Is it better to apply singly or with family.
- Thread starter 21685
- Start date
If any one member of the family gets stuck with any of the application process then the whole family will get stuck. My advise would be to apply single. I applied as a family and because of me my whole family had to wait 2 years for oath though they were cleared after test and got DM immediately after test.
21685 said:
There is no one answer fits all. It depends on the particular facts and circumstances.21685 said:
Minors must already have a citizen parent to apply for citizenship or be joined in an application with a parent qualified for citizenship.
My strong sense is that IRCC continues to encourage family members to apply together. And, if all members of the family are qualified, none having situations which will likely invite additional issues or questions, applying together tends to work best. In contrast, if one or more of the applicants has significantly different facts, what amounts to a different case, applying separately makes more sense.
It is true that more than a few applicants for citizenship who were part of a family application have suffered long delays because of circumstances leading CIC/IRCC to subject one of the applicants to non-routine processing.
It is also true, however, that a spouse's separate application is at risk for elevated scrutiny and potential non-routine processing due to IRCC having questions or concerns about why the couple has not made a joint application. Again, the specific background and circumstances for the particular individuals is what mostly determines whether there will be non-routine processing.
The latter noted, in many if not most cases, circumstances more or less likely to trigger non-routine processing for one spouse will often also trigger non-routine processing for the other spouse. So in these circumstances applying separately does not avoid the delays involved in non-routine processing. Indeed, it could aggravate things.
In this regard, note that if RQ is issued, it is typically issued to only one member of the family but IRCC uses the response in assessing all members of the family. It is not so much that particular family member is holding the whole family back, but rather IRCC is not duplicating work. In other words, a separate application in such circumstances is just as likely to have resulted in RQ itself.
For a family that immigrated to Canada together, and has stayed together, and none of the family members has spent a lot more time abroad than the others, applying together makes the most sense. Each family member's case actually helps support the other family member's case.
In contrast, if one member of the family has alone traveled extensively abroad, or been employed abroad, that is a circumstance in which separate applications may be prudent. This is not about a mere few months, or about where it took one family member longer to get into Canada permanently by a few months -- in this situation, waiting for all members of the family to have been in Canada long enough to have a good buffer is a good idea.
Reminder: waiting longer to apply can often mean being scheduled to take the oath sooner. Those who rush often end up in the hurry-up-and-wait group, as in waiting longer.
But, for example, if one family member has employment or business ties abroad, leading that individual to periodically be abroad significantly more than anyone else in the family, that is one situation in which, sure, there is a bigger risk this individual could invite non-routine processing which would hold the whole family back.