Postpone Oath Taking Ceremony - Outside Canada

[karandas.p@gmail.com]

Hello & Good day,

I had applied for Canadian Citizenship in May 2022. On the 02nd of March 2023, I checked my citizenship application tracker and found out that all checks were completed and that I am scheduled to attend my citizenship ceremony on the 20th of April 2023. I will not be in a position to attend the ceremony - either in-person or virtually - because I will be outside Canada then. As I understand - and please correct me if I am wrong - one cannot attend the ceremony even if done virtually if I am outside canada.
Therefore, I have the following questions, and I hope someone can assist me / provide guidance / clarify certain items:

1. I have not yet received any email in my inbox regarding any "Invitation Letter". However, the citizenship application tracker site informs me that it is sent and my status has been updated to "Waiting on You". I checked my spam and other folders, and I am positive that I have not received it. When do these invitation letters normally come in and what should I do / who should I inform stating that I have not received any yet?

2. I went to the following link: CIC Help Center to fill out a web form and proceeded to inform CIC that I would not be able to attend and provided the reason (along with other details such as my Citizenship application no, file no etc). How long does it take for CIC to respond back (if they do so in the first place? ).

3. In case I do not get any response, what would be a suggested course of action ? Do I attend the ceremony via a video conferencing link that they (hopefully) eventually provide and inform the officer there that I will not be able to attend? Is there anything else that I can do ?

Thank You,
KP

 

[shiremag]

Hello & Good day,

I had applied for Canadian Citizenship in May 2022. On the 02nd of March 2023, I checked my citizenship application tracker and found out that all checks were completed and that I am scheduled to attend my citizenship ceremony on the 20th of April 2023. I will not be in a position to attend the ceremony - either in-person or virtually - because I will be outside Canada then. As I understand - and please correct me if I am wrong - one cannot attend the ceremony even if done virtually if I am outside canada.
Therefore, I have the following questions, and I hope someone can assist me / provide guidance / clarify certain items:

1. I have not yet received any email in my inbox regarding any "Invitation Letter". However, the citizenship application tracker site informs me that it is sent and my status has been updated to "Waiting on You". I checked my spam and other folders, and I am positive that I have not received it. When do these invitation letters normally come in and what should I do / who should I inform stating that I have not received any yet?

2. I went to the following link: CIC Help Center to fill out a web form and proceeded to inform CIC that I would not be able to attend and provided the reason (along with other details such as my Citizenship application no, file no etc). How long does it take for CIC to respond back (if they do so in the first place? ).

3. In case I do not get any response, what would be a suggested course of action ? Do I attend the ceremony via a video conferencing link that they (hopefully) eventually provide and inform the officer there that I will not be able to attend? Is there anything else that I can do ?

Thank You,
KP

The standard recommendation is as follows: Try to make it to the original scheduled oath ceremony even if it is difficult. However, under very extenuating circumstances, if you are unable to make it to the oath ceremony, wait till you get the oath letter and follow instructions letting them know that you are unable to make it and have to reschedule.

It is important to note that this is not an oath "invite" - it is a "Notice to Appear" so they may honour your request and are not obligated to if the reason is not substantial. Also, if you decide to postpone, there is no guarantee that you will get the next available oath slot when you are back in Canada. You might have to wait months go get another "Notice to Appear" for oath... Considering all this, if your situation is extenuating, go ahead and ask them reschedule the oath once you get an oath letter. Again, there are no guarantees after you reschedule - you might get lucky though

As for webforms, they may take up to 4 weeks to even read and respond - It's not a good tool for immediate or urgent communication. Calling IRCC is faster.

There are multiple examples in this forum of people waiting months after rescheduling oath... See one below:
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/october-2021-citizenship-applications.745881/post-103947911

 

[husky ginger]

Hey, I just postponed my oath ceremony recently, hope you find some help from my case.

Jan 31,2023: I found that the ceremony was scheduled on Feb 22 on citizenship tracker.
Feb 1: I filed a webform with my info and situation("unable to attend a ceremony due to a family visit overseas. Please reschedule. Thank you-- I made it very brief.).
Feb 9: I received an invitation email with ceremony information pdf file from IRCC. on the same day I sent an email to the address(found on the pdf ) asking reschedule, and received an automatic email.
Feb 24: Called IRCC to check the progress. The person I spoked to said I'd just need to wait for another invitation email.
Mar 7: Found that the ceremony was rescheduled on April 11 on citizenship tracker.
Mar 17: Received an invitation email from IRCC.

 

[kadian]

Hello & Good day,

I had applied for Canadian Citizenship in May 2022. On the 02nd of March 2023, I checked my citizenship application tracker and found out that all checks were completed and that I am scheduled to attend my citizenship ceremony on the 20th of April 2023. I will not be in a position to attend the ceremony - either in-person or virtually - because I will be outside Canada then. As I understand - and please correct me if I am wrong - one cannot attend the ceremony even if done virtually if I am outside canada.
Therefore, I have the following questions, and I hope someone can assist me / provide guidance / clarify certain items:

1. I have not yet received any email in my inbox regarding any "Invitation Letter". However, the citizenship application tracker site informs me that it is sent and my status has been updated to "Waiting on You". I checked my spam and other folders, and I am positive that I have not received it. When do these invitation letters normally come in and what should I do / who should I inform stating that I have not received any yet?

2. I went to the following link: CIC Help Center to fill out a web form and proceeded to inform CIC that I would not be able to attend and provided the reason (along with other details such as my Citizenship application no, file no etc). How long does it take for CIC to respond back (if they do so in the first place? ).

3. In case I do not get any response, what would be a suggested course of action ? Do I attend the ceremony via a video conferencing link that they (hopefully) eventually provide and inform the officer there that I will not be able to attend? Is there anything else that I can do ?

Thank You,
KP

As per the Citizenship regulation, taking Oath outside Canada is permissible
However, I have not come across any profile who had such experience or explained the possible circumstances which allows it outside Canada.

Citizenship regulation Weblink:-
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-93-246/FullText.html

Quote "

• 20 (1) Subject to subsection 5(3) of the Act and section 22 of these Regulations, a person who is 14 years of age or older on the day on which the person is granted citizenship under subsection 5(2) or (4) or 11(1) of the Act shall take the oath of citizenship by swearing or solemnly affirming it
  • (a) before a citizenship judge, if the person is in Canada; or
  • (b) before a foreign service officer, if the person is outside Canada.
• (2) Where a person is to take the oath of citizenship pursuant to subsection (1), the Registrar shall forward a certificate of citizenship to
  • (a) if the oath is to be taken in Canada, a citizenship officer of the citizenship office that the Registrar considers appropriate in the circumstances; or
  • (b) if the oath is to be taken in another country, a foreign service officer in that country.
• (3) A citizenship officer or foreign service officer mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) or (b) shall notify the person of the date, time and place at which the person is to appear and take the oath of citizenship.

 

[dpenabill]

I will not be in a position to attend the ceremony - either in-person or virtually - because I will be outside Canada then. As I understand - and please correct me if I am wrong - one cannot attend the ceremony even if done virtually if I am outside canada.

You are correct. With rare, almost certainly extremely rare exceptions (like one in ten thousand).

@kadian cites a regulation that does NOT apply to adult grant citizenship applicants, applying for citizenship pursuant to Section 5(1) in the Citizenship Act. It does NOT apply to PRs being granted citizenship pursuant to an application made using the CIT 0002 application form.

The regulation @kadian cites, Section 20, ONLY applies to

-- certain minor applicants granted citizenship pursuant to Section 5(2) of the Citizenship Act,​

-- special grants of citizenship to alleviate cases of statelessness, special and unusual hardship, or to reward services of exceptional value to Canada, pursuant to an application made under Section 5(4) of the Citizenship Act (note, this requires an application for citizenship specifically under Section 5(4); an application made using CIT 0002 cannot be converted from an application under Section 5(1) to one made under Section 5(4), and​

-- former citizens making an application for resumption of citizenship (and meeting other requirements) pursuant to Section 11(1) in the Citizenship Act​

As per the Citizenship regulation, taking Oath outside Canada is permissible
However, I have not come across any profile who had such experience or explained the possible circumstances which allows it outside Canada.

Citizenship regulation Weblink:-
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-93-246/FullText.html

Quote "

• 20(1) Subject to subsection 5(3) of the Act and section 22 of these Regulations, a person who is 14 years of age or older on the day on which the person is granted citizenship under subsection 5(2) or (4) or 11(1) of the Act shall take the oath of citizenship by swearing or solemnly affirming it
  • (a) before a citizenship judge, if the person is in Canada; or
  • (b) before a foreign service officer, if the person is outside Canada.
• (2) Where a person is to take the oath of citizenship pursuant to subsection (1), the Registrar shall forward a certificate of citizenship to
  • (a) if the oath is to be taken in Canada, a citizenship officer of the citizenship office that the Registrar considers appropriate in the circumstances; or
  • (b) if the oath is to be taken in another country, a foreign service officer in that country.
• (3) A citizenship officer or foreign service officer mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) or (b) shall notify the person of the date, time and place at which the person is to appear and take the oath of citizenship.

What you appear to be overlooking is that this is NOT about applications for citizenship by adult PRs pursuant to Section 5(1) of the Citizenship Act. It will NOT apply to anyone who applied using CIT 0002.

The CIT 0002 application form is what the vast majority of forum members here, other than some applications made on behalf of minors who are the child of a Canadian citizen, used to make their citizenship application, pursuant to Section 5(1) in the Citizenship Act. The oath of citizenship for these applicants (again, virtually all adult applicants posting here) are governed by Section 19(1) in the Citizenship Regulations.

While this is subject to a proposed amendment which will allow citizenship officers to administer the oath (for 5(1) applicants), not just a citizenship judge, Section 24(a) in the Citizenship Regulations will still only allow the taking of the oath "in Canada" unless the Minister otherwise directs (this is the exception, the very rare exception, pursuant to which a very small number of individuals have been allowed to take the oath, for a 5(1) grant of citizenship, while outside Canada).

Sources:

Citizenship Act Sections 5(1), 5(2), and 5(4) is here: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-29/page-2.html#docCont

Citizenship Act Section 11(1) is here: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-29/page-3.html#docCont

Citizenship Regulations 19, 20, and 24 are here: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-93-246/page-2.html#h-952206

However, to understand how these provisions are applied, it helps to peruse at least some of the relevant Federal Court decisions. Without putting my cursor on it at the moment, not too long ago, for example, I cited, linked, and discussed a Federal Court decision regarding the grant of citizenship pursuant to Section 5(4) in the Citizenship Act, highlighting that a grant of citizenship under that provision requires an application made specifically pursuant to that provision and emphasizing that such a grant of citizenship is highly unusual (a film maker of international renown but short of meeting the 5(1) requirements for a grant of citizenship was denied citizenship under 5(4) in this example).