2) Since I received AOR, does that mean I am eligible?
AOR means you submitted a "complete" application. Thus, IRCC will proceed to process the application.
The decision the application is "complete" includes a determination the applicant has submitted an application which on its face purports to meet the requirements for citizenship; but this is based on what you, the applicant, submitted, with only minimal verification. The latter, the minimal verification done at the AOR stage, is mostly about a preliminary verification of identity and that GCMS records show the applicant's status and dates of status are consistent with what the applicant reports in the application.
The decision the application is "complete" does NOT include any determination as to the accuracy of factual details in the application.
Thus, for example, the completeness check only screens the Presence Calculation to confirm the applicant's information is consistent with eligibility, relying on the travel dates submitted by the applicant. During the course of processing the application IRCC officials will further review and assess the presence calculation, which for qualified applicants usually culminates in a positive decision following the PI Interview; that is, following a review of the applicant's travel documents attendant questions asked during the interview. Thus the soonest, the very soonest that IRCC will conclude the applicant has met the actual physical presence requirement, which of course is necessary before the applicant is deemed eligible, is at the time of the test and interview event. And that is when IRCC does in fact determine the applicant meets THIS particular eligibility requirement for the vast majority of applicants. But for some applicants IRCC is not yet satisfied at that stage and further processing can take place, including requests the applicant submit further information and documentation.
Note: otherwise, eligibility is not totally confirmed until the oath is actually taken.
I am asking this because I have 1099 days in my app. So I need to make sure there was no error in calculating qualifying days and that hurdle is crossed?
The time "
to make sure there was no error in calculating qualifying days and that hurdle is crossed" was BEFORE you submitted the application. Especially when applying with a minimal margin.
Many, many applicants make mistakes EVEN WHEN THEY ARE QUITE CONFIDENT THEY MADE NO MISTAKE.
I have no idea how complicated your presence calculation was. Or even whether you used the online presence calculator or CIT 0407. I do not know to what extent, if any, you relied on credit for days in Canada before becoming a PR.
But only applicants who are quite certain about all their travel dates should apply with very little margin above the absolute minimum requirement, and even then many will suggest they too wait to apply with at least a week to ten days more than the minimum.
I do not make these observations to distress you. And,
you are OK, you meet the presence requirement, if indeed your presence calculation was accurate enough for IRCC to verify that you were actually physically present at least 1095 days during your eligibility period (or, if you are relying on credit for pre-PR days, that you were actually physically present at least 730 days as a PR plus enough days before that, during the five year eligibility period, to have a total credit for 1095 days).
The point of these observations is mostly about a heads-up in case you are not confident about the travel dates information you submitted. The way you phrased your query suggests some uncertainty, maybe even doubt about your presence calculation.
If you were meticulously careful in reporting all travel dates, and are thus generally confident you submitted complete and accurate information, you are probably OK. (If you used CIT 0407 rather than the online calculator, this includes accurate arithmetic.) No need to worry.
If you are uncertain about what you submitted, it is probably worth revisiting and reviewing what you submitted (I assume you kept a complete copy of your application, including the presence calculation; if not you can do the ATIP request for a copy of your citizenship application file and request a physical copy, and the latter will mostly be a copy of what you submitted). And double checking all the dates. And if you used CIT 0407, triple checking the arithmetic.
I will offer some further observations below about common mistakes and what you might want to consider doing.
BUT IF YOU ARE CONFIDENT ABOUT YOUR PRESENCE CALCULATION (especially if you remain confident AFTER reviewing the information), you can
IGNORE/SKIP those comments below about what to do if you apprehend mistakes and falling short of 1095 days actual presence.
3) I will be leaving Canada by mid of December this year to pursue masters in another country. Given the speed with which apps are going forward, I am pretty sure I wont be done by mid of Dec, including attending oath ceremony and getting my passport. Is this reason enough to request a fast processing? Is there anything I can do about it?
As others have observed, it is NOT likely this will be a reason for which IRCC will give you urgent processing.
Moreover, making the request for urgent processing for this reason may NOT be a good idea generally. How much so is difficult to speculate and depends on many variables. While living abroad when a citizenship application is pending does not appear to trigger problems to the extent it did in the past, when there was a Conservative government and Harper was PM, and many are reporting NO significant issues (other than the logistical hurdles, which you recognize, like arranging flights on short notice), there remains some risk it can trigger elevated scrutiny, even delays . . . DEPENDING on particular factors. Given that expedited processing is highly unlikely, not much point in making the application for urgent processing and in doing so emphasize going abroad to live.
The fact that you are headed abroad and there is some likelihood that will happen before you are scheduled to take the oath (you could be pleasantly surprised otherwise, but recent timeline reporting does indicate a likelihood it will take more than seven or eight months, by which time it appears you will be abroad), does suggest the need for some careful planning, including being prepared for the logistical challenge of getting notices in time to arrange travel to Canada for scheduled events . . .
but, additionally, in conjunction with having applied with such a minimal margin,
IF YOU ARE LESS THAN CONFIDENT about the completeness and accuracy of your presence calculation you may want to make the effort to verify your travel dates and presence calculation rather than waiting to see if IRCC challenges it later.
IF YOU ARE UNCERTAIN ABOUT WHAT YOU SUBMITTED . . .
As I noted above, I will offer some further observations if you are uncertain about what you submitted, not the least of which warrants emphasis: it is probably worth revisiting and reviewing what you submitted . . . double checking all the dates. And if you used CIT 0407, triple checking the arithmetic.
As I also noted,
IF YOU ARE CONFIDENT ABOUT YOUR PRESENCE CALCULATION you can
IGNORE/SKIP these comments.
First, however, a note about rather common mistakes apart from outright omissions (a remarkable number of applicants somehow seem to totally forget a trip or two, which generally is NOT too serious a problem for those who applied with enough of a margin to cover the additional days absent): A fairly common mistake is relying on passport stamps. This is especially problematic for little-margin applicants who report the date of exit from Canada based on a passport stamp showing date of entry into another country, since the latter does not document the date the individual left Canada, but only documents when the individual was entering another country; among circumstances which can result in reporting an erroneous exit date based on entry stamp are red-eye flights (thus actual date of exit was day before entry date stamp), trans-Pacific flights (which can be off by two days), and stop-overs for which no passport stamp was entered.
Just one of these mistakes should not be a problem. But for the applicant who traveled several times and on more than one trip made errors like this, it could add up to having days deducted and reducing the presence calculation to 1094 or fewer. 1094 days will NOT make the cut. IRCC has NO discretion to grant citizenship if it determines an applicant was actually physically present less than 1095 days.
Which leads to the BIG QUESTION: if you made mistakes and in reviewing what you submitted it becomes clear you actually had only 1094 or fewer days credit for actual physical presence, you probably want to consider withdrawing the current application with an explanation (unintentional error in physical presence calculation) and making a new application with a much bigger margin over the minimum. I have no idea if this is your situation. But you probably want to make sure your presence calculation was accurate, thereby confirming you were actually present at least 1095 days in the relevant time period. AND IF NOT, if it otherwise is clear you did not meet the minimum, start over before you go abroad.
