Citizenship 101

[citzjan2020]

Hi
I am eligible to apply for Citizenship (considering I meet the 3/5 yrs rule) and new to the discussion of citizenship applications. I am sure this thread will help a lot of newbies like me with the help of expert answers to following list of questions. So far what I have understood is I am supposed to read the instruction guide and document checklist and then take it ahead from there.

1) There is a lot of discussion about liberals promising to waive off citizenship fees. Is it worth waiting as $630 is a big amount for me?I know there cannot be any concrete answer but if it's going to be a big policy debate then I would just go ahead and apply in Feb 2020.

2) English Language requirement- I have done from graduation from B.C.
i) Do I have to show my graduation certificate or order a sealed transcript? If transcript, then does it have to come to me or directly send it to immigration?
ii) I also have an IELTS General test score that is valid. Does that work instead? or does it have to be IELTS Academic? That being said, is there a 2 yr validity requirement here? I came across a thread where expired IELTS results were accepted.

3) What is the general timeline for Citizenship process? I head it's 1 year approximately?

4) Once the application is sent by mail/courier, are we supposed to wait for AOR email and then try to link the application through eCAS and further link it to gckey account?

5) Is there an expedited option for faster processing of Citizenship applications?

6) Can a person stay outside Canada for long period of time while the Citizenship application is in process?

7) I am an Indian passport holder. At what stage exactly is the passport to be surrendered to Canadian Authorities?

8) After sending the documents or receiving AOR email, how long does it take for Citizenship test notification and how do we come to know about it?

9) What books to read for citizenship test? Are we supposed to purchase any books or there would be free resources available for that?

10) Are the Canadian Passports given at the Oath Taking Ceremony or do we have to apply separately for Canadian passports after the Oath Taking Ceremony?

11) Is it true that only Canadian passport holders can work on a TN1 visa in United States?

Thanks for bearing with all these questions.
@dpenabill

 

[dpenabill]

The best source of information about grant citizenship, ranging from qualifications to process, is the IRCC website pages about citizenship. For example, you ask about expedited processing, and yes that is available for SOME applicants in specified circumstances, but that information is all readily accessed from IRCC webpage titled "Apply for citizenship: How to apply" which can be found here: ttps://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/become-canadian-citizen/apply.html#toc0 AND is otherwise easily reached by obvious links from the IRCC main page.

Specific information about the application process and completing the application form, including providing required documents with the application, is spelled out in both the application form itself (it contains numerous drop down help information buttons in addition to instructions in the application form itself) and in the Guide.

In addition to the main information pages provided by IRCC, and the guide for applying in the application package, there is also the Help Centre which is largely arranged in a FAQ format and which covers many, many questions related to grant citizenship. Here too, the Help Centre pages are easily found following links from several IRCC webpages about citizenship, including a direct link at the page titled "Apply for citizenship: How to apply" which I link above. Or, see https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/results-by-topic.asp?top=5 where almost all the Help Centre information about citizenship is linked. For example, there are 11 FAQs answered under the heading "Language requirements when applying for citizenship"

The knowledge of Canada test is based on information provided in the publication "Discover Canada," which is also easily found at the IRCC website, and there are also sample or study questions, practice questions, available at the IRCC website.

Various versions of "Discover Canada" are available here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/discover-canada.html including html (online), downloadable pdf, an audio version, and a link to order a hard copy.

Sample study questions are available here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/discover-canada/read-online/study-questions.html



LOTS OF INFORMATION ALSO AVAILABLE IN THIS FORUM:

While many here are happy to answer even the most simple questions, frankly it helps if those with questions make some effort to look for relevant topics and learn enough about the subject to ask probative questions. Anyone can peruse the topic titles and fairly easily, and quickly, find relevant topics with good information. Sure, there are over 16,000 citizenship topics (threads), but a lot of good information can be found in just a thousand or so of them, which can be easily scrolled past and skimmed looking for relevant titles.

Among the best ones, for example, there is the topic titled "C-6 Citizenship Applications, Frequently Asked Questions" which is here: https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/c-6-citizenship-applications-frequently-asked-questions.522548/ Sure, the start of that topic is a bit dated, but it does indeed cover many of the frequently asked questions.

There are literally hundreds of topics and thousands of posts about processing timelines, and many forum participants maintain information in some spreadsheets which show specific timeline information for specific applicants.


Some of Your Questions are More Specific Than or Outside the Scope of "Citizenship 101"

Indeed, some are not really about Canadian citizenship, like your question about U.S. TN1 visas.

Some will only apply to applicants from just one of more than a hundred countries Canadian immigrants and citizenship applicants come from. And in that appear to based on a mistaken premise. For example, there is nothing about obtaining Canadian citizenship that results in surrendering a home country passport to Canadian authorities. (Since you reference an Indian passport, I am guessing your concern is about Indian law and surrendering an Indian passport to Indian authorities, but I know very little about that.)

Once you are at least familiar with what IRCC citizenship information is available and have perused information here that is relevant to you, then come back and ask any of your questions for which you have not found an adequate answer.

Hi
I am eligible to apply for Citizenship (considering I meet the 3/5 yrs rule) and new to the discussion of citizenship applications. I am sure this thread will help a lot of newbies like me with the help of expert answers to following list of questions. So far what I have understood is I am supposed to read the instruction guide and document checklist and then take it ahead from there.

1) There is a lot of discussion about liberals promising to waive off citizenship fees. Is it worth waiting as $630 is a big amount for me?I know there cannot be any concrete answer but if it's going to be a big policy debate then I would just go ahead and apply in Feb 2020.

2) English Language requirement- I have done from graduation from B.C.
i) Do I have to show my graduation certificate or order a sealed transcript? If transcript, then does it have to come to me or directly send it to immigration?
ii) I also have an IELTS General test score that is valid. Does that work instead? or does it have to be IELTS Academic? That being said, is there a 2 yr validity requirement here? I came across a thread where expired IELTS results were accepted.

3) What is the general timeline for Citizenship process? I head it's 1 year approximately?

4) Once the application is sent by mail/courier, are we supposed to wait for AOR email and then try to link the application through eCAS and further link it to gckey account?

5) Is there an expedited option for faster processing of Citizenship applications?

6) Can a person stay outside Canada for long period of time while the Citizenship application is in process?

7) I am an Indian passport holder. At what stage exactly is the passport to be surrendered to Canadian Authorities?

8) After sending the documents or receiving AOR email, how long does it take for Citizenship test notification and how do we come to know about it?

9) What books to read for citizenship test? Are we supposed to purchase any books or there would be free resources available for that?

10) Are the Canadian Passports given at the Oath Taking Ceremony or do we have to apply separately for Canadian passports after the Oath Taking Ceremony?

11) Is it true that only Canadian passport holders can work on a TN1 visa in United States?

Thanks for bearing with all these questions.
@dpenabill

 

[citzjan2020]

Thank you @dpenabill for the time you have invested to reply.
I will try to go through the links and search for answers and come back with specific ones.

 

[jc94]

Hi
I am eligible to apply for Citizenship (considering I meet the 3/5 yrs rule) and new to the discussion of citizenship applications. I am sure this thread will help a lot of newbies like me with the help of expert answers to following list of questions. So far what I have understood is I am supposed to read the instruction guide and document checklist and then take it ahead from there.

1) There is a lot of discussion about liberals promising to waive off citizenship fees. Is it worth waiting as $630 is a big amount for me?I know there cannot be any concrete answer but if it's going to be a big policy debate then I would just go ahead and apply in Feb 2020.

2) English Language requirement- I have done from graduation from B.C.
i) Do I have to show my graduation certificate or order a sealed transcript? If transcript, then does it have to come to me or directly send it to immigration?
ii) I also have an IELTS General test score that is valid. Does that work instead? or does it have to be IELTS Academic? That being said, is there a 2 yr validity requirement here? I came across a thread where expired IELTS results were accepted.

3) What is the general timeline for Citizenship process? I head it's 1 year approximately?

4) Once the application is sent by mail/courier, are we supposed to wait for AOR email and then try to link the application through eCAS and further link it to gckey account?

5) Is there an expedited option for faster processing of Citizenship applications?

6) Can a person stay outside Canada for long period of time while the Citizenship application is in process?

7) I am an Indian passport holder. At what stage exactly is the passport to be surrendered to Canadian Authorities?

8) After sending the documents or receiving AOR email, how long does it take for Citizenship test notification and how do we come to know about it?

9) What books to read for citizenship test? Are we supposed to purchase any books or there would be free resources available for that?

10) Are the Canadian Passports given at the Oath Taking Ceremony or do we have to apply separately for Canadian passports after the Oath Taking Ceremony?

11) Is it true that only Canadian passport holders can work on a TN1 visa in United States?

Thanks for bearing with all these questions.
@dpenabill

Just bear in mind that IF, and it's a big IF the current or any future government decides to change the Citizenship fees from $630 there will likely be a huge influx of applications the likes of which haven't been seen since the change back to the 1095 days rule. At this point average processing times may become far far higher than the current 12 months (to DM) that around ~80% of people seem to experience.

For the others, I'll let you review.

 

[citzjan2020]

Just bear in mind that IF, and it's a big IF the current or any future government decides to change the Citizenship fees from $630 there will likely be a huge influx of applications the likes of which haven't been seen since the change back to the 1095 days rule. At this point average processing times may become far far higher than the current 12 months (to DM) that around ~80% of people seem to experience.

For the others, I'll let you review.

That is an interesting thing to know. I never looked at it that way. Thanks for the sharing your thoughts!

 

[armoured]

Just bear in mind that IF, and it's a big IF the current or any future government decides to change the Citizenship fees from $630 there will likely be a huge influx of applications the likes of which haven't been seen since the change back to the 1095 days rule. At this point average processing times may become far far higher than the current 12 months (to DM) that around ~80% of people seem to experience.

Agree. Also, important to keep in mind that government priorities change, legislative changes can take a lot longer than many expect (if indeed legislative changes are required), and it's not unheard of for government to announce things that take effect only later. (Although personally I think that would cause additional 'bunching' problems...)

These are all reasons not to delay.

Add to that, sure, the OP meets the residency obligation now - but what if something comes up? A family member gets sick abroad?

 

[citzjan2020]

Hi, I have a query for question 9b -
Before getting my PR I was on PGWP so I have mentioned 'worker' category from 'start date on work permit' to 'day I landed as a PR' - correct?

Before that I was on a study permit and also had a co-op work permit while I had my study permit. How do I mention that? Should I mention that in an explanation letter?
Currently, I have only mentioned start date of 'study permit' to 'start date of work permit' under 'student' status- would that be okay?
(Haven't mentioned about co-op work status in 9b).

It is confusing what to write for 'date of expiry'.

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.