Information requested on sponsor post SA

[kenziehere]

Hi all,

We are completely baffled right now. Outland sponsorship, Dec 2019. We received our sponsor approval in January 2020.

A year later, The VO has now requested a big list of documents for the sponsor who is a Canadian citizen. They've requested his travel history for 10 years, passport pages for past 10 years, NOAs for past 6 years, and family form. And only giving us 30 days.

Has anybody come across a similar situation or have any inight on if this is normal?

 

[jddd]

Hi all,

We are completely baffled right now. Outland sponsorship, Dec 2019. We received our sponsor approval in January 2020.

A year later, The VO has now requested a big list of documents for the sponsor who is a Canadian citizen. They've requested his travel history for 10 years, passport pages for past 10 years, NOAs for past 6 years, and family form. And only giving us 30 days.

Has anybody come across a similar situation or have any inight on if this is normal?

Weird. I have never heard of something so extensive required from a sponsor. How long has the sponsor been a citizen? From the documents they are requesting, I think they may be reviewing if he was eligible for citizenship? Really weird.

 

[kenziehere]

Weird. I have never heard of something so extensive required from a sponsor. How long has the sponsor been a citizen? From the documents they are requesting, I think they may be reviewing if he was eligible for citizenship? Really weird.

We thought it was really weird too. I've been following the forums closely and haven't come across anyone going through this. Sponsor has been a citizen since 2015, PR since 2012 and in Canada under other legal statuses since 2002. It's not their role to question his citizenship.

 

[jddd]

We thought it was really weird too. I've been following the forums closely and haven't come across anyone going through this. Sponsor has been a citizen since 2015, PR since 2012 and in Canada under other legal statuses since 2002. It's not their role to question his citizenship.

A sponsor's status can be reviewed at any time one interacts with IRCC. It is their role to question a sponsor's status as part of the processing. As a sponsor, they have to be a citizen or a PR who is compliant with their RO. I know you mentioned the sponsor is a citizen but my guess is that they are questioning whether he even qualified for citizenship in 2014/2015. I know you said the sponsor was already approved to sponsor but it is possible that it was not until the deeper review when whatever they discovered came to light?

Since they are asking for addresses and passport stamps, is the sponsor sure that the residency requirement was fulfilled before applying for citizenship? I think that is what they may be looking at.

 

[scylla]

We thought it was really weird too. I've been following the forums closely and haven't come across anyone going through this. Sponsor has been a citizen since 2015, PR since 2012 and in Canada under other legal statuses since 2002. It's not their role to question his citizenship.

Order your GCMS notes asap. I would be very concerned about this.

The fact they have requested travel records is concerning. While you may believe it's not their role to question his citizenship, it actually is - this is exactly their role. If something has happened that has created concerns he obtained citizenship through some sort of misrepresentation in terms of travel or residency days, IRCC has the right to look into this - and citizenship can in fact be revoked if they find a serious misrepresentation. Anyway, hopefully it's not that. Order your notes now if you haven't done so already.

 

[kenziehere]

A sponsor's status can be reviewed at any time one interacts with IRCC. It is their role to question a sponsor's status as part of the processing. As a sponsor, they have to be a citizen or a PR who is compliant with their RO. I know you mentioned the sponsor is a citizen but my guess is that they are questioning whether he even qualified for citizenship in 2014/2015. I know you said the sponsor was already approved to sponsor but it is possible that it was not until the deeper review when whatever they discovered came to light?

Since they are asking for addresses and passport stamps, is the sponsor sure that the residency requirement was fulfilled before applying for citizenship? I think that is what they may be looking at.

Absolutely no question about residency requirement for citizenship. He never even traveled outside Canada from 2012 to 2016.

His SA came prior to VO transfer. Why in the world would a VO question his citizenship when Canada hasn't? And a whole year later?

 

[scylla]

Absolutely no question about residency requirement for citizenship. He never even traveled outside Canada from 2012 to 2016.

His SA came prior to VO transfer. Why in the world would a VO question his citizenship when Canada hasn't? And a whole year later?

It may not be citizenship. It may be something else. Either way, it's extremely unusual.

Order the GCMS notes. Provide everything they have asked for within 30 days.

 

[jddd]

Absolutely no question about residency requirement for citizenship. He never even traveled outside Canada from 2012 to 2016.

His SA came prior to VO transfer. Why in the world would a VO question his citizenship when Canada hasn't? And a whole year later?

It is a guess and after reading this:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Canadian_nationality_law I am thinking maybe my guess may be possible? According to this, in 2014 they changed the residency requirements to 4 years instead of 3 years which would make your spouse ineligible for citizenship in 2015. I am just as confused as you are, again, I have never seen this before.

Agree with scylla that it may be something else as well. Again, just a guess. Best to provide what they are asking for. Good luck.

 

[scylla]

Absolutely no question about residency requirement for citizenship. He never even traveled outside Canada from 2012 to 2016.

His SA came prior to VO transfer. Why in the world would a VO question his citizenship when Canada hasn't? And a whole year later?

Thinking through the timing of this (specifically that it happened after SA), this makes me think they feel there is a discrepancy somewhere in the information provided in the applicant part of the application and are wanting to verify this through your records. Then it would make perfect sense why this ask has only come now. Maybe time spent living together or something like that? It's like they are trying to correlate / match up dates. But it sounds like they are asking for history that predates the sponsor and applicant even knowing each others. Don't know what to say about that.

It's really strange. Anyway, all you can do is respond to the ask and then wait to see if your notes tell you anything.

Good luck. This must be crazy stressful which sucks.

 

[scylla]

It is a guess and after reading this:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Canadian_nationality_law I am thinking maybe my guess may be possible? According to this, in 2014 they changed the residency requirements to 4 years instead of 3 years which would make your spouse ineligible for citizenship in 2015. I am just as confused as you are, again, I have never seen this before.

Agree with scylla that it may be something else as well. Again, just a guess. Best to provide what they are asking for. Good luck.

It's correct that the residency requirement was increased to 4 years and they also stopped giving credit for pre-PR time. However it took a bit of time for this to be passed and I don't remember the exact effective date. Quite possible OP got in through an application submitted in 2014 which would have been locked in under previous residency rules. The dates would make sense in that case.

Anyway - also quite possible citizenship has absolutely nothing to do with why this information has been requested by IRCC.

Super hard to say what's happening here...

 

[jddd]

It's correct that the residency requirement was increased to 4 years and they also stopped giving credit for pre-PR time. However it took a bit of time for this to be passed and I don't remember the exact effective date. Quite possible OP got in through an application submitted in 2014 which would have been locked in under previous residency rules. The dates would make sense in that case.

Anyway - also quite possible citizenship has absolutely nothing to do with why this information has been requested by IRCC.

Super hard to say what's happening here...

Royal assent was June 19, 2014, is that the date it becomes effective? So as long as the sponsor got the application in before that and had a year's worth of pre-PR residency, there should be no issue and it is something else completely. Such a weird one. I am so curious about what IRCC wants to know.

 

[scylla]

Royal assent was June 19, 2014, is that the date it becomes effective? So as long as the sponsor got the application in before that and had a year's worth of pre-PR residency, there should be no issue and it is something else completely. Such a weird one. I am so curious about what IRCC wants to know.

I should remember but I don't.

This was a dramatic period of time here on the forum with people rushing to qualify and submit their applications before the rules changed.

 

[kenziehere]

Royal assent was June 19, 2014, is that the date it becomes effective? So as long as the sponsor got the application in before that and had a year's worth of pre-PR residency, there should be no issue and it is something else completely. Such a weird one. I am so curious about what IRCC wants to know.

I should remember but I don't.

This was a dramatic period of time here on the forum with people rushing to qualify and submit their applications before the rules changed.

Thank you both for your thoughts. Sponsor had 1 year pre-PR which counted towards his requirement, totalling 4 years present in Canada prior to applying for citizenship. So even with this law in effect, there is no issue.

Taking a look at the last set of notes, the officer wrote down the wrong year for sponsor's citizenship in the notes section. Previous officer notes had the correct year though. And we know we provided the correct info. So we thought it was a typo but now I'm wondering if they are acting on their own error in information..

 

[scylla]

Thank you both for your thoughts. Sponsor had 1 year pre-PR which counted towards his requirement, totalling 4 years present in Canada prior to applying for citizenship. So even with this law in effect, there is no issue.

Taking a look at the last set of notes, the officer wrote down the wrong year for sponsor's citizenship in the notes section. Previous officer notes had the correct year though. And we know we provided the correct info. So we thought it was a typo but now I'm wondering if they are acting on their own error in information..

The rules that kicked in for citizenship in 2014 removed the ability to claim credit for any time pre PR. Only post PR time could be counted. So under the new law he would not have had enough residency days to qualify. This only works if he got in under the old rules.

It's possible they are acting on that error. I would say that anything is possible at this point.

 

[JohnCana123]

I’m not aware of the past rules to attain citizenship but if you think they may call your partner’s citizenship into question you may want to get a lawyers opinion before submitting the docs.