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No update from IRCC on citizenship oath ceremony. Next steps?

Aby444

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You might mistake youself for a prophet due to your wordrich comments, but it is only your point of view. I do agree with much if not most, but it is worth taking the viewpoint of others who might need that last step for a reason. Don't be a smarta$$, you don't look like one. Stay well and healthy and allow others their opinion whether you like it or don't
I was going to ignore this comment, but I decided not to.

There is NO reason to take a viewpoint from someone who apparently thinks that receiving their citizenship certificate is more important than even one life. Before you concur with a statement, weigh the ramifications of that statement especially if you are in the vulnerable group of people likely to be affected. And nobody stopped you from sharing your opinion, so nothing will stop us from pointing out opinions that are dangerous.

I also feel the need to defend the dpenabill poster. He/she has always gone overboard to research and share information with repeated disclaimers about not being an expert. Do not be rude to someone who is most likely older than you and posted in the most polite way possible.

People, the world is bad enough, let us keep our selfishness and bad opinions to ourselves especially if they relate to this pandemic.
 

free_palestinian

Star Member
May 4, 2016
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One of the main perks of being a Canadian citizen is the ability to vote ,travel,and get a job that requires high level clearance or international travel ,
As far as federal election it’s no going to happen for another 4 years , traveling is not an option under the circumstances and as far as getting a job I really doubt anyone is hiring in the private sector or the public sector
So if you give it some thought you will come to the conclusion that you don’t gain any privileges by having a citizenship these days
 
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dpenabill

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Apr 2, 2010
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As far as federal election it’s no going to happen for another 4 years . . .
Your overall point is well-taken.

Just to be clear, nonetheless, there could be a Federal election significantly sooner than that. All it would take to trigger another Federal election is a no-confidence vote in Parliament. And this minority government tends to not have strong backing from either of the parties which the Liberals depend on to remain the government.

That said, the current pandemic-based crisis has created a situation, much like a war might, in which there is very little appetite for challenging the sitting government, so the prospect of a no-confidence vote and an election is LOW for at least awhile, probably at least this year.

Moreover, for the moment anyway, the Conservatives are particularly weak in the polls and their leadership is a bit compromised, pending a replacement for Andrew Scheer. Which in turn has itself been suspended due to the pandemic. They are in no position to push for an election until they have, at the least, resumed the process for electing their new leader.

But by next year, 2021, another Federal election could easily be on the agenda anytime. And as much as the Conservatives have been slipping nationally, individual Conservative premiers, especially the Ontario Premier Doug Ford, have been gaining support, largely due to the strength of their response to the crisis, which could have a big impact toward bolstering Conservative support generally a year or more from now. Of course it is still up to the NDP and the Bloc Québécois, since either has enough seats in Parliament to allow the Liberal government to avoid a no-confidence vote.


Note regarding time to resume government functions including citizenship application processing and related events: Obviously the government will need to move in that direction, eventually if not sooner. While many focus on the WHEN, the bigger questions are about HOW. My son-in-law runs a small business in the States in a state where the government has allowed some flexibility in regards to continuing operations. It is NOT about an on/off switch. Perhaps the tone in North America has been too dominated by the Trump-show, which tends toward the on/off switch approach to so many things, including so-called "restarting" the economy and related efforts to return to normalcy. For my son-in-law, he was able to resume expanded business operations after implementing practices which would enable on-the-job distancing and other means of protecting employees, both from one another and from the public they deal with. This is still not ideal, from a business perspective. But it is an incremental path toward getting more work done despite the need to minimize the spread of covid-19.

My sense is that of course there will be comparable, incremental, gradual measures taken by our government to address ongoing government functions, to begin going down a path toward doing the government's work. And of course this is a huge priority. No need to minimize the importance of IRCC getting back on track in doing its job. That is an important consideration. But given the pandemic, and the risks it poses to so many Canadians, it is NOT likely the government will flip an on/off switch and suddenly resume processing full-bore. This is going to take time. There will almost certainly be small, incremental steps along the way. They are probably engaged in making some adjustments toward resuming more functioning already. BUT it is quite likely that events involving groups of people, like test events and oath ceremonies, will be among the very last. As rightly so. Which means those waiting will need to be patient. It is what it is. And what it is, is no picnic, in many regards, for many people. There's a cost being paid. A bigger cost to some compared to others. That's how things like this tend to go. Despite the disparity in impact, nonetheless we are all mostly in this together, and we need to work together to see our way clear.
 

Tess90

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Feb 18, 2020
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Here is another question...My PR card expires in 2022. I travel a lot and do need to travel for personal reasons and for business.
My citizenship application has been in process since end of February.
It looks like I won't be getting my citizenship for another 2 years because of the backlog but I do intend to travel when the pandemic is over.
Why do I have to pay to extend my PR card?
And will I have to? As by 2022 I intended to get my citizenship. Let alone, it's another time-consuming process which could be eliminated.
Lost of people will have to extend their PR cards because of this which will also be a burden on their human resources.
Thoughts?
Ways around it?
I will be happy to hear opinions
 

egyed

Star Member
Feb 8, 2019
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I think Canada should start to sort this out and make use of technology to virtually do the oath. This the world now and for some long time due to that virus and the expected long wait for a working vaccine
 
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Tess90

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Feb 18, 2020
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I am sure they will figure something out but not sure how they will go about the test and the PR card expiration for thousands of people
 

dpenabill

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Apr 2, 2010
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Here is another question...My PR card expires in 2022. I travel a lot and do need to travel for personal reasons and for business.
My citizenship application has been in process since end of February.
It looks like I won't be getting my citizenship for another 2 years because of the backlog but I do intend to travel when the pandemic is over.
Why do I have to pay to extend my PR card?
And will I have to? As by 2022 I intended to get my citizenship. Let alone, it's another time-consuming process which could be eliminated.
Lost of people will have to extend their PR cards because of this which will also be a burden on their human resources.
Thoughts?
Ways around it?
I will be happy to hear opinions
It is very unlikely there will be any special relief to offset the cost of applying for a new PR card. That is a cost individual PRs will, almost certainly, have to bear personally. Among more than a few other likely losses and negative consequences.

Unfortunately when stuff happens like this, there are huge costs. Many will pay. Some will pay more than others. Some will pay a lot more. How we pay will vary as much as how much.

Note, for example, that despite lots of help from the government, scores of small businesses will not recover. People will take losses, some merely hundreds of dollars in losses, some thousands, more than a few many thousands and tens of thousands of dollars in losses. Some bigger businesses have already lost MILLIONS that they will not recover, which of course will have a huge impact on those employed by those businesses. Government programs are struggling to keep the businesses from failing altogether. The government cannot make up for all the losses. No where near that.

This is going to take a bite out of many many millions of Canadians. Not all. But probably most. And for millions it will be a big bite.

I anticipate the government is already adjusting the workplace in its agencies, like IRCC, to accommodate migrating back toward a more robust workflow, with more adjustments to come. Including accelerating implementation of technology. As I previously noted, however, activities involving in-person events will likely be among the last to approach anything like normal.

Virtual oath ceremonies seem more in the range of wishful dreaming than pragmatic expectation, in Canada anyway, but there may be other work-a-round approaches for getting the last step of the citizenship process on track.

But no doubt, it is going to take longer going forward than it has in the past. How much longer is impossible to forecast.

So, in any event, as noted, I would not expect any relief from the cost of a PR card application. Sure, that is real money in many individual PRs' budgets. But not so much as a blip on the big screen. For those affected in this way, it will be their individual price to pay . . . and for many, unfortunately, this is likely to be among the smaller losses they suffer individually.

This is not an easy time. There are PRs and other Canadians currently stuck abroad who had plans to return to Canada which have been seriously delayed, and who will encounter a negative impact in various ways. For some it will mean they fail to comply with their PR Residency Obligation and will have to rely on H&C relief to keep their status.

It is impossible to scratch the surface enumerating all the ways this pandemic will have a serious negative impact on just new immigrants, let alone the many millions of other Canadians who will take a hit.

It is a sad time. For so many. For many there will be losses that are forever, not just a setback. But that is in part why some of the more narcissistic self-interested demands stand out as so offensive. It is probably a bit melodramatic to play the we-are-all-in-this-together refrain too persistently, but this is about as close as a society gets to being in it together. Feel like you are suffering, look to your left, look to your right, you are far, far from alone.

Best we can do for now is turn to those with expertise and follow their lead, to pull together as best we can, to be pragmatic and resourceful and considerate of others.

There is some hint of light on the horizon now. If we can hold the line awhile longer, that could significantly mitigate the impact, not just in terms of saving lives but in terms of mitigating the damage done on so many fronts, in so many ways. Finding our way clear will not be a cake walk. But it is a trek we must make and the more unified we are, the better it will almost certainly go.
 

Tess90

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Feb 18, 2020
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Government does help financially though and rules change and exceptions will be made I am sure. This is unprecedented time and measures will be taken. Canada is a very fair country so it will be curious to observe how it pans out. I just wonder how and when
 

dpenabill

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Apr 2, 2010
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Government does help financially though and rules change and exceptions will be made I am sure. This is unprecedented time and measures will be taken. Canada is a very fair country so it will be curious to observe how it pans out. I just wonder how and when
In many ways you are right. I especially agree that the Canadian government is about as fair as governments go. (I sure appreciate our government, notwithstanding this and that flaw.)

And, to be clear, the government has already undertaken many unprecedented measures to deal with the collateral impact of this pandemic in addition to dealing with the pandemic itself.

A lot has already happened, including in terms of what our government has done, that was largely unpredictable not very long ago.

But many, many individuals will nonetheless bear a huge, huge share of the price to be paid. The government is not going to, as the saying goes, make everyone "whole." Nowhere near that. It cannot. The government will be stretched to its limits to keep as much working as possible. Getting some people basic necessities, just food even, will demand unprecedented extraordinary measures.

It is possible there could be a waiver of some fees, like the fee for a PR card application that might not have been necessary but for these events. But that is a mere possibility. Not likely. Not at all likely, actually. In the realm of speculation, it is possible that Canada will implement a system for virtual oath ceremonies, for example, but frankly that too seems rather unlikely. But perhaps somewhat more a possibility than waiving PR card application fees.

BUT for sure, we are living in interesting times. Which is usually NOT good. And for sure, what makes these times interesting, now, is not good. How all this will ultimately unfold is yet to be seen. Many surprises are likely still in store. I hope that most lean toward something good, that the worst of what surprises us has already happened.
 

sarafandee

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Nov 18, 2014
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To each their priorities now, but let's just pause and try to think "rationally" for a moment. What is really more important, being part of a collective effort to save thousands of lives or become a citizen? I, for one, have been waiting for three years now for my damn citizenship test, and there were no news from IRCC till before the Covid pandemic started. Only God knows now how long I have to wait after the pandemic is over with all the backlog building up. As frustrated and angry as I am, and many others too, we need to consider the human part of this and be patient and realize that many lives are at stake. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can come before health. So to whoever is complaining about delays of IRCC right now, please understand that your selfish needs cannot supercede the safety of others, including mine and yours.

Stay safe.
 

Msjoy11

Member
Mar 8, 2019
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To each their priorities now, but let's just pause and try to think "rationally" for a moment. What is really more important, being part of a collective effort to save thousands of lives or become a citizen? I, for one, have been waiting for three years now for my damn citizenship test, and there were no news from IRCC till before the Covid pandemic started. Only God knows now how long I have to wait after the pandemic is over with all the backlog building up. As frustrated and angry as I am, and many others too, we need to consider the human part of this and be patient and realize that many lives are at stake. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can come before health. So to whoever is complaining about delays of IRCC right now, please understand that your selfish needs cannot supercede the safety of others, including mine and yours.

Stay safe.
Very well said!
 

elwaver

Star Member
Jul 6, 2017
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As soon as there is a vaccine, some sort of immunity passports (e.g., a chip (and it has to be mandatory for everybody for it to work out!) implanted into a body) and also a cure from this virus (we need to pay more attention to Bill Gates and his foundation's work), this problem will be solved and everything will go back to "normal" and we'll get our applications moving along. Until then, we must trust the government no matter what. After all, the government and its senior officials are in way better positions to know what's REALLY better (and essential!) for the people at any given time (and anyone thinking otherwise should be investigated for their "dangerous" opinions). Anyway, just my two cents.
 

naseryas

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Good topic but unfortunately derailed into unrelated discussions. I hope we could stick to main purpose here (next steps). Why would people want their citizenship fast? Doesn't matter! Each has his own reasons that might not appeal to others.
 

anandg12

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Jun 26, 2015
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Canadian parliament has started holding virtual parliamentary sessions. There was also a virtual oath ceremony (special case) held a few weeks ago. I would not be surprised if virtual oath ceremonies will be held for masses by the end of this year. I do know for a fact that federal government workers are working from home these days but a lot of government resources (I am assuming some IRCC employees too) have been diverted to fight Covid-19.