The response by
@forw.jane is sufficient.
Please forgive me for using your query to make a broader point.
Can anyone check if my explanation is okay or can you please help me write or correct explanation. thanks
Dear Sir or Madam,
I submitted my application for citizenship on 11 November 2023. I had several day trips to the USA which I forgot to mention because I did not know that I needed to mention a same day trip to the USA. That was my unintentional mistake and I feel very upset now.
I am sending you a list of my day trips to the United States and I also meet the eligibility requirement of physical presence in Canada for at least 1095 days.
I am also sending my new physical presence calculator with my signature.
I am also sending CBSA record to support my application
I apologize for the mistake and the inconvenience.
Please add to my application to avoid further delay. I will be very thankful to you.
Best regard
I generally do not offer comment, let alone advice, on what in particular to state in communications with IRCC. I am NOT qualified to offer personal advice.
I agree with the conventional wisdom in this forum that when minor errors were made in the application itself, once the applicant receives notice of AOR the applicant can and in many cases should notify IRCC of the errors, provide corrections, and to some extent an explanation for the mistakes (not an elaborate explanation; stay simple).
I will not, not usually, offer more than this other than qualifying it by emphasizing that the content of the communication should be focused on precise details, as BRIEF as practical, and overall constitute a clear statement as to specifically what in the application is incorrect and what the correct information is, without elaboration. (Never, for example, compose communications with a bureaucracy, or in formal business, in the way I write; engaging in expository narrative is NOT the way to go when dealing with government agencies.)
Your draft wanders beyond that. Statements like "
I feel very upset now," in particular, are largely superfluous and unnecessary. A simple "
thank you" is enough, no need to be more profusive about it. Generally better to not say anything that need not be said.
You say you "
forgot" to include day trips, for example, but you also say you did not know you needed to report day trips. I'm guessing it was one or the other, not both. Saying less tends keep it clear and simple, avoiding internal inconsistencies.
That noted, I agree with the observation by @forw.jane that your draft is "good enough." Better may be better, but that is not necessary.
For example, in a similar situation I like using terms such as "
overlooked," as in I "
overlooked reporting day trips . . ." because that sufficiently conveys it was an oversight, a mistake, unintentional (so no need to say I "
unintentionally overlooked," as saying it was unintentional is redundant; again, while one needs to say enough, beyond that the less said the better). But that is to quibble unnecessarily. "
Forgot" is fine. "
Did not know" is also fine; or "
did not realize," or was "
not aware." Just as long as it is an honest characterization.
I would quibble in one regard, and suggest NOT including a copy of the CBSA travel history. IRCC has ready access to it. And IRCC wants YOUR information, your account.
The main reason I am responding here, in contrast, is in regards to making this mistake itself. This is not to say what is in your draft is not OK.
Again, the draft is "good enough." But your explanation brings up a broader concern about following the instructions, and make no mistake, beyond the substantive facts establishing that the requirements have been met, the other two overriding factors influencing how things go (including whether the application runs into non-routine process and delays) are:
-- how well the applicant has followed the instructions, and
-- whether there are indications raising concerns about the applicant's credibility
These are, of course, related. If it appears the applicant has not, in some way, followed the instructions, that of course is itself some indication the applicant's information might be less than reliable, some cause to question the applicant's credibility.
Bringing this to your situation. This is NOT to suggest there is much if any problem for you because of this one error (albeit repeated multiple times; that is, the failure to report day trips multiple times). This alone should be easily resolved,
NOT a problem . . . and perhaps the odds are there would be
NO PROBLEM even without submitting the correction (but better to submit the correction sooner rather than wait for it to come up in an interview or other stage of processing).
So it may seem a bit heavy-handed to focus so intently on this, here, but your query and your draft make for an excellent example to highlight the importance of focusing on what the instructions specify . . . as I oft say, "
if in doubt, follow the instructions; otherwise, yep, follow the instructions."
You state, by way of explanation for the mistake, that in regards to same day trips to the U.S. you . . .
. . . forgot to mention because I did not know that I needed to mention a same day trip to the USA.
The instructions for completing the physical presence calculation (both the online calculator and in CIT 0407, the "
How to Calculate Physical Presence" form) clearly say to report "
ALL" travel outside Canada, including day trips to the U.S.
And this is repeatedly stated in collateral instructions. In the guide for making a citizenship application, for example, there is a link to information about recording your trips with an observation about using a travel journal. That link is to a PDI with detailed instructions for PRs as to recording travel outside Canada, in which it is stated twice, not just once,
that a PR should record same day trips to the U.S.
Sorry about hammering away at this. I do not mean to be picking on you. And your question, your mistake here, is very, very common. So I really am not hammering away at this to criticize you personally, but to address and emphasize the bigger, broader point: it is important to read, really read and follow the damn instructions.
Sometimes, and actually many, many times, it is the simple stuff, which very often is the obvious stuff, that needs to be emphasized. Everyone knows, and is well aware, that it is important to read and follow the instructions. But many of us all too often fail to just do that (and this includes me far too often, causing my spouse all sorts of frustration,
"why didn't you just follow the instructions" they say, glaring harshly at me).
Again, please forgive me for using your query to make this broader point.
By the way, if this is the only mistake you made in the application, odds are very good there will be smooth sailing, no problems.
