All he said was pretty soon, but looking at the digging on this website and others looks like around a month to month and half
Normal Processing Times from Calgary office?
- Thread starter alexsteward
- Start date
First timer here – just wanted to share my experience. Sent application to NS way back in Jan 2014 – was in Edmonton at that time and I knew Edmonton was the worst office ever – so didn’t expect much and just let it ran its course.
Relocated to YYC in Fall 2014 , changed the address and hear nothing, until the test invite came in earlier this month.
Couple things worth sharing:
1. As I was chatting with the folks at harry Hays, (most ppl might know already) – Calgary office is doing pilot run to speed up processing time to <12 months- hence they concurrently processing old applicants and newly received applicants? Fair or not – it’s up to you to judge, but perhaps by next year everyone will enjoy speedy processing <12 months for regular case.
2. Looks like Calgary office improved the way the handle the test/doc check. In my case, my appointment was at 8 AM, I showed up exactly at 8 AM… huge long long long line up leading to Kathryn Room on the main floor. At 8 sharp they started moving people along – checked for your PR and invite letter. Everyone went into the room, maybe about 60 or so people, pretty much a full house. By 8:15 everyone was seated and the test begun.
3. Although I got 20/20 – I thought the test was a little harder than I thought – I had expected lots of silly or common sense questions, but they did ask some detailed stuff - something that you might learn in grade 6 history class or what not. All questions, as promised, came from the book though. So I guess it’s fair, but I bet lots of Canadian born people might actually fail this test! My advice is to make sure read the books, instead of just relying on the online tests.
4. Moving on – so lots of people done in 5 mins, you got out, handed back the test to the reception and then they ushered you to another waiting room. CIC set up probably about 10 tables and they called everyone by name one by one. They just asked for your docs, passport, PR card, etc etc… and then you are done. A mystery for me is whether these people are volunteer, summer interns, regular employees or citizenship officers…. but they really do have lots lots of staff; mixed bag: some looked like a seasonal veterans, others looked like newbie, stumbled upon their stuff (any thoughts everyone?). They are all very nice, courteous and friendly though – I have to give CIC thumbs up for that – it’s rare to see that attitude in government offices.
5. I got in at 8, and done by 8:50ish. Quite happy with the more efficient procedure (vs. waiting around until everyone’s done then do the test). Whole process seems to be very fast, and it appears that they schedule maybe 2-3 (or more) test sessions that day, and the do multiple days per week (at least 2), so they will eat through the backlog fairly quick – which is probably good for many who are anxiously and eagerly waiting.
Let’s hope that the oath processing is also catching up
Relocated to YYC in Fall 2014 , changed the address and hear nothing, until the test invite came in earlier this month.
Couple things worth sharing:
1. As I was chatting with the folks at harry Hays, (most ppl might know already) – Calgary office is doing pilot run to speed up processing time to <12 months- hence they concurrently processing old applicants and newly received applicants? Fair or not – it’s up to you to judge, but perhaps by next year everyone will enjoy speedy processing <12 months for regular case.
2. Looks like Calgary office improved the way the handle the test/doc check. In my case, my appointment was at 8 AM, I showed up exactly at 8 AM… huge long long long line up leading to Kathryn Room on the main floor. At 8 sharp they started moving people along – checked for your PR and invite letter. Everyone went into the room, maybe about 60 or so people, pretty much a full house. By 8:15 everyone was seated and the test begun.
3. Although I got 20/20 – I thought the test was a little harder than I thought – I had expected lots of silly or common sense questions, but they did ask some detailed stuff - something that you might learn in grade 6 history class or what not. All questions, as promised, came from the book though. So I guess it’s fair, but I bet lots of Canadian born people might actually fail this test! My advice is to make sure read the books, instead of just relying on the online tests.
4. Moving on – so lots of people done in 5 mins, you got out, handed back the test to the reception and then they ushered you to another waiting room. CIC set up probably about 10 tables and they called everyone by name one by one. They just asked for your docs, passport, PR card, etc etc… and then you are done. A mystery for me is whether these people are volunteer, summer interns, regular employees or citizenship officers…. but they really do have lots lots of staff; mixed bag: some looked like a seasonal veterans, others looked like newbie, stumbled upon their stuff (any thoughts everyone?). They are all very nice, courteous and friendly though – I have to give CIC thumbs up for that – it’s rare to see that attitude in government offices.
5. I got in at 8, and done by 8:50ish. Quite happy with the more efficient procedure (vs. waiting around until everyone’s done then do the test). Whole process seems to be very fast, and it appears that they schedule maybe 2-3 (or more) test sessions that day, and the do multiple days per week (at least 2), so they will eat through the backlog fairly quick – which is probably good for many who are anxiously and eagerly waiting.
Let’s hope that the oath processing is also catching up
wow they changed the procedure for test and docs check again. it was 3 officers checking docs before test and now it happens after test with 10 agents at a time. But, the Oath is still falling behind in Calgary. no major change yet because the ceremony is limited in size. Wish they could do a mega ones at a stadium or sth.arsen said:
Hi All,
My test is on Thursday, may I ask our friends who have taken the test, do I need to re-print my application form as part of the document check list to bring at the citizenship test? Thanks in advance.
My test is on Thursday, may I ask our friends who have taken the test, do I need to re-print my application form as part of the document check list to bring at the citizenship test? Thanks in advance.
With 6 Oath ceremonies a week. Do we know if this allows CIC-YYC to catch up with test takers?dbo73 said:
In other words, how many tests per week are being scheduled? How many people are on avg per test cession and per oath ceremony. This will tell us whether we can expect the time from test to ceremony to decrease, and at what speed.
It puzzles me that it takes 2-3 months from test to oath, when after the test, there's nothing else to check.
Thanks,
Some expert say her application had been approved and background check was completed prior the test date and she was pretty lucky that there was ceremony in same day post test taken.
Under new procedure officers can approve most applications right after tests. Unless there are critical issues come up, most checks are done prior to tests. The processing at CIC Calgary is extremely frustrating when you have no way to know your application status or communicate with this office until the actual Oath letter arrives. The timeline for Oaths are very fluctuating, too.omnisap said:
Thanks for sharing! I forgot to mention that my sister got her test invitation letter by mail. The letter confirms the oath ceremony will be performed right after the test if she passed. She passed the test and got oath done right away on the same day.vnexpress said: