delay in citizenship recognised by govt

[Leon]

I think I have posted before that my own citizenship application took 2.5 years at the time most were getting done in 1 year. I never got an RQ and I never got any explanation why it took so long and I never asked. You know why? Because I was happily living and working in Canada as a PR.

The people who complain the most about the citizenship process are the people who can't wait to leave. They figure they "have done their time" and now should be able to get their citizenship fast so they can leave and enjoy being visa exempt to many countries as well as ease of getting a NAFTA visa to the US. Why should Canada want these people as citizens?

As for personal reasons for moving, yes, anybody could have personal reasons for moving but it seems to me that the personal reasons for moving often seem to happen after exactly 3 years as a PR after having just applied for citizenship? In any case, if you have personal reasons for moving, you will have to make a decision if the personal reasons outweigh your plans to settle in Canada. If you find that you are no longer interested in settling in Canada, you do not need citizenship.

 

[torontosm]

Which characteristics are those? Who decides the characteristics? What are they so I can avoid them?

CIC decides them, and they obviously do not have to consult you for your opinion. They deliberately do not disclose them all as people could find ways around them to continue their fraud. However, red flag "triggers" could include frequent travel, self employment or employment as a consultant, very recently issued ID, etc.

Fine, just do it within a reasonable time frame. Reports are that applications are being rejected/subjected to additional scrutiny for post-application travel. This is despite the fact that CIC officially tells you that post-application travel is not relevant. Just what is the criteria? You are actually making my point for me. What are the bloody rules?

CIC is not intentionally delaying anything. If things are taking longer, it is because they are trying to cope with increased demands with the same amount of resources. Again, no promises were made and what you consider to be reasonable may be unreasonable for someone else.

Canadian citizens are given preference in all federal hiring. Try getting a job with the federal government w/o Canadian citizenship. It is very hard; if not impossible.

It is definitely not impossible as I just referred you to the original article which quoted a PR working for a federal agency. And after reading many of the comments posted in these forums, I have not yet seen one where someone is complaining about citizenship delays because they were passed over for a government job. It is always becuase they want to take the passport and leave Canada, or want to use it for visa free entry to countries.

Immigrants do not have the right to complain about anything? Is there any delay you would consider unreasonable? 6 years? 10 years? 20 years?

Of course immigrants have the right to complain, but not about things that are being done for the best interests of the country. And definitely not about things that shouldn't have an impact on you if you are here for the right reasons.

 

[DGT]

I think I have posted before that my own citizenship application took 2.5 years at the time most were getting done in 1 year. I never got an RQ and I never got any explanation why it took so long and I never asked. You know why? Because I was happily living and working in Canada as a PR.

The people who complain the most about the citizenship process are the people who can't wait to leave. They figure they "have done their time" and now should be able to get their citizenship fast so they can leave and enjoy being visa exempt to many countries as well as ease of getting a NAFTA visa to the US. Why should Canada want these people as citizens?

As for personal reasons for moving, yes, anybody could have personal reasons for moving but it seems to me that the personal reasons for moving often seem to happen after exactly 3 years as a PR after having just applied for citizenship? In any case, if you have personal reasons for moving, you will have to make a decision if the personal reasons outweigh your plans to settle in Canada. If you find that you are no longer interested in settling in Canada, you do not need citizenship.

That's a really great point Leon. I can't wait for the day that I'm a Citizen of Canada. I'm very politically active and look forward to being able to put my vote to good use, and FINALLY being of the same nationality as my wife will feel really nice! However, if I'm a PR there really isn't a lot of pressure for me to become a citizen ASAP. I'm grateful to Canada that I'm just getting PR from the word go, and then not having to reapply after 2 years and pay another vast sum of money (like my wife had to do in Britain).

So it's an annoyance really, but it's not the end of the world. I honestly think that PR's get a really good deal from Canada and I appreciate it.

 

[Hnhkrk]

The people who complain the most about the citizenship process are the people who can't wait to leave. They figure they "have done their time" and now should be able to get their citizenship fast so they can leave and enjoy being visa exempt to many countries as well as ease of getting a NAFTA visa to the US. Why should Canada want these people as citizens?

These people should not be allowed to be become citizens.

 

[Halloum]

I think I have posted before that my own citizenship application took 2.5 years at the time most were getting done in 1 year. I never got an RQ and I never got any explanation why it took so long and I never asked. You know why? Because I was happily living and working in Canada as a PR.

The people who complain the most about the citizenship process are the people who can't wait to leave. They figure they "have done their time" and now should be able to get their citizenship fast so they can leave and enjoy being visa exempt to many countries as well as ease of getting a NAFTA visa to the US. Why should Canada want these people as citizens?

As for personal reasons for moving, yes, anybody could have personal reasons for moving but it seems to me that the personal reasons for moving often seem to happen after exactly 3 years as a PR after having just applied for citizenship? In any case, if you have personal reasons for moving, you will have to make a decision if the personal reasons outweigh your plans to settle in Canada. If you find that you are no longer interested in settling in Canada, you do not need citizenship.

(1) You are exceptional Leon, all my due respect to you. But people, who are not exceptional, would be concerned that their application was lost especially when it is an abnormal case. The situation is now different; it is no longer an incidental case like yours. The backlog is building up and we are seeing a cliff, but a glimpse of hope was announced yesterday! So maybe we should not be as concerned. You are not the only one who was/is happily living and working as a PR

(2) Some are, i agree but that does not mean that the most are. We do not have to live with a non transparent process that is offering unreasonable delays just because some applicants intends to flee the country. The only solution for the problem you are citing is to change the eligibility duration to make it no less than 5 years i am all for that

(3) i totally agree (except for general presumptions). My company, in light of the economic situation and minimal attrition in the last two years, are asking some of our long staying senior managers to consider relocating to our offices in the US where there is more demand for their skills. These people know that there is a good possibility they will let go and so they have to consider an unfortunate temporary relocation which could last for some time. Some of these senior managers are citizenship candidates and have families to support and not sure what to do at this point.

In sum, i do not belive that unreasonable processing time for everyone is the solution for our immigration problems, we can do better. i don't know you but i'm, like others on the forum, a big fan of you. I hope you take my above observations with an open heart.

 

[Hnhkrk]

(1) You are exceptional Leon, all my due respect to you. But people, who are not exceptional, would be concerned that their application was lost especially when it is an abnormal case. The situation is now different; it is no longer an incidental case like yours. The backlog is building up and we are seeing a cliff, but a glimpse of hope was announced yesterday! So maybe we should not be as concerned. You are not the only one who was/is happily living and working as a PR

(2) Some are, i agree but that does not mean that the most are. We do not have to live with a non transparent process that is offering unreasonable delays just because some applicants intends to flee the country. The only solution for the problem you are citing is to change the eligibility duration to make it no less than 5 years i am all for that

(3) i totally agree (except for general presumptions). My company, in light of the economic situation and minimal attrition in the last two years, are asking some of our long staying senior managers to consider relocating to our offices in the US where there is more demand for their skills. These people know that there is a good possibility they will let go and so they have to consider an unfortunate temporary relocation which could last for some time. Some of these senior managers are citizenship candidates and have families to support and not sure what to do at this point.

In sum, i do not belive that unreasonable processing time for everyone is the solution for our immigration problems, we can do better. i don't know you but i'm like others on the forum are big fans of you. I hope you take my above observations with an open heart.

You're right, I should be more careful with my generalizations. There are always exceptions. If someone needs a Canadian passport to travel because they don't necessarily have a home country, that is a different story.

But I still think that if someone is becoming a citizen out of convenience and has no real intention of living their life in Canada, they should have to jump through hoops in order to become a citizen.

 

[Halloum]

Hahaha, I laughed at this so hard. You're totally right. I'm not stressed though - just stating an opinion.

i think i now know why you laughed .. i edited my comment!

 

[Halloum]

You're right, I should be more careful with my generalizations. There are always exceptions. If someone needs a Canadian passport to travel because they don't necessarily have a home country, that is a different story.

But I still think that if someone is becoming a citizen out of convenience and has no real intention of living their life in Canada, they should have to jump through hoops in order to become a citizen.

i cannot diasgree with you.

 

[mikeathome]

I really don't think this fringe portion of the population is supporting the national economy with their tax dollars. Regardless, they don't have a say until they become citizens, and in order to get there, they must follow a process. Deal with it.

What demographic numbers? Which immigrants do you think are being excluded for "racist" reasons? Non-whites? The three largest immigrant group are from the Phillipines, China and India. That doesn't sound very racist or exclusionary. It's easy to throw around accusations but unfortunately the truth doesn't support them.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/research-stats/facts2011.pdf

You answered it yourself. Exactly these data I am referring to. I thought, one would be smart enough to see the effect of increased processing time has to these numbers. And I don't accuse the government of being 'selective'.

The other part of the demographic data I am referring to is a bit selfish, I admit, being rel. close to retirement I would be worried about the relation of number of people on the voters list and the number of people actually allowed to vote. I give you a hint this time: age...

Mike

 

[newcomer]

Well I believe my post might appear irrelevant to the current discussion however, it might be relevant to the original topic .

As it has been anticipated, there is going to be a fee hike ,that might improve processing times nonetheless,its going to cover only 60% of original processing cost.I was wondering, instead of just doubling,why CIC does not make it three times the amount of current fee ,increase resources and process the applicatons within 6 months or so.I know this idea might seem unpopular with many people here
but before making an opinion ,kindly have a look at the citizenship processing fee for UK & USA:

UK (adults) : £874
UK (children under 18): £673

USA : $680

Canada (current): $200
Canada (proposed) $400

So,even the proposed increased fee is much less than UK & USA.Its not difficult to conclude that along with some other reasons, minimum amount of fee and obviously less resources are also one of the factors ,which to be blamed for this backlog.

I believe ,besides that,there could be an optional expedited processing service available only with an extra fee .This type of practice is already adopted by UK .So, in that case ,people who want to get their applications processed faster ,due to any reason,can go for that option.

 

[CanuckForEver]

Do you seriously think the hike in fees gets transformed into faster processing? Do you really buy the shortage of funds that they state currently? if there's a shortage of funds, why there's such a huge media buyout in alarming people about marriage scam. You know their shortage as stated by them previously was only 44 Million bucks, but these media buyouts at CBC, google, facebook and everywhere will cost them a few 100s of millions. Are we being naïve here? penny for your thoughts

 

[torontosm]

You answered it yourself. Exactly these data I am referring to. I thought, one would be smart enough to see the effect of increased processing time has to these numbers. And I don't accuse the government of being 'selective'.

The other part of the demographic data I am referring to is a bit selfish, I admit, being rel. close to retirement I would be worried about the relation of number of people on the voters list and the number of people actually allowed to vote. I give you a hint this time: age...

Mike

I give up...your posts make no sense and I have no idea what you are trying to say. First you accuse the government of being racist, and now you deny saying the government is "selective". Maybe your hint is also relevant to your erratic comments.

 

[on-hold]

Though it is interesting -- if a Canadian goes to work for three years in Dubai, no one cares. If a naturalized Canadian gets their passport and goes to work in Dubai, they've scammed the system. Why is that? At what point do we become Canadian citizens with the same world rights that natural-born Canadians have? Maybe some people want the citizenship because they want to have the global privileges of Canadians, and I don't see that they should be forced to be Canadians of Canada only.

 

[Leon]

Though it is interesting -- if a Canadian goes to work for three years in Dubai, no one cares. If a naturalized Canadian gets their passport and goes to work in Dubai, they've scammed the system. Why is that? At what point do we become Canadian citizens with the same world rights that natural-born Canadians have? Maybe some people want the citizenship because they want to have the global privileges of Canadians, and I don't see that they should be forced to be Canadians of Canada only.

No, they haven't scammed the system because there are currently no rules saying that you can't leave after getting citizenship. However, if this starts to become a common practice, there might be some in the future or the time you have to stay before applying will be increased or you can't move away during the processing time or both and/or that you have to file taxes in Canada for the rest of your life like the US does.

I believe that immigration's purpose of giving PR and citizenship to immigrants is to bring and integrate people who will enrich the country. Why should a country want to give citizenship to someone who can't wait to leave?

 

[torontosm]

I believe that immigration's purpose of giving PR and citizenship to immigrants is to bring and integrate people who will enrich the country. Why should a country want to give citizenship to someone who can't wait to leave?

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