[DECEMBER] Online Citizenship Applicants

[softwaretesting]

Hi friends,

Just to confirm. We don't get email when status changes to "In Progress", right? & it can only be checked online using below tool?

https://services3.cic.gc.ca/ecas/security.do?app=ecas&lang=en

 

[SuperSaiyanGod]

I know a lot of you are scared about the online applicaiton and wondering why ony a handful of people who applied in december got AOR. I did some reseach and I am happy to share my findings with you all.
1. After checking the code on their website, its clear that the "online apply" box is set to appear only 10% of the time. So if you close and open the page again and again (don't refresh) you should be able to see that page 1 out of 10 times. Its a simple java script to keep the number of online applicants limited.
2. All those who applied online are basically beta testers of the application and the process. If you are wondering why handful of people were processed so quickly, its because they must be testing the user(cic officer) side of the software. Best way to do that is by requesting them to process few applicaiton. After that they must've provided their reviews or suggestions to the developers. They made an update on 2nd march which further confirms that they are activiely working on it.
3. If you're worried that how come CIC agents can't find your application, its simply becuase they are not fully aware of the new process. On December 8, 2020 cic agent 1st reply to a tweet that online cicitzenship application is not possible and then 2 days later on December 10, 2020 he/she apologed and corrected himself/heself that it was made available on November 30, 2020 for limited clients.
Whenever there is a new software, its often not attached to rest of the environment until its completely tested. Its to protect the existing environment plus its not as easy at it sounds. Hopefully this explains why those call center agents can't find your application on the system.

My suggestion is, don't panic. We can't see all the software related issues they must be facing on their side. One thing I can tell you by looking at the history of all canadian pilot programs, they are not going to forget about any of the application and online process. This kind of change cost a lot of money and man power, they are not creating this to forget about it. I personally belive its going to be faster than paper applicaiton.

 

[softwaretesting]

I know a lot of you are scared about the online applicaiton and wondering why ony a handful of people who applied in december got AOR. I did some reseach and I am happy to share my findings with you all.
1. After checking the code on their website, its clear that the "online apply" box is set to appear only 10% of the time. So if you close and open the page again and again (don't refresh) you should be able to see that page 1 out of 10 times. Its a simple java script to keep the number of online applicants limited.
2. All those who applied online are basically beta testers of the application and the process. If you are wondering why handful of people were processed so quickly, its because they must be testing the user(cic officer) side of the software. Best way to do that is by requesting them to process few applicaiton. After that they must've provided their reviews or suggestions to the developers. They made an update on 2nd march which further confirms that they are activiely working on it.
3. If you're worried that how come CIC agents can't find your application, its simply becuase they are not fully aware of the new process. On December 8, 2020 cic agent 1st reply to a tweet that online cicitzenship application is not possible and then 2 days later on December 10, 2020 he/she apologizes and corrects himself/heself that it was made available on November 30, 2020 for limited clients.
Whenever there is a new software, its often not attached to rest of the environment until its completely tested. Its to protect the existing environment plus its not as easy at it sounds. Hopefully this explains why those call center agents can't find your application on the system.

My suggestion is, don't panic. We can't see all the software related issues they must be facing on their side. One thing I can tell you by looking at the history of all canadian pilot programs, they are not going to forget about any of the application and online process. This kind of change cost a lot of money and man power, they are not creating this to forget about it. I personally belive its going to be faster than paper applicaiton.

I am a software tester & what you are saying is completely logical. Since few applicants got AOR & now applicants are also receiving email confirmation, so there is no possibility of data getting lost (submitted applications are lost).

Only possible worry could be initial delay because of bug fixes (which they may have found during beta testing). It seems they will resume processing online applications only after some of the critical bugs are fixed.

Do you know if there is any fixed schedule for system updates. Is it weekly or once in two weeks or once per month?

 

[SuperSaiyanGod]

I am a software tester & what you are saying is completely logical. Since few applicants got AOR & now applicants are also receiving email confirmation, so there is no possibility of data getting lost (submitted applications are lost).

Only possible worry could be initial delay because of bug fixes (which they may have found during beta testing). It seems they will resume processing online applications only after some of the critical bugs are fixed.

Do you know if there is any fixed schedule for system updates. Is it weekly or once in two weeks or once per month?

Using wayback, before 2 March update, I able to track update on January 19. Need more data to see if there is a schedule or not.

 

[engray]

Using wayback, before 2 March update, I able to track update on January 19. Need more data to see if there is a schedule or not.

Before the March 2nd update, there was a banner indicating planned maintenance.

On another note, checking on my application using Chrome dev tools, I see that there is a flag "status.dynoPayload.pdfFiles[0].uploadedToGCMSStatus"=false. I will keep checking that flag until IRCC upload it to GCMS

 

[Ramii]

So I had a conversation with an agent today, I am not sure if that is repeated information or not, but I thought I would share it with everyone just in case, and to be honest, it was not that helpful.
1. I asked about my application she said it's not on the system, all the info they had concerning my file was from earlier applications.
2. Asked her about the invitation program for online applications, I told her I am not sure I was invited, she did say that if there is a confirmation whenever I log into the application (you have successfully submitted your application page) that's enough for now. She also mentioned that just because it's an online application doesn't mean it's going to be faster.
3. I asked if I should reapply using the paper application, she said you shouldn't reapply now just wait for your AOR.

 

[simons]

Today i am invited to take online citizenship test . i submitted my online application on Dec 10 2020 , Get AoR on Feb 26 2021.

 

[mohammedessam]

Today i am invited to take online citizenship test . i submitted my online application on Dec 10 2020 , Get AoR on Feb 26 2021.

Great news. Good luck

 

[SNGHL_2013]

Ok this is getting interesting and frustrating, IRCC's Twitter account says that only people who are invited can apply online:

Under the same conversation IRCC Twitter account confirmed that there is no invitation to apply online. So maybe there are still some chances to get AOR.

 

[SuperSaiyanGod]

Before the March 2nd update, there was a banner indicating planned maintenance.

On another note, checking on my application using Chrome dev tools, I see that there is a flag "status.dynoPayload.pdfFiles[0].uploadedToGCMSStatus"=false. I will keep checking that flag until IRCC upload it to GCMS

Good catch

 

[softwaretesting]

Today i am invited to take online citizenship test . i submitted my online application on Dec 10 2020 , Get AoR on Feb 26 2021.

Congratulation, what status does it show online in ECAS (or anywhere else online where you can check status)? Has it moved to In Progress?

I noticed in tracker that ECAS In Process date is not mentioned for any of the online applicants who got Test Invite.

 

[simons]

Congratulation, what status does it show online in ECAS (or anywhere else online where you can check status)? Has it moved to In Progress?

I noticed in tracker that ECAS In Process date is not mentioned for any of the online applicants who got Test Invite.

i can not track my application in ECAS.

 

[myat]

Today i am invited to take online citizenship test . i submitted my online application on Dec 10 2020 , Get AoR on Feb 26 2021.

Very good new simons. For my wife application 02-Jan-2021, still need to wait and see. Thanks for the update.

 

[Johny Bravo]

Was there any new AOR for online applications this week? Does anyone know? I’m trying to figure out which way to submit mine

 

[Nikola10]

Hi,

I have few queries regarding the citizenship test

I have there are few websites to practice citizenship tests such as https://www.yourlibrary.ca/citizenship/,

So normally questions are repeating from these tests?

And what is the difficulty level?