and asked me to restart the video.

12. He asked me to show the COPR again to confirm I've written what he asked me to write.

13. He then asked me if I had any questions. I thanked him for his work today and confirmed one last time with if my citizenship certificate will be expedited and he said it will be but that depends on when I send the oath form in the correct format (no issues with signature).

14. He then gave me the phone number for Passport Canada Call center.

15. He then welcomed me into the Canadian family and once again reminded me to send the oath form in the with proper signatures as soon as possible.

16. He asked me if I wanted a photo with the judge and I said "Sure, please".

17. The clerk left the room at 9:42 AM.

18. The judge joined the breakout room at 9:44 AM. I took a couple of photos with the judge and also took a screenshot.

19. I left the meeting at 9:45 AM EST.

Post Ceremony

1. I already had the signature ready in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

2. I opened the oath form, placed the signature in 2 places on the form (one under the oath wording and the other under prohibitions) and emailed the form in about 10 minutes.

3. The feeling was slowly sinking in that I am now a Canadian citizen :) .
VIRTUAL CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY EXPERIENCE
Okay, so as promised, detailed below is my citizenship ceremony experience. I'll post it as three parts because I can't fit everything in one post.

PART 1


Local Office : Mississauga IRCC
Oath Ceremony Date
: August 23rd, 2021
Oath Ceremony Time: 8:30 AM EST
IRCC Crew: 1 Citizenship Judge + 1 Administrator for Zoom + 1 Main Clerk + 3 IRCC officials (referred to as clerks)
Total # of applicants: 44

On the ceremony day

I woke up to my first alarm at 6:45 AM (and then I disabled the 6 other alarms I had created the night before).

Got ready, was browsing the forum for a while until 7:55 AM. I closed other applications, made sure my UPS was correctly working, connected my desktop to my mobile hotspot (if there are issues with the Wi-Fi modem/router), checked camera / microphone and had the Zoom application open.

At 8:00 AM sharp, I keyed in the meeting ID and the password and it said "Please wait for the host to start the meeting". At around 8:15 AM, I saw the message "The meeting host will let you in soon" and also, in the chat window, there was a message asking all of us to "rename" ourselves using the last name. It was that way until 8:25 AM when I was put in a room with the others and the administrator. The administrator was talking to another participant when I joined. I was on mute for about 2 minutes. The administrator then asked me to unmute myself and asked for my last name. I told him and then he gave me a seat # (Seat # is basically the breakout room # that you will be put in).

Breakout Room - Before administering oath ( 43 minutes - From 8:27 AM to 9:10 AM)

I was in the breakout room by 8:27 AM. At 8:28 AM, one of the IRCC officials joined me in the breakout room. This is how the conversation went in the breakout room before proceeding to the main event of the day!

1. I was asked my full name

2. I was told since we are using 3rd party tool, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed during the ceremony

3. I was told if I happened to get disconnected, I can re-join using the same link / meeting ID and password to rejoin.

4. I was told my video froze (I clicked on "Stop Video" and then "Start Video" again to fix it)

5. The officer confirmed that I was physically present in Canada

6. The officer asked me if I was signing the oath form on paper or electronically (I said I'll sign it electronically). The officer asked me if I had a chance to go over the instructions on how to sign the form electronically and I said "Yes" (I already had Adobe Reader DC setup with the signatures). He insisted that he still wants to go over on how to do it and I politely agreed. Basically, he asked that we don't use the mouse to sign. You'd have to sign on a piece of paper, scan it, import it to your computer and then use that image as signature in Adobe Reader. I said "Okay, thank you".

7. The officer reminded me that if the signature doesn't meet the standards, he'll give me a call within 2 business days and ask me to re-sign the form.

8. He then asked me 2 questions - "Are there any situations that may prevent you from becoming a citizen today?" and "In the past 5 years, have you ever been in trouble with the law or immigration". I answered "No" and "No, never" respectively.

9. The officer said my video froze and wanted me to restart it. I did that (same steps as in Step 4).

10. I was asked for my DL and PR card. I showed him the PR card first (front and back) and told him I have a temporary DL as the physical card is yet to come in the mail and I asked him if I can show him my health card instead (I still showed him the license that I had). He agreed and I showed him the health card.

11. He then provided some instructions - To put phone in silent mode, a holy book can be used during oath, you can stay seated and there is no need to standup at any point during the ceremony and not to take pictures or record the ceremony but picture with the judge is allowed after oath ceremony in the breakout room.

12. I was then asked if I had any questions and I told him I need the citizenship certificate urgently. He looked at my file and he told me that since Urgent Processing was approved in my case, the citizenship certificate will be expedited as long as I send the oath form correctly and on time.

13. He then told me he'll give me the contact number for Passport services after the oath ceremony.

14. He then told me if my video were to freeze while taking oath, he'll send me a DM on Zoom and ask me to restart the video.

That's it. The officer left the breakout room at around 8:35 (conversation took around 8 minutes) I was told to wait in the room and I'll be connected to the main room when the oath ceremony begins. I was waiting in the breakout room until 9:10 AM EST.
Congratulations, Raj!
 
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mpsqra

Champion Member
Jul 6, 2017
1,095
281
Category........
QSW
Visa Office......
CPC Ottawa
PART 3
Breakout Room - After administering oath ( 12 minutes - From 9:32 AM to 9:44 AM)

1. I had to wait in the breakout room for about 6 minutes before the clerk (same clerk who verified documents before the ceremony) joined the room.

2. He asked to see my PR card again and he asked me to cut the PR card in 4 pieces and to hold up the hand to the camera while cutting it.

3. As soon as he said that, I told him "This is the worst part of the ceremony" and he started laughing.

4. He carefully saw me destroy the PR card and then told me that the card won't be active anyway and he asked me to "throw it out".

5. He again mentioned that if there are issues with the oath form, he will call me in 2 business days to get it corrected.

6. He then confirmed my address and the postal code.

7. He then asked if I had my landing papers or COPR (he called it "Copper").

8. He said that my video froze and I had to restart the video.

9. I showed him my COPR and he read the details on it.

10. He asked me to write "HOLDER IS NO LONGER A PERMANENT RESIDENT" on the COPR.

11. He said the video froze again and asked me to restart the video.

12. He asked me to show the COPR again to confirm I've written what he asked me to write.

13. He then asked me if I had any questions. I thanked him for his work today and confirmed one last time with if my citizenship certificate will be expedited and he said it will be but that depends on when I send the oath form in the correct format (no issues with signature).

14. He then gave me the phone number for Passport Canada Call center.

15. He then welcomed me into the Canadian family and once again reminded me to send the oath form in the with proper signatures as soon as possible.

16. He asked me if I wanted a photo with the judge and I said "Sure, please".

17. The clerk left the room at 9:42 AM.

18. The judge joined the breakout room at 9:44 AM. I took a couple of photos with the judge and also took a screenshot.

19. I left the meeting at 9:45 AM EST.

Post Ceremony

1. I already had the signature ready in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

2. I opened the oath form, placed the signature in 2 places on the form (one under the oath wording and the other under prohibitions) and emailed the form in about 10 minutes.

3. The feeling was slowly sinking in that I am now a Canadian citizen :) .
Post Ceremony
how was the process to send the e-mail? please
they give you any Name? the e-mail is shown at the invitation letter.
thanks
 

madhupa

Newbie
Sep 21, 2017
3
0
hi, i have citizenship ceremony on Feb 18 but haven't received any email or notice till today feb 7 . Any day when will i get an email.