Issue with CBSA Travel Record – Impact on Citizenship Eligibility

[x001358]

I recently requested a Traveller History Report from CBSA to verify my entry and exit dates for calculating my eligibility for Canadian citizenship. According to records that I maintain in an excel sheet, I exited Canada on July 19, 2024, and re-entered on October 6, 2024. However, I noticed that the traveller history report I received from CBSA is missing the July 19 exit, although it correctly shows the October 6 entry.

Based on the July 19 exit, I meet the physical presence requirement and am eligible to apply for citizenship now. However, if CBSA does not have a record of that exit and instead uses an earlier date (e.g., July 5, 2024), I would need to wait approximately 15 more days before applying.

Note: I used July 5, 2024 in the example , because according to the travel history report shared by CBSA they now I was in Canada until 2024-07-04

Here’s an excerpt from the travel history report:

• 2024-07-04 – Windsor Tunnel – Exit
• 2024-07-04 – Windsor Tunnel – Entry
• 2024-10-06 – Pearson International Airport – Entry

Given this discrepancy, what would you recommend I do to ensure my application reflects the correct travel dates? Should I submit additional proof of my July 19 exit, or is there a way to request a correction from CBSA?

 

[Miss bee]

I recently requested a Traveller History Report from CBSA to verify my entry and exit dates for calculating my eligibility for Canadian citizenship. According to records that I maintain in an excel sheet, I exited Canada on July 19, 2024, and re-entered on October 6, 2024. However, I noticed that the traveller history report I received from CBSA is missing the July 19 exit, although it correctly shows the October 6 entry.

Based on the July 19 exit, I meet the physical presence requirement and am eligible to apply for citizenship now. However, if CBSA does not have a record of that exit and instead uses an earlier date (e.g., July 5, 2024), I would need to wait approximately 15 more days before applying.

Note: I used July 5, 2024 in the example , because according to the travel history report shared by CBSA they now I was in Canada until 2024-07-04

Here’s an excerpt from the travel history report:

• 2024-07-04 – Windsor Tunnel – Exit
• 2024-07-04 – Windsor Tunnel – Entry
• 2024-10-06 – Pearson International Airport – Entry

Given this discrepancy, what would you recommend I do to ensure my application reflects the correct travel dates? Should I submit additional proof of my July 19 exit, or is there a way to request a correction from CBSA?

In your situation, since the CBSA traveller history report is missing your July 19, 2024, exit from Canada, it’s important to address this discrepancy before or during your citizenship application to avoid delays or issues with your physical presence calculation. First, you should gather and prepare any supporting evidence that clearly shows your exit on July 19—this could include airline tickets, boarding passes, passport stamps, travel itineraries, or even credit card statements showing transactions in another country soon after that date. You can submit this documentation with your citizenship application and clearly explain the discrepancy in a cover letter or in the physical presence section, noting that CBSA’s record omits your July 19 departure. Additionally, you may request a correction or review of your travel history from CBSA by submitting a new request or inquiry—mention the missing date and provide proof to support your claim. While CBSA travel records are typically reliable, they are not always complete, especially for land or certain air exits. IRCC accepts applicant-submitted travel records along with explanations and supporting documents, so you can still proceed with your application if you’re confident that you meet the physical presence requirement based on your actual travel history.

 

[armoured]

I recently requested a Traveller History Report from CBSA to verify my entry and exit dates for calculating my eligibility for Canadian citizenship. According to records that I maintain in an excel sheet, I exited Canada on July 19, 2024, and re-entered on October 6, 2024. However, I noticed that the traveller history report I received from CBSA is missing the July 19 exit, although it correctly shows the October 6 entry.

Based on the July 19 exit, I meet the physical presence requirement and am eligible to apply for citizenship now. However, if CBSA does not have a record of that exit and instead uses an earlier date (e.g., July 5, 2024), I would need to wait approximately 15 more days before applying.

Note: I used July 5, 2024 in the example , because according to the travel history report shared by CBSA they now I was in Canada until 2024-07-04

Here’s an excerpt from the travel history report:

• 2024-07-04 – Windsor Tunnel – Exit
• 2024-07-04 – Windsor Tunnel – Entry
• 2024-10-06 – Pearson International Airport – Entry

Given this discrepancy, what would you recommend I do to ensure my application reflects the correct travel dates? Should I submit additional proof of my July 19 exit, or is there a way to request a correction from CBSA?

We applied for my spouse (still in process) with a comparable issue - there was one exit missing (from airport). So it was clear there was an error in the records (two entries in a row).

We proceeded (on our own) more or less as Miss Bee suggested, but less detail: included copy of the CBSA reports, a note that there was one missing, one (only one) piece of evidence of the day of departure, and general nice-nice we may be able to find more if needed.

We got a request for passport copies and interview scheduled, which went fine - physical presence was approved. Citizenship app still proceeding. I can find links to summaries of these. No complaints so far (although would be nice if it was faster).

My summary and conclusion: we had our reasons that we decided to file instead of waiting (as in your case) the approximately two weeks for sufficient buffer to cover any potential gap. (There were still about ten days more than 1095, but not enough to cover the gap.)

However: my advice would be to not proceed as we did and just wait an extra two-three weeks. Not that anything went bad in our case, but might have been a bit smoother. But in most cases I'd say it's worth waiting the extra few weeks.

Up to you though. I don't have any bad experience to say more - except from reading here, make sure you don't apply with, say, 1095-1097 days. Definitely worth another week in that range.

[I think now that if there's going to be any delay in our case, it's going to be security, just because of personal background / work / nationality. Which is to say, unrelated to the physical presence issue. The security stuff is out of our hands (I'm still optimistic, but we just won't know for a while).]