Leave country while citizenship in process

[Bosvan]

Hi,

any anybody moved to the states while citizenship grant was in process? What did you update your communication address to? Us address or a friend’s address in canada would suffice?

 

[harirajmohan]

Hi,

any anybody moved to the states while citizenship grant was in process? What did you update your communication address to? Us address or a friend’s address in canada would suffice?

Just keep as it is. Friend's address is fine as long as he/she can inform you of any communication, if at all comes through regular post. We see only emails nowadays hence except for citizenship certificate, i doubt that we would get any through post.
They might put your application on hold, depends on officer, hence dont change the address to international.

 

[deepak_kh3]

How are you planning to give the test? Online Test requires you to be in canada? Also how will you enter, i think even for PR there are 2 essential reasons- reunification with family, or coming back after trip

 

[felixtae]

Just keep as it is. Friend's address is fine as long as he/she can inform you of any communication, if at all comes through regular post. We see only emails nowadays hence except for citizenship certificate, i doubt that we would get any through post.
They might put your application on hold, depends on officer, hence dont change the address to international.

If we report to CIC that we are departing from the country, we could have our application put on hold? I actually need my application approval after end of next year and not before.

 

[harirajmohan]

If we report to CIC that we are departing from the country, we could have our application put on hold? I actually need my application approval after end of next year and not before.

It depends on the officer. There is no proper guidelines. Its 50-50 chances. So why to take chance.
Its like how these officers ask for I94 records instead of requesting and trusting records from cbsa. They find way to delay. And they are still using 20 year old processes hence cant trust some of them.

 

[harirajmohan]

How are you planning to give the test? Online Test requires you to be in canada? Also how will you enter, i think even for PR there are 2 essential reasons- reunification with family, or coming back after trip

I cant imagine that citizenship test/interview/oath is non-essential. They will allow.

 

[dpenabill]

. . . anybody moved to the states while citizenship grant was in process? What did you update your communication address to? Us address or a friend’s address in canada would suffice?

There are many topics here in which applicants discuss moving abroad pending the outcome of their application for citizenship. Many report doing this successfully, even quite smoothly. HOWEVER, there are RISKS (discussed at length in numerous topics here) and more than a few others have stumbled, some encountering inconvenient non-routine processing, and a few suffering a negative outcome. Lots of individual variables in play.

Makes no difference if it is to the States or some other country, except that to some extent the should-be-obvious logistical risks (such as those discussed above, in regards to traveling back to Canada in time for scheduled events like the test, interview, and oath) are probably less for someone living in the States compared to many other places in the world.

In particular, other risks, such as the risk of non-routine processing and delays, especially RQ-related non-routine processing, do not appear to vary depending on the country but rather on the particular facts and history in the individual applicant's case.

It warrants a reminder that making misrepresentations to IRCC in the process of applying for citizenship, including misrepresentation by omission (including a failure to report changes in material information in the application, as the applicant verifies he or she will do when signing the application), not only constitutes grounds for denying citizenship (even if the applicant otherwise fully meets all the requirements), it can be grounds for revoking citizenship FOREVER.

In regards to how you or other applicants approach declaring where you live, the address at which you reside, I will not attempt to analyze or second-guess how to properly do this . . . other than to again emphasize that whatever the applicant reports to IRCC, or elects to not report, it is important to be truthful.

I will also note that any posts here encouraging applicants to mislead IRCC should be resoundingly dismissed. Sure, it is easy to fudge some things, with a high probability of getting away with it. Many, many do. However, the odds of just hearing the gun go click when playing Russian Roulette are also very good (five to one you don't get a bullet in the head). Suggestions it is "fine" to do so are, nonetheless, reckless, irresponsible, and should be dismissed.


Covid-19 Related Restrictions on International Travel:

Appears to be lots of misunderstanding about how the Covid-19 related restrictions on international travel apply and are enforced.

Apart from rules governing boarding airline flights headed to Canada, the ban on non-essential travel does NOT bar PRs from entering Canada even if their travel does not meet "essential travel" guidelines. Once a PR gets to a PoE, border officials MUST and WILL allow the PR to enter Canada. BUT that can be subject to some conditions, ranging from the payment of fines (they can be quite large) to imposed periods of quarantine, if the traveler is otherwise not in compliance with the restrictions. While Canadians (meaning both citizens and PRs) must be allowed to enter Canada, the conditions are severe enough that border officials appear to offer or even suggest, for travelers arriving at a land-crossing PoE, the traveler withdraw the application to enter Canada (just showing up at the PoE constitutes an application for permission to enter Canada) and return to the States.

As for what constitutes "essential" travel, that is prescribed by particular but not entirely specific guidelines. It is not about how "essential" the travel is for the particular traveler. It is about whether the travel fits into what those adopted rules prescribe. Border officials have rather wide discretion in how they interpret and apply and enforce these rules.

So, to clarify, if an applicant for citizenship is living abroad, and attempts to enter Canada at a Poe on the border with the U.S., the applicant, the PR, will be ALLOWED to enter Canada, for-sure, whether or not the travel is considered "essential" or not. There is a very significant risk the travel will be deemed non-essential resulting in the imposition of penalties or an imposed period in quarantine, virtually amounting to confinement, unless the PR withdraws the application to enter Canada and returns to the States.

While there is still no plan to re-open the U.S and Canada border, these restrictions are temporary and given the vaccination efforts underway, it seems likely the border will finally open again later this year, but precisely when is still an open question.

 

[sookie85]

There are many topics here in which applicants discuss moving abroad pending the outcome of their application for citizenship. Many report doing this successfully, even quite smoothly. HOWEVER, there are RISKS (discussed at length in numerous topics here) and more than a few others have stumbled, some encountering inconvenient non-routine processing, and a few suffering a negative outcome. Lots of individual variables in play.

Makes no difference if it is to the States or some other country, except that to some extent the should-be-obvious logistical risks (such as those discussed above, in regards to traveling back to Canada in time for scheduled events like the test, interview, and oath) are probably less for someone living in the States compared to many other places in the world.

In particular, other risks, such as the risk of non-routine processing and delays, especially RQ-related non-routine processing, do not appear to vary depending on the country but rather on the particular facts and history in the individual applicant's case.

It warrants a reminder that making misrepresentations to IRCC in the process of applying for citizenship, including misrepresentation by omission (including a failure to report changes in material information in the application, as the applicant verifies he or she will do when signing the application), not only constitutes grounds for denying citizenship (even if the applicant otherwise fully meets all the requirements), it can be grounds for revoking citizenship FOREVER.

In regards to how you or other applicants approach declaring where you live, the address at which you reside, I will not attempt to analyze or second-guess how to properly do this . . . other than to again emphasize that whatever the applicant reports to IRCC, or elects to not report, it is important to be truthful.

I will also note that any posts here encouraging applicants to mislead IRCC should be resoundingly dismissed. Sure, it is easy to fudge some things, with a high probability of getting away with it. Many, many do. However, the odds of just hearing the gun go click when playing Russian Roulette are also very good (five to one you don't get a bullet in the head). Suggestions it is "fine" to do so are, nonetheless, reckless, irresponsible, and should be dismissed.


Covid-19 Related Restrictions on International Travel:

Appears to be lots of misunderstanding about how the Covid-19 related restrictions on international travel apply and are enforced.

Apart from rules governing boarding airline flights headed to Canada, the ban on non-essential travel does NOT bar PRs from entering Canada even if their travel does not meet "essential travel" guidelines. Once a PR gets to a PoE, border officials MUST and WILL allow the PR to enter Canada. BUT that can be subject to some conditions, ranging from the payment of fines (they can be quite large) to imposed periods of quarantine, if the traveler is otherwise not in compliance with the restrictions. While Canadians (meaning both citizens and PRs) must be allowed to enter Canada, the conditions are severe enough that border officials appear to offer or even suggest, for travelers arriving at a land-crossing PoE, the traveler withdraw the application to enter Canada (just showing up at the PoE constitutes an application for permission to enter Canada) and return to the States.

As for what constitutes "essential" travel, that is prescribed by particular but not entirely specific guidelines. It is not about how "essential" the travel is for the particular traveler. It is about whether the travel fits into what those adopted rules prescribe. Border officials have rather wide discretion in how they interpret and apply and enforce these rules.

So, to clarify, if an applicant for citizenship is living abroad, and attempts to enter Canada at a Poe on the border with the U.S., the applicant, the PR, will be ALLOWED to enter Canada, for-sure, whether or not the travel is considered "essential" or not. There is a very significant risk the travel will be deemed non-essential resulting in the imposition of penalties or an imposed period in quarantine, virtually amounting to confinement, unless the PR withdraws the application to enter Canada and returns to the States.

While there is still no plan to re-open the U.S and Canada border, these restrictions are temporary and given the vaccination efforts underway, it seems likely the border will finally open again later this year, but precisely when is still an open question.

What are you trying to say? People have moved and will always be doing so even in COVID times. Many of the PR holders in Canada are jobless now, and instead of staying here and paying high rent they simply decide to go back for a short period of time until the economy recovers.

 

[Lex2019]

How are you planning to give the test? Online Test requires you to be in canada? Also how will you enter, i think even for PR there are 2 essential reasons- reunification with family, or coming back after trip

Wrong. PR's are allowed to enter no matter the reason provided you follow the 3 night hotel stay rule followed by a self-quarantine at home.

 

[dpenabill]

What are you trying to say? People have moved and will always be doing so even in COVID times. Many of the PR holders in Canada are jobless now, and instead of staying here and paying high rent they simply decide to go back for a short period of time until the economy recovers.

I realize my explanations are wordy, and especially for anyone whose first language is not English they can be difficult to follow, but further recognizing they can also pose a challenge for anyone. Compare what I posted under the sub-heading "Covid-19 Related Restrictions on International Travel" with the far more direct, simple declarative observation by @Lex2019.

Wish I could do better, but my writing style is what it is. Nonetheless, if you work your way through my posts, I think what I was saying should be quite clear.

In contrast, I am not clear what part of what I said you do not get. Nothing I said was inconsistent with acknowledging that people move and that current conditions, in particular, are compelling a number of Canadian PRs to go abroad, for a variety of reasons, some temporarily, some for more extended periods, some indefinitely. Yeah. People make choices, sometimes more or less compelled to make certain choices, and those choices have consequences. Kind of how things work.

That does not change the overall observations that moving abroad after applying for citizenship, pending the outcome of the application, HAS RISKS. This includes:

-- logistical risks, such as failing to appear for a scheduled event due to difficulty returning to Canada in time . . . regarding which there is some leeway typically allowed, but which will at least result in significant delays and, depending on circumstances and especially attendant multiple occasions of this, may result in the application being deemed abandoned, and thus no grant of citizenship​

​

-- risk of triggering non-routine processing and attendant delays, or in some situations RQ-related non-routine processing that, again depending on the particulars, could lead to the application being denied​

If you need clarification about what I was saying in regards to "Covid-19 Related Restrictions on International Travel," again the more direct, simple declarative observation by @Lex2019 nails the essential point.

If you are claiming what I said about reporting where-you-live to IRCC is not clear, I'll call BS on that one. There's plenty of gaming-the-system in regards to reporting information like this. No advanced degrees in geography or geology necessary to map that terrain. In contrast, the TRUTH as to where an individual is residing, their residential address, is no complex mystery, not usually. And there is NO DOUBT, applicants for citizenship are required to be truthful in BOTH making representations of fact to IRCC, and in NOT concealing facts from IRCC. Misrepresentations, including misrepresentation by omission, are a stand-alone ground for denying an application. Moreover, material misrepresentations made in the process of applying can be grounds for revoking citizenship, if granted, FOREVER. No statute of limitations.

Make no mistake, citizenship applications have been denied on the sole basis that the applicant provided a residential address other than the address at which the applicant actually lived, and the Federal Court has upheld this. In one of the more high profile cases of this sort, it should be noted, the applicant provided an address different from the one where he was living IN Canada (he was purportedly living in Montreal but used an address in Ontario), based on a consultant's advice his application would be processed far more quickly using the Ontario address. I believe that consultant eventually did some jail time. But the outcome of that applicant's citizenship application is certain: denied.

None of which contradicts reports by scores of individuals that they effectively concealed the fact they were no longer living at the address they reported in their application and their application nonetheless went well, citizenship granted. Whether they get to keep it will not, however, be known until their death. Odds are high they will be OK. This appears to be in the range of what is easy-to-get-away-with. My observation about the odds, I believe, was sufficiently clear.

 

[JHT]

I realize my explanations are wordy, and especially for anyone whose first language is not English they can be difficult to follow, but further recognizing they can also pose a challenge for anyone. Compare what I posted under the sub-heading "Covid-19 Related Restrictions on International Travel" with the far more direct, simple declarative observation by @Lex2019.

Wish I could do better, but my writing style is what it is. Nonetheless, if you work your way through my posts, I think what I was saying should be quite clear.

In contrast, I am not clear what part of what I said you do not get. Nothing I said was inconsistent with acknowledging that people move and that current conditions, in particular, are compelling a number of Canadian PRs to go abroad, for a variety of reasons, some temporarily, some for more extended periods, some indefinitely. Yeah. People make choices, sometimes more or less compelled to make certain choices, and those choices have consequences. Kind of how things work.

That does not change the overall observations that moving abroad after applying for citizenship, pending the outcome of the application, HAS RISKS. This includes:

-- logistical risks, such as failing to appear for a scheduled event due to difficulty returning to Canada in time . . . regarding which there is some leeway typically allowed, but which will at least result in significant delays and, depending on circumstances and especially attendant multiple occasions of this, may result in the application being deemed abandoned, and thus no grant of citizenship​

​

-- risk of triggering non-routine processing and attendant delays, or in some situations RQ-related non-routine processing that, again depending on the particulars, could lead to the application being denied​

If you need clarification about what I was saying in regards to "Covid-19 Related Restrictions on International Travel," again the more direct, simple declarative observation by @Lex2019 nails the essential point.

If you are claiming what I said about reporting where-you-live to IRCC is not clear, I'll call BS on that one. There's plenty of gaming-the-system in regards to reporting information like this. No advanced degrees in geography or geology necessary to map that terrain. In contrast, the TRUTH as to where an individual is residing, their residential address, is no complex mystery, not usually. And there is NO DOUBT, applicants for citizenship are required to be truthful in BOTH making representations of fact to IRCC, and in NOT concealing facts from IRCC. Misrepresentations, including misrepresentation by omission, are a stand-alone ground for denying an application. Moreover, material misrepresentations made in the process of applying can be grounds for revoking citizenship, if granted, FOREVER. No statute of limitations.

Make no mistake, citizenship applications have been denied on the sole basis that the applicant provided a residential address other than the address at which the applicant actually lived, and the Federal Court has upheld this. In one of the more high profile cases of this sort, it should be noted, the applicant provided an address different from the one where he was living IN Canada (he was purportedly living in Montreal but used an address in Ontario), based on a consultant's advice his application would be processed far more quickly using the Ontario address. I believe that consultant eventually did some jail time. But the outcome of that applicant's citizenship application is certain: denied.

None of which contradicts reports by scores of individuals that they effectively concealed the fact they were no longer living at the address they reported in their application and their application nonetheless went well, citizenship granted. Whether they get to keep it will not, however, be known until their death. Odds are high they will be OK. This appears to be in the range of what is easy-to-get-away-with. My observation about the odds, I believe, was sufficiently clear.

so when someone decides to emigrate from canada while their application is processing ,

how and by when are they supposed to inform IRCC of that?

 

[fr72]

If we report to CIC that we are departing from the country, we could have our application put on hold? I actually need my application approval after end of next year and not before.

Applications are on hold even if you stay in Canada like a good boy/girl. Dont put your life/career on hold for IRCC, or it will be on hold forever.

 

[dpenabill]

so when someone decides to emigrate from canada while their application is processing ,

how and by when are they supposed to inform IRCC of that?

As I previously commented, I do not attempt to analyze or second-guess how to properly do this . . . other than to again emphasize that whatever the applicant reports to IRCC, or elects to not report, it is important to be truthful, to not make any misrepresentations, either overtly or by omission.

Applicants have an affirmative obligation to update any changes in the information in their application. Applicants verify they will do so attendant their signature on the application. How to do that is no mystery. It is not complicated.

Applicants may encounter questions during the testing process, or in an interview, in regards to employment or residence, which if honestly answered will reveal they are abroad. There is no doubt that being evasive, let alone outright deceptive, in responding to such questions is misrepresentation.

Otherwise, it is obvious, many applying for citizenship will live abroad after applying, and for many it will go OK, no problem. But there are risks. Logistical and risks of encountering delays or non-routine processing. Trying to conceal from IRCC a move abroad, in order to avoid the risk of delay or non-routine processing, is at the least cutting-it-close to fraud.

Pretending otherwise relying on how easy it might be to get-away-with-it is gambling. Playing the odds. I avoid giving advice generally, but I especially avoid giving gambling advice.

Nonetheless, as I have rather often repeated, I never suggest anyone play Russian Roulette, even though the odds are very good it will be, as some here might say based on the odds, "fine" (odds are five to one the gun goes click, no bullet to the head).

In addition to what I said previously in this regard, I should add that there is a big difference between playing Russian Roulette and gambling on getting-away-with-it when making misrepresentations (including by omission) in the process of applying for citizenship. When playing Russian Roulette, hearing the gun go click is the end of it. No worry that sometime in the future somehow the gun will shoot a projectile into your brain. But for misrepresentations made in connection with a citizenship application, it will never be known for sure the individual got-away-with-it, at least not until he or she dies, since even if it goes OK and citizenship is granted, there is no statute of limitations . . . any misrepresentation made in the process will ALWAYS be grounds for revoking citizenship.

And there is always the option of withdrawing the citizenship application.

 

[JHT]

As I previously commented, I do not attempt to analyze or second-guess how to properly do this . . . other than to again emphasize that whatever the applicant reports to IRCC, or elects to not report, it is important to be truthful, to not make any misrepresentations, either overtly or by omission.

Applicants have an affirmative obligation to update any changes in the information in their application. Applicants verify they will do so attendant their signature on the application. How to do that is no mystery. It is not complicated.

Applicants may encounter questions during the testing process, or in an interview, in regards to employment or residence, which if honestly answered will reveal they are abroad. There is no doubt that being evasive, let alone outright deceptive, in responding to such questions is misrepresentation.

Otherwise, it is obvious, many applying for citizenship will live abroad after applying, and for many it will go OK, no problem. But there are risks. Logistical and risks of encountering delays or non-routine processing. Trying to conceal from IRCC a move abroad, in order to avoid the risk of delay or non-routine processing, is at the least cutting-it-close to fraud.

Pretending otherwise relying on how easy it might be to get-away-with-it is gambling. Playing the odds. I avoid giving advice generally, but I especially avoid giving gambling advice.

Nonetheless, as I have rather often repeated, I never suggest anyone play Russian Roulette, even though the odds are very good it will be, as some here might say based on the odds, "fine" (odds are five to one the gun goes click, no bullet to the head).

In addition to what I said previously in this regard, I should add that there is a big difference between playing Russian Roulette and gambling on getting-away-with-it when making misrepresentations (including by omission) in the process of applying for citizenship. When playing Russian Roulette, hearing the gun go click is the end of it. No worry that sometime in the future somehow the gun will shoot a projectile into your brain. But for misrepresentations made in connection with a citizenship application, it will never be known for sure the individual got-away-with-it, at least not until he or she dies, since even if it goes OK and citizenship is granted, there is no statute of limitations . . . any misrepresentation made in the process will ALWAYS be grounds for revoking citizenship.

And there is always the option of withdrawing the citizenship application.

So it should be possible to update the adress while waiting for AOR?
(after submitting the application )

 

[FlyingLion]

So it should be possible to update the adress while waiting for AOR?
(after submitting the application )

Just update it after AOR on Ecas.