How to retrieve all the days spent travelling outside Canada.

[supergnagno]

Hi all,

I became permanent resident of this magnificent Country last March 2013, and now I can finally apply for citizenship. The hardest part for me is to retrieve all the dates that I spent travelling outside Canada. I'm a sales manager and need to travel a lot in US and Europe. I honestly don't remember the dates of all the trips I made outside Canada in the past seven years. I was wondering if anyone could share some tips on how to provide such info without missing any day. Is it possible to ask the list of the days to the Custom agency directly? Can they release such info?

Any suggestions is more than welcome. Thank you in advance for your help.
S

 

[thecoolguysam]

Hi all,

I became permanent resident of this magnificent Country last March 2013, and now I can finally apply for citizenship. The hardest part for me is to retrieve all the dates that I spent travelling outside Canada. I'm a sales manager and need to travel a lot in US and Europe. I honestly don't remember the dates of all the trips I made outside Canada in the past seven years. I was wondering if anyone could share some tips on how to provide such info without missing any day. Is it possible to ask the list of the days to the Custom agency directly? Can they release such info?

Any suggestions is more than welcome. Thank you in advance for your help.
S

The best way is to check your passport(s) stamps and check your credit card statements etc etc to check the days you have spent outside Canada.
You can order your US records from the following link:
https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/request/publicPreCreate
Do create an account, don't continue as guest

The burden is on the applicant to provide his/her entries/exit to CIC. If you don't remember all, draft a cover letter and explain the details that you don't know every single exit.

 

[supergnagno]

Hi,

thank you for the quick reply and for the link. One last question: only the days spent as permanent resident are considered in the count, correct?

Thank you once again.
S

 

[thecoolguysam]

Hi,

thank you for the quick reply and for the link. One last question: only the days spent as permanent resident are considered in the count, correct?

Thank you once again.
S

Yes, correct.

 

[Iay]

We honestly did not provide every single trip date... I will have no idea how to even start remembering them.
I only outlined the trips that were 2 weeks or longer.

However, my family and I have been in Canada since November 2008 so we were pretty confident that our number of days present will surpass the requirement.

I don't think you will get penalize if you don't remember to put all the dates that you were out of the country, but remember they can pull your record form CBSA to check the days you crossed the border so make sure that you have a buffer room to that number of days needed to qualify for citizenship.

Hope that helps.

 

[itsmyid]

Hi all,

I became permanent resident of this magnificent Country last March 2013, and now I can finally apply for citizenship. The hardest part for me is to retrieve all the dates that I spent travelling outside Canada. I'm a sales manager and need to travel a lot in US and Europe. I honestly don't remember the dates of all the trips I made outside Canada in the past seven years. I was wondering if anyone could share some tips on how to provide such info without missing any day. Is it possible to ask the list of the days to the Custom agency directly? Can they release such info?

Any suggestions is more than welcome. Thank you in advance for your help.
S

If you became PR in march 2013 and you travel so much that you can't even keep track of how many trips you had, there is a good chance you won't meet the residency requirement any time soon - just one week a year would add up to a month over the course of 4 years, and if you travel "frequently" to the US and Europe , you probably have to wait extra a few more month or even a year to be eligible

 

[arambi]

If you became PR in march 2013 and you travel so much that you can't even keep track of how many trips you had, there is a good chance you won't meet the residency requirement any time soon - just one week a year would add up to a month over the course of 4 years, and if you travel "frequently" to the US and Europe , you probably have to wait extra a few more month or even a year to be eligible

Agree 100%. You need a good buffer. I did travel a lot like you and had 212 days of absences over a 4 year period... I added an extra month of cushion... So I applied approx 4 years and 8 months as PR (I came to canada as PR)

To ensure you've done your very best to not miss anything, do the following
Order USA ENTRY EXIT records
Order CBSA CANADA EXIT ENTRY RECORD via ATIP
REVIEW each stamp in your passport during this period
Obtain and review credit card bill or bank statement for translations outside canada
Obtain and review cell phone bills for phones calls made or received outside Canada

Good luck

 

[supergnagno]

Thank you all for your advices. I was able to download the log of all my entry/exit in US from the US Homeland security website. Very fast and free of charges. I will try to do the same from the ATIP website (thank you "Arambi" for the tip).

I know, I will probably have to wait an extra 4-5 months before starting the application, but I'm so happy that I'm finally getting there.

Thank you again for your precious advices.
S

 

[keesio]

The buffer is important if you cannot recall all the dates exactly. Make sure you give yourself at least 1 month buffer to be safe.