IRCC Latest Update on Online Testing for Citizenship - Good news ..But

[Interstellaraliens]

Have you noticed that the twitter team that has been all along saying they cannot comment any further on citizenship tests are now making minor details available about oh yeah small number of tests are being conducted over teams.
Appears to be an attempt to cover up or make people stop making noise on twitter where the minister marco mendicino and citimm account gets tagged everyday with questions.
This is a good news for nothing in our favour.

 

[siddharthbala]

Have you noticed that the twitter team that has been all along saying they cannot comment any further on citizenship tests are now making minor details available about oh yeah small number of tests are being conducted over teams.
Appears to be an attempt to cover up or make people stop making noise on twitter where the minister marco mendicino and citimm account gets tagged everyday with questions.
This is a good news for nothing in our favour.

An alternative way of looking at this is that they are actually doing their jobs, which is PR. The longer the situation continues of people constantly beleaguering him with questions about it, the worse the optics for him, so it would make sense that they've changed their standard statement to what it is now.

It will not stem the tide of people still asking those twitter accounts the same question; all that has changed has been the response from completely opaque to slightly less opaque.

 

[maniacworld]

guess the only way is to keep mounting the pressure. hopefully more stories in news, involving MPs, SM trends etc.

 

[maniacworld]

unfortunately, i do not see them moving anytime soon with holiday season coming up.

hopefully, common sense prevails and they can start scheduling more online tests.

 

[siddharthbala]

unfortunately, i do not see them moving anytime soon with holiday season coming up.

hopefully, common sense prevails and they can start scheduling more online tests.

I am less worried about the tests, which is the red herring of this entire thing - it's the interviews. Them enabling testing (for now, without any concept of the scale/volume) is just switching out one bottleneck (getting the test done) for another (getting the interview done, because that needs to be done 1:1 with the officers).

What needs to happen is a concerted effort to get an answer from the powers-that-be to both aspects of the current delay for the citizenship process (especially since we know that they have been doing the virtual oaths all this while to some limited success).

 

[BOYX]

I am less worried about the tests, which is the red herring of this entire thing - it's the interviews. Them enabling testing (for now, without any concept of the scale/volume) is just switching out one bottleneck (getting the test done) for another (getting the interview done, because that needs to be done 1:1 with the officers).

What needs to happen is a concerted effort to get an answer from the powers-that-be to both aspects of the current delay for the citizenship process (especially since we know that they have been doing the virtual oaths all this while to some limited success).

You are right, a lot more focus needs to be on the interview aspect. I am sure many here implicitly understand that interviews are also on hold, however, with much focus being given to the testing aspect, I believe the implications of an interview hold are being missed by many.

Damn, that is a depressing thought. I really hope IRCC has reflected on these aspects during these past 8 months. Combining the testing, interview & oath could be a potentially efficient way to go work around this.

 

[AshesNdust]

You are right, a lot more focus needs to be on the interview aspect. I am sure many here implicitly understand that interviews are also on hold, however, with much focus being given to the testing aspect, I believe the implications of an interview hold are being missed by many.

Damn, that is a depressing thought. I really hope IRCC has reflected on these aspects during these past 8 months. Combining the testing, interview & oath could be a potentially efficient way to go work around this.

Yup, that was the only option I could think of that would work with all current laws. It will be slower than in person testing/inteviewing, but it’ll at least move things forward a bit.

 

[siddharthbala]

Well, the latter part (interiews) is optional per the regulations. They don't need to spend time with every single one. Test passed? No further questions on documents? Off you go! That would save 98% of the need for interviews. Prior they were just doing them because... just because...

Do you have a source on the interview being optional? As per their official public-facing document, it seems to be a mandatory part of the process.

Out of the two, I think they have a higher chance of simplifying the test than they would get rid of a manual screening of citizenship applicants, even under the present circumstances.

 

[Lex2019]

Do you have a source on the interview being optional? As per their official public-facing document, it seems to be a mandatory part of the process.

Out of the two, I think they have a higher chance of simplifying the test than they would get rid of a manual screening of citizenship applicants, even under the present circumstances.

Deleted the original post. Was damn sure the web page used to say: after the exam you may be invited for an interview. Re-checked, says differently now. My bad

 

[O'canada]

Deleted the original post. Was damn sure the web page used to say: after the exam you may be invited for an interview. Re-checked, says differently now. My bad

Not everyone will undergo interviews before or after the test I think so .

Generally after writing the test .. it will be a decision made .

only few attended the interview before pandemic

we need to see how IRCC will act now if they consider virtual tests and will they make mandatory interviews virtually for everyone???

 

[Rocky79]

Not everyone will undergo interviews before or after the test I think so .

Generally after writing the test .. it will be a decision made .

only few attended the interview before pandemic

we need to see how IRCC will act now if they consider virtual tests and will they make mandatory interviews virtually for everyone???

There is an interview after the test .

 

[Rocky79]

There is an interview after the test .

They talk to you after the test. The test is shared on your screen and you tell them the answer . Also you send them photocopies all pages of your passport for residency assessment .

 

[O'canada]

They talk to you after the test. The test is shared on your screen and you tell them the answer . Also you send them photocopies all pages of your passport for residency assessment .

ok .. thanks rocky for sharing

 

[Fawny43]

As for the interview portion, I do not have to take the knowledge test due to my age, BUT I still have to have the interview portion. I called my local MP and THEY called IRCC to find out what was going on with my application. My application is in the processing stage due to the fact that the LOCAL IRCC IN WINDSOR IS NOT WORKING. That Office is CLOSED due to Covid, imagine that, CLOSED.
All I know is that I have been told by the people that I spoke to at IRCC is that the interview was the only thing that I needed, then the Oath ceremony.

 

[siddharthbala]

As for the interview portion, I do not have to take the knowledge test due to my age, BUT I still have to have the interview portion. I called my local MP and THEY called IRCC to find out what was going on with my application. My application is in the processing stage due to the fact that the LOCAL IRCC IN WINDSOR IS NOT WORKING. That Office is CLOSED due to Covid, imagine that, CLOSED.
All I know is that I have been told by the people that I spoke to at IRCC is that the interview was the only thing that I needed, then the Oath ceremony.

This only serves to fuel my view - If and when this is done (and it will be done, it is a question of time at this point), there will need to be a greater reckoning from the people affected by this (and hopefully, newly empowered to vote as Canadian citizens) during the first election we are allowed to vote, which should be October 2023. We must not forget this and definitely add this to our motivations for choosing a party to back (be it holding the LPC to account, or expecting the CPC to deliver on what the LPC could not, or the NDP for that matter). I fully intend to remind them all of their actions (or lack thereof) during this period and ask them exactly what they did since the situation subsided to make sure it never happens again.

As the group most impacted by this, it is our responsibility to use this to drive change so those who walk this path after us do not suffer from the same systemic inefficiencies that we did in the light of this unprecedented event. There are sufficient numbers of us at this point, all influenced to varying degrees by the same event, to be able to actually exact our leverage when that time comes.

I am patient for now (and have been for a while now), but it would be a lie for me to say that the way the IRCC has handled this has been anything but.....poor, to say the least. Both on the spousal immigration front and the citizenship front. There is some irony in a country that tries to go to bat for humanitarianism on the world stage is also silently responsible for creating so many minor ones within its own country by way of inefficient policy and seemingly arbitrary exclusion.