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I know this is an old post from a few years ago, but did you ever figure the answer to #2 above in your case ?
i.e. how to enter the 'date obtained or effective date' (From) and 'end date' (To) ?
Not sure why, but Q 13 has suddenly become a bit of a hot topic lately.
In any event, applicants are not immigration experts and are not expected to be experts. The application is not a test of the applicant's expertise in immigration.
If the applicant discloses they had status and gives their best, honest report of the dates, according to their understanding, that should be OK.
One problem is that just what constitutes "
immigration status" is often not all that clear, let alone what the dates are if there is no specific status document specifying that information.
In many situations this information is clear. If it is clear, respond accordingly.
Otherwise, typically status documents (such as IMM 1442, in Canada, which includes work and study permits, or PR cards, Refugee IDs, and visitor records, among others) will better show the relevant information, of course, than travel authorizations (such as the visa, way better than eTA or ESTA) . . . although sorting which is which in passports (for example) can pose a challenge, particularly in regards to countries the traveler is not much familiar with their practices or law. (Whether a person has been given immigration status is determined by the country involved, not Canadian law.) After all, for those carrying visa-exempt passports, many if not most travelers just present their passport (along with any other documents requested by officials) and let the officials handle it, giving little thought as to the formalities.
Q 13 is also being discussed here:
Hello friends,
So, I am about to apply for citizenship and have been in Canada for more than 4 year now.
While applying citizenship, there is a question "
Do you currently, or have you ever held immigration or citizenship status in a country or territory other than Canada (this includes your country of birth)?".
I currently have active L1 and previously had active H1B visa while in Canada. The breakup is as following:
- Canada stay: Nov 2020 - Current without any gaps.
- Other work Visas held: I have never used them to travel, but may use them in future.
- Approved H1B...
and here:
Hello, I am getting really confused about what I read on the CIC website:
https://www.cicnews.com/2025/10/wha...medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter-20251015
On there they said that IRCC confirmed that "The need to include a lifelong travel history, rather than only travel history as an adult or in the five or ten years preceding your application, has been confirmed in recent correspondence between immigration lawyers and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada...
Figuring out particular dates:
Again, best source is the status document. Visas can be a good clue. And using one's personal judgment in interpreting what they know and reporting
honestly.
But as the question about the end date alludes, there are situations in which it is not clear which is the technically correct answer. Thing is, this depends a lot on the rules and law in the country involved. In Canada, for example, the visitor status indicated in a visitor record usually ends if the Foreign National leaves Canada. So the end date for a VR issued for 90 days will be the date they leave, or at the 90 day date if they do not leave sooner.
In contrast, I believe that status attendant some work permits for Canada will allow for exits and re-entry without affecting status, so just leaving Canada prior to the date the permit expires probably does not determine the end date.
I do not know how a similar status works in Austria or Uganda or Ecuador, or even in some of the countries I have visited (this particular question was not asked when I applied for and became a citizen). But for status obtained attendant travel to Austria or Uganda or Ecuador, it is what is prescribed by immigration in Austria or Uganda or Ecuador, respectively, that determines the duration of status.
That said, as long as the applicant discloses having had status in a country, and gives a reasonably honest accounting of the dates, that should be OK. Dates of actual presence probably should be the minimum. Date a permit, or even a visa expires, should easily be safe. If the applicant knows how it works for the particular country, that's what to report. But applicants are not expected to pay a lawyer to do research to figure out exactly what is the technically correct answer based on the law in other countries.
Caveat: just because a person is present in a country does not necessarily mean they have immigration status. There are scores and scores of people in Canada without immigration status for example. Cannot be overstated: who has immigration status in a country depends on that country's rules. In Canada, for example, someone overstaying no longer has immigration status in Canada when their status expires, whether they stay for an additional year or years (without obtaining status again), or like me for three months between when my last VR expired until I made a flagpole trip to the U.S. border in order to consummate my PR landing (back when that was the only alternative).
Finally, visas, and dates in visas, often either specify detail corresponding to the status given a traveler or are at least a good clue which should help figure out how to best answer Q 13.
