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Any RQ since july 2014?

dpenabill

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Apr 2, 2010
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lenium said:
I received an RQ at the time of my interview after the citizenship test. The reason for that was having an incorrect stamp in my passport. The CBSA officer had stampped my passport at March 03, instead of March 13, and my application date was March 06. Any idea how long it takes for them to process the new RQs?

Cheers
There is no official or authoritative timeline information regarding RQ'd cases in particular.

Timeline information provided by CIC as to "non-routine" cases is far too indefinite to be informative. Moreover, there have been so many changes, with more to come, that historical timelines are in general not a reliable indicator of much.

It is easy to guess that RQ cases will not take nearly so long as they have been taking in the past four years, but that is in large part because the processing of residency issue cases was deeply bogged down and timelines for tens of thousands of RQ'd applicants were grossly excessive. There was no direction the timeline could go but get at least a little faster. And the timeline for non-routine cases, including RQ'd applicants, does appear to have improved significantly, if not considerably . . . but again that is not necessarily saying much since it was more like a parking lot than a highway for so long.

Additionally, the timeline will continue to vary considerably relative to the specifics of the individual case.

Thus, overall: No one can credibly predict how long it will take to process your application. How long it has taken other RQ'd applicants is not at all a reliable indicator of how long it will be for more recently RQ'd applicants generally, and again the timeline varies and will continue to vary considerably relative to the specifics of the individual case.



Observations about erroneous stamp date et al:

This can be an easily resolved issue or, as discussed further below, a difficult one, DEPENDING.

If a CBSA passport stamp was erroneous, this should be easily resolved by the CBSA travel history which is very, very unlikely to be erroneous (CBSA travel history may have omissions but the dates reflected for entries into Canada are almost always accurate). That is, CIC should be able to verify the accurate date of entry fairly easily and in short order.

Now that you have been RQ'd, CIC will (if it has not already) access your CBSA travel history (assuming you gave CIC authorization, either in the application or in the RQ form, usually both these days). So, if the only concern is this one discrepancy, that should be resolved.

Of course you have to fully respond to the RQ, since once RQ is given to an applicant all the elements of residency are in issue, and the burden is on you, the applicant, to affirmatively document (prove) you were resident-in-Canada when you declared you were.

But if that single discrepancy is the only cause for concern, is clearly resolved, sending a responsive submission for the RQ, following the instructions of course, should suffice to get your case processed in due course with a favourable outcome.


Caution/Caveat:

The following is in large part based on the assumption that the CBSA stamp in question is an entry stamp, not an exit stamp, since it is rare for PRs leaving Canada to have their passport stamped by CBSA upon exiting.

It is not uncommon for RQ'd applicants to underestimate the issues or concerns in their case.

Which leads to the observation that while a discrepancy in itself tends to raise issues, in terms of physical presence in Canada the discrepancy here adds to your time present, the CBSA stamp indicating entry into Canada 10 days sooner (March 03) than the accurate date (March 13). So it is curious that this discrepancy alone would trigger a full RQ, particularly these days when CIC is using an alternative form to request particular documents rather than issue a full RQ in many instances.

Even if someone at CIC appeared to say just what it is that triggered RQ in your case, that should not be relied upon. CIC is generally discreet, if not outright secretive about its reasons for issuing RQ. Sometimes the reason is indeed overtly obvious, and if this discrepancy was the other way (stamp erroneously reflecting an entry 10 days later than the actual entry), that would be a more obvious cause for issuing RQ.

All I am saying here is that you probably want to review your copy of your application, thoroughly, and the residency calculation you submitted, and consider your history and circumstances specifically looking for issues (most people tend to review their own case looking mostly at what supports it, but if you want to go forward prepared for what may be coming, it is best to approach assessing your case from a perspective as critical, as negative, as you can muster) to be sure things are in order or to identify (as best you can) what other potential concerns may be lurking in your case.



Further note about the stamp and actual dates: If the erroneous stamp is an exit stamp.

As I noted, much of the response above is based on the assumption that the CBSA stamp in question is an ENTRY stamp, NOT an EXIT stamp, since it is rare for PRs leaving Canada to have their passport stamped by CBSA upon exiting.

I recognize that there is some incongruity in making an assumption that the stamp in question is an entry stamp if you applied on March 06, in-between the March 03 and March 13 dates you refer to in your post (which your post seems to suggest), indicating you were in Canada on March 06, which of course is after March 03 and before March 13 . . . suggesting that the error has to do with the date of leaving Canada.

If indeed it was a rare instance in which CBSA stamped your passport on exit, depending on where you traveled to on that occasion, it would be likely there would an entry stamp for the country of destination, so an error in a date of exit stamp should be readily recognized as such (unless one infers you spent ten days in limbo at an airport waiting for a connection, and so your entry stamp is dated March 13 or later even though you exited, according to the stamp, March 03). That is, there should be an entry stamp in another country within a short period of time corresponding to the date of the exit stamp from Canada, and that should corroborate your account or declaration as to the date of exit from Canada.

If, however, this is indeed in issue, a problem, it may be prudent to directly address this particular time span in the response to the RQ, separately with a short, fact-based explanation on a separate page of paper. If CIC believes you left Canada on March 03 and the application was dated March 06, that is not merely a discrepancy in declared dates of travel, not merely a loss of three days of actual physical presence in the residency calculation, but that implies, at the least, a post-date application and that someone did the mailing on your behalf (who should be disclosed as someone assisting in the preparation and submission of the application). Thus, it would be prudent to have included in the response to the RQ, even though the instructions may not have directly requested such documentation, some document to show you engaged in an activity in Canada during that ten day time span, and short of having direct documentation of this (doctor or dentist visit, meeting with a lawyer or accountant, a speeding ticket, almost anything from an objective source), perhaps including a sworn statement from a credible person who could affirm your presence in Canada during that time (letter from a member of clergy or other religious leader, letter from employer you were at work that week, or even a letter from neighbours, friends, or family if you have nothing from a more objective source).

Note: CBSA travel history may or may not, leaning toward probably not, reflect the date of exit. So if indeed this is about an erroneous stamp for a date of exit, it can be a bit more difficult to document the correct date.
 

dpenabill

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Further caveat IF (only if) you were outside Canada for an extended time since applying and prior to the test-interview:

I have no idea if this is applicable to you, but since it can make a big difference if you left Canada within a week of applying and have remained outside Canada since then for an extended period of time, I thought it prudent to post a further caveat.

In particular IF indeed these dates in question (March 03 and March 13) are EXIT dates, and you applied on the March 06 in-between those dates, and you left Canada for an extended absence on that occasion . . . especially if you only returned to Canada shortly before the test-interview, that is a circumstance which often (not always, but often) invites CIC to be, one might say, unfriendly. That is, CIC tends to be unfriendly toward citizenship applicants who leave Canada soon after applying for any purpose other than a temporary one. If, for example, you applied on March 06 and then left Canada on March 13, and were abroad for an extended period of time (sufficient to suggest residing abroad), that alone might trigger RQ. And if CIC perceives you actually left before applying (that you left on March 03 and your application is dated March 06), that could easily elevate the severity of CIC's approach.

Thus, if this is your situation, you will want to be particularly diligent in, first, being sure to document that you were still present in Canada on March 06 (or at least as of March 03 still and up to March 13), and secondly in fully addressing all elements of residency in your response to the RQ, including clear documentation of your actual place of abode for all months in Canada, full and clear documentation of employment or schooling or alternative for as much as the time in Canada as you possibly can, and additional documents to further corroborate the dates you were in fact physically present in Canada.

Being sure the correct date of exit, on March 13, is well-documented is important, but again if you were essentially residing outside Canada since that March 13 date, you need to cover all the bases, dot your i's, cross your t's (as they say). In this situation, even if you passed the written test, if you are referred to CJ hearing there is the possibility you could be required to pass an oral test as to knowledge of Canada (very recent case affirmed denial of citizenship for an applicant who met the residency requirement, passed the written test, but who was tested again orally at the CJ hearing and failed . . . the real issue pushing CIC and the CJ, however, was that this individual was residing outside Canada after applying, and even after being issued RQ).

Technically being outside Canada after applying does not factor into the residency calculation. Time outside Canada after applying does not disqualify the applicant (so long as there is compliance with the PR Residency Obligation). But, once RQ is imposed it is risky to remain outside Canada unless one has an essentially airtight case.

From this and my previous post I think you can see why Raman_ram asked for clarification about the confusion in the stamp dates . . . it makes a big difference whether the March dates were for entries or exits.
 

dpenabill

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There was a post, which I barely got a glimpse of before it was deleted, referring and linking a previous post by lenium:

lenium said:
Good morning everybody!
I recieved my invitation for writing the citizenship test on December 6th. The test date is January 6th. I was wondering if you can tell me how the interview after the test is going to be like? I was never asked to provide an RQ.
I need to know if they will go through the stamps in our passport (and old passports?) at this point? I just noticed that one of my entry stamps is for the wrong date! (it was supposed to be 13 rather than 03) and I'm trying to understand if I should try to fix this before I go for the interview? I can show the itinerary to prove that my entry was on the 13th of March and not the 3rd. What do you recommend?
This indicates that the error in date was for an ENTRY date, which of course is significant, and which makes the most sense (since CBSA rarely stamps passports upon exiting Canada). This is significant foremost because, as noted before, the CBSA Travel History will most likely confirm the correct date of entry, so at the least that aspect of the situation should be easily and quite definitively resolved.

For purposes of assessing what might be involved, however, this confuses as much as it explains, given the implication that the application was submitted March 06, a week prior to the date of return to Canada.

This thus emphasizes why someone, like Raman_Ram, would query for an explanation of "the date stamp confusion."

In terms of analyzing the situation there is little more to add to what I discussed above, in my previous post, based on the assumption that it was an entry date.

(And assuming it was indeed the date of entry, both discussions addressing what-if it was an exit date are irrelevant to this query.)
 

skhan123

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Sep 27, 2009
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sapguru said:
My name is not common when First and Last name is combined. I am just a prey!

Did any one get update after submission of documents for the RQ issued in 2014?
I submitted my RQ on Nov. 5th 2014 and got fingerprint request (most probably due to common name) on Dec. 5th. Nothing after that,,,,
 

lenium

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The stamp was an entry stamp. I have ordered a CBSA record report myself, and am going to attach it to my RQ.
The problem that occured was that my application date was March 6. then I had this March 3 stamp in my passport, for which I didn't have any trips claimed on residence calculator. So the officer was questionaning if I had a trip and I didn't actually claim it.
CBSA report is correct and is going to fix my probelm in this case.

I have a new issue now! It's good and bad at the same time.
I had one missing and one unclear entry stamps in my passport. So I had to estimate the arrival dates in Canada. I missed by one day on them. so what I had in my old residence calculator as arrival day is one day earlier than CBSA one (for two trips). Is that going to be a big issue?

On the other hand, for one of my trips to middle east (for which I have stamps in a different language and calendar), I estimated the date for the start of the trip and I tried to be as safe as possible (went for the earliest I could think of). Now that I got the stamps translated, the trip was actually 8 days later than what I thought. This will increase my Physical Residency days. Is this going to raise any concern?
 

rayman_m

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lenium said:
The stamp was an entry stamp. I have ordered a CBSA record report myself, and am going to attach it to my RQ.
The problem that occured was that my application date was March 6. then I had this March 3 stamp in my passport, for which I didn't have any trips claimed on residence calculator. So the officer was questionaning if I had a trip and I didn't actually claim it.
CBSA report is correct and is going to fix my probelm in this case.

I have a new issue now! It's good and bad at the same time.
I had one missing and one unclear entry stamps in my passport. So I had to estimate the arrival dates in Canada. I missed by one day on them. so what I had in my old residence calculator as arrival day is one day earlier than CBSA one (for two trips). Is that going to be a big issue?

On the other hand, for one of my trips to middle east (for which I have stamps in a different language and calendar), I estimated the date for the start of the trip and I tried to be as safe as possible (went for the earliest I could think of). Now that I got the stamps translated, the trip was actually 8 days later than what I thought. This will increase my Physical Residency days. Is this going to raise any concern?
Since you got RQ and have to response with whole bunch of document, write a clarification letter to CIC explaining the mistake you made due to not been able to read the unclear entry stamp and later you found correct date in CBSA.

But the important issues is, with all the explanation and clarification when you will fill up RQ, you must have 1095 physical presence proof as per your passport stamps and CBSA report.
 

londonOntario

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As per this sheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Au02r_J_VN90dHdrcDJyaWZYYW55d0hJMzJDNUFRaHc#gid=0

21 people received RQ in 2104.
Of those, only 2 have been invited for test.
None have taken oath yet.

I don't see how the RQ times have improved under the new system.
 

Raman_Ram

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May 25, 2009
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The question is to probe whether rq issued for post July applicants. Not for year uly2014. Applications recvd pre new rules will be processed as per old rules. So we can't factor an rq for a pre July one, even if it was issued in 2014
 

dpenabill

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Apr 2, 2010
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lenium said:
The stamp was an entry stamp. I have ordered a CBSA record report myself, and am going to attach it to my RQ.
The problem that occured was that my application date was March 6. then I had this March 3 stamp in my passport, for which I didn't have any trips claimed on residence calculator. So the officer was questionaning if I had a trip and I didn't actually claim it.
CBSA report is correct and is going to fix my probelm in this case.

I have a new issue now! It's good and bad at the same time.
I had one missing and one unclear entry stamps in my passport. So I had to estimate the arrival dates in Canada. I missed by one day on them. so what I had in my old residence calculator as arrival day is one day earlier than CBSA one (for two trips). Is that going to be a big issue?

On the other hand, for one of my trips to middle east (for which I have stamps in a different language and calendar), I estimated the date for the start of the trip and I tried to be as safe as possible (went for the earliest I could think of). Now that I got the stamps translated, the trip was actually 8 days later than what I thought. This will increase my Physical Residency days. Is this going to raise any concern?
I concur with the post by rayman_m, and emphasize including a separate explanation clarifying the bigger error. Even though the change is in your favour, you want to be sure to explain what the mistake was and how it was made. Any mistake suggests the person making it is, at least to some degree, an unreliable reporter, so you want to explain it as honestly and clearly as you can. Keep it simple! (Something not possible for me.)

Minor errors, like single days, are of little or no significance, not a problem (unless they are numerous).

It is still curious, though, if the correct date of entry was March 13 (the March 03 being in error), how that reconciles with having made the application on March 06, before your correct date of entry?



Raman_Ram said:
The question is to probe whether rq issued for post July applicants. Not for year uly2014. Applications recvd pre new rules will be processed as per old rules. So we can't factor an rq for a pre July one, even if it was issued in 2014
The report by lenium is consistent with a number of other recent reports illustrating that RQs are still being issued. Whether or not RQ might be issued has nothing to do with the date of the application.

Not sure what old rules versus new rules you are referring to, the ones most discussed and worried about are the new residency rules, which are not in effect as yet, and so far are applicable to no one. These will only be applicable to applicants who apply after the date those provisions come into force, probably June or July 2015 (could be sooner, possibly even later).

Some of the Bill C-24 provisions did come into force as of August 1, 2014, including provision governing aspects of the process for citizenship grant applications. Most notable among the changes, as I understand what is now in effect, are those governing the Minister's authority including, in particular, authority to grant citizenship without referral to a Citizenship Judge. These changes apply to all applicants regardless of the date of application, even to applicants who applied years ago for example.

The information referred to by londonOntario is not particularly informative. For one thing, sample size is way, way too small to offer much insight into timelines for applicants generally, RQ'd or otherwise. Moreover, for those RQ'd in 2014, no where near the timelines for those RQ'd in 2011 and 2012 has passed . . . it is simply way, way too soon to discern any patterns from reports by applicants RQ in 2014. Over the last six to ten months, in contrast, there have been many reports of RQ'd applicants finally seeing some progress in their case, some scheduled for CJ hearings, more scheduled for the oath, and that is an obvious, clear improvement over the parking-lot like state of affairs that persisted for nearly two years . . . that is, any RQ'd applicants experiencing progress is an improvement over what it was for a long while, for far too long a while.
 

londonOntario

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Half of those RQs were issued for applications filed after june. i.e. under new rules. None of them have received anything. 0/10. As i understand the new process, the tests are separate from RQ. Atleast the tests should've been conducted at the same speed as the routine applications while the RQ goes in parallel. But, that is not happening.
 

rayman_m

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It appears most of RQ issued for residency calculation discrepancies and passport/stamp related issues..
 

skhan123

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Sep 27, 2009
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HighFive said:
Folks, anyone knows how fast RQs are reviewed at St. Clair office these days? Thanks.
Hi HighFive,
It looks like from your timeline that you already have done test and interview...anywords about Oath? What the interview officer told you about that.?
 

Zumba369

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Hi,

Regarding the point about the absences from Canada, it says »» Address (city, country).

Should we put the full address or just the city and the country?

Thanks,
 

lenium

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Can somebody explain to me what's the difference between the way they process the old RQs and the new RQs? How many new RQs have we had so far?

I am writing an explanation letter. I feel really stupid for making that mistake. Considering the new dates of travelling now I have 1011 days of physical residency.