I find it disconcerting that they ask permission to access CBSA record; have access to our information through their full security apparatus, but yet they cannot track ground cross-border travels. It makes wonder how to they track the potential "bad guys".
Of course the information is accessible without the individual's consent, if there are sufficient grounds, and pursuant to proper procedure. The applicant's consent allows access without making a special inquiry or investigatory referral supported by grounds.
While privacy protections have been significantly compromised in recent years, there are still some restrictions, some limitations intended to limit access to personal information. Thus for example, IRCC personnel cannot simply use their position to access other agency information on a whim.
Hi there,
I am planning to apply for my citizenship soon but i have a big issue regarding the travel history and doing the physical presence calculator. I have made lots of short trips to the states and overseas within the last 5 years. Travelling overseas will be easy to track from my passport, but in and out of Canada to the States i don't have any clue.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
FIRST and FOREMOST: make a concerted effort to reconstruct your travel history as best you possibly can. Do not rely on any single source, government or otherwise.
Submitting an accurate and complete travel history is key to making a successful application.
IRCC accommodates some mistakes, recognizing most people will make some. However, beyond a FEW MINOR mistakes, the more or the bigger, with omissions tending to loom larger, the failure to submit a nearly complete and accurate accounting of travel dates can be problematic, ranging from causing non-routine elevated scrutiny leading to questionnaires and delays, to resulting in a full-blown presence-case requiring referral to a hearing with a Citizenship Judge and an uncertain outcome.
Since a PR must retain such information, anyway, for purposes of meeting the PR Residency Obligation, IRCC tends to not be overly receptive to excuses. Obviously the single best source for this information is the PR himself or herself, since the PR was there, in person, each and every time, and is the one person in the world in the best position to have a complete record of all trips abroad.
Secondly, Sources:
As others observe, CBSA can provide a travel history which should, at the least, have captured nearly all (and for many it is all, but not necessarily so) the dates the PR entered Canada. This can be a big help. It is NOT NECESSARILY COMPLETE, so it should not be relied upon exclusively but used in conjunction with other sources.
The U.S. can provide a record of entries into the U.S. Likewise, this can be a big help for reconstructing dates the PR entered the U.S. But again, it is NOT NECESSARILY COMPLETE, so it should not be relied upon exclusively but used in conjunction with other sources.
Passport stamps can be somewhat helpful but they are notoriously insufficient. Moreover, remember that entry date into another country does NOT necessarily indicate date of exit from Canada. Travel via red-eye and Trans-Pacific flights in particular will result in entry abroad on a date later than actual exit from Canada. Make the effort to get the exit date right.
Other countries will provide some individuals a record of entry and exits as well. Again, this can help but is never for-sure complete and should not be relied upon exclusively but used in conjunction with other sources.
A PR's other records can be used to further identify and verify dates. Many have references to their trips in email, transactions in credit or bank accounts, and other transaction records (like plane tickets, itineraries, or such).
The biggest mistake some PRs make, other than the mistake of not keeping a precise record of all travel dates to begin with, is to approach this too casually. Close is not good enough. Very close is OK so long as the applicant has a buffer above the minimum AND is fine with some potential delays and perhaps having to submit additional information and documentation later to prove actual presence. It is worth taking the time and making the effort to dig through every record one has in order to get the travel history very, very near right.
Thirdly, Margin for error:
Any applicant who has any doubt about the total accuracy of his or her travel history should wait to apply with a substantial margin over the minimum. It is crucial the margin be large enough, with some additional margin over that, to be absolutely certain the minimum 1095 day requirement has been met. REMINDER: one day short MANDATES denying the application.
That is about insuring the outcome. About making sure that after close examination and IRCC's verification, you still applied with enough days the application can be granted, the oath taken.
There is also the incentive to avoid elevated scrutiny, to avoid RQ (or its current equivalent), to avoid a full-blown presence-case. This is also a major reason to, first, get the travel history as right as possible, and secondly, to have a sufficient margin over the minimum to make IRCC processing agents feel comfortable concluding you met the presence minimum without having to conduct further inquiries or subject you to the RQ (or comparable) process.
Applicants with solid cases and large margins have reported IRCC discovering mistakes, like an omission as large as three or so weeks, asking the applicant about the discrepancy in the interview, being satisfied the applicant made an innocent mistake, and then proceeding timely to the oath. A large margin will not always make up for mistakes or omissions, but it can make the difference.
Edit to add:
My impression is that many PRs underestimate the significance of this:
Obviously the single best source for this information is the PR himself or herself, since the PR was there, in person, each and every time, and is the one person in the world in the best position to have a complete record of all trips abroad.
You are the best source of information regarding your travel history. If all the information in the application and which IRCC otherwise has, indicates you are credible and you have provided a complete and accurate accounting of travel dates, IRCC can readily infer you were present in Canada all the days in-between an entry and next exit.
ON THE OTHER HAND, if the applicant's travel history has significant issues, if the one best source of this information cannot be relied upon to provide a complete and accurate account, DUH, that means QUESTIONS. Questions tend to mean problems. Non-routine processing and delays, at the lesser end, doubts leading to skepticism and potentially concluding the applicant's information is not sufficiently reliable to support a grant of citizenship at the more severe end.
That is, if IRCC cannot count on the best source of this information (the applicant), it will be up to the applicant to make sure IRCC has sufficient evidence of presence otherwise. Remember, IRCC does not use the CBSA travel history to make a corrected calculation of dates in Canada; it uses this information to determine if the best source of travel history, the applicant, is a reliable source; it uses the CBSA travel history to see if there are mistakes or omissions in what the applicant has submitted.
