Q3 of the 3/5 rule Application Form reads: “Have you applied for Canadian Citizenship Before?”
It would be helpful if those who applied under previous rules 3 / 4 or 4 / 6 rules and have applied or intend to apply again under 3 / 5 C6 rules share:
Their Timeline
Challenges and issues being encountered (if any) in the course of 3/5 rule applications
How previous applications under 3/4 or 4/6 impacted their applications under 3/5 rule?
Would youu please comment of what you think how previous withdrawn applications will impact new applications under C 6 and if you have come across relevant stories..or share helpful links..
This cannot be practically addressed apart from the facts and circumstances in the particular case. There is no generic answer.
The question in the application is primarily (but not exclusively) aimed at identifying any applicant who has had an application denied for misrepresentation, which triggers an automatic prohibition for five years.
Other purposes are to facilitate screening applicants for risk indicators. Under both the pre-2012 Operational Manual CP-5 Residence appendix criteria, which listed reasons-to-question-residency, and the 2012 version of the File Requirements Checklist triage criteria, the fact of having made a previous application which was abandoned, withdrawn, or denied, constituted a reason why CIC might subject the applicant to elevated scrutiny, often resulting in the applicant being issued RQ. A previously abandoned, withdrawn, or denied application is very likely STILL a risk indicator, still something which could trigger RQ (or perhaps PPQ if this has replaced RQ). HOWEVER, this does NOT always result in RQ. It depends.
That "it depends" leads back to my first observation, that the impact of a previously withdrawn application cannot be practically addressed apart from the facts and circumstances in the particular case, that there is no generic answer.
It warrants noting, however, that so long as the citizenship applicant is qualified at the time of making the application, and remains qualified during processing, and has not made any misrepresentations to CIC, IRCC, or CBSA in the past, the fact of having made a previous application will NOT affect the outcome of a new application. That is, worst case scenario (for qualified applicant who has made no misrepresentations along the way) is some elevated scrutiny and a somewhat longer timeline. The ultimate outcome should still be taking the oath.
