Hello
I am hoping for some advice if you have any info on this. We received notification that our citizenship application is still pending (passed exam & all other steps) because my husband has discrepancy in his traveller passage report which is missing one entry from Pearson. We don't know how that happened as we entered together. Any advice on how to resolve/explain this? We registered on the airport machines.
thanks!
Overall: probably time to see a lawyer. Probably time to lawyer-up.
Given the timeline (your posts indicate your applications were made at least nearly three years ago; but more significantly, the test was well over two years ago), it appears that at least one of you is in a processing stream headed for a hearing, most likely a hearing focused on physical presence.
Time to lawyer-up.
Obviously there is much more at-issue than a single date of entry into Canada. Any proof of actual presence in Canada in the days following that entry, submitted in response to the RQ related requests (the "additional documents" asked for following the test, back in fall 2019), would suffice to establish presence in Canada during the time period following that entry. After all, evidence of entry on a particular day is only evidence of presence in Canada for one day. What really matters is proof of presence for at least 1095 days during the eligibility period.
In particular, a discrepancy between what the applicant reports as a date of entry in the travel history given for the physical presence calculation, versus other information IRCC has, such as the individual's CBSA travel history, can trigger suspicion and investigation, causing IRCC to doubt the applicant's credibility. But again, the evidence submitted back in the fall of 2019 should have resolved that if that evidence was sufficient to document the applicant's presence in the days and weeks following the questioned date of entry.
How serious this is depends on the particular details, the specific facts of the case. Factors range from how much of a margin over the minimum requirement the applicant applied with, to the nature and extent of evidence submitted when IRCC asked for additional documents.
The question is whether it would make more sense:
-- to withdraw this application and apply again (assuming the individual is eligible for citizenship based on presence during the last five years), or
-- to wait for IRCC to proceed to its next step (probably at least an interview/hearing with a Citizenship Officer, but potentially a hearing with a Citizenship Judge), or
-- to incur the expense of hiring a lawyer to advise and represent you going forward
How you decide to proceed is a personal choice, and again the particular details matter, details beyond questions about a single date of entry.
As to the particular question you ask here, that is for advice about how to resolve the issue, I am no lawyer and that is really a question only a lawyer should address. As I noted, nonetheless, unless the applicant is being accused of making a misrepresentation (for which the applicant should have received a procedural fairness letter by now), the most likely issue is physical presence.
So submitting evidence proving actual physical presence sufficient to show the applicant was actually present for at least 1095 days during the eligibility period is the way to resolve the issue. Unless you have a lawyer get involved, the applicant will need to wait for IRCC to proceed, either by another RQ-related request for documents, or by scheduling an interview or hearing at which the applicant can present their evidence of actual physical presence. At the least (more is almost certainly needed, but at the least), the applicant should provide whatever objective evidence the applicant has of actual presence closest to the questioned-date-of-entry . . . testimonial from employer, dentist, barber, accountant . . . that is, from someone unrelated to the applicant who can give a statement they met with the applicant on a date certain IN Canada, as close to the questioned-date as possible. But make no mistake, once a case gets to this stage, the applicant is typically required to provide evidence that sufficiently proves ALL the days of presence . . . that is, to prove the applicant was IN Canada all the days between known and claimed dates of entry and the next known or claimed date of exit.
