Hi All,
Back in Feb I had my test and interview but silly me, I forgot to add some trips on my Physical Presence calculator, as we just had completely forgotten them. We did a lot of travel, so while most of these were documented (over 20 trips), I missed just 2 because they were not stamped in my passport (one was a land crossing into the USA and the other was into my home country). These trips actually (and unfortunately) pushed me out of the 1095 days of physical presence (we should have waited longer to apply, that was our mistake). My citizenship application had been put on hold, despite getting 100% on the test.
I just received this letter now for Supplementary Evidence. The dates they are requesting documents (passport pages, etickets / itineraries / boarding passes, i94 for USA) for reflect 5 years prior to my application date.
Are my options then, to withdraw my application and re-apply with the 1095+ days, or should I try and submit this evidence and hope they may still grant citizenship? Or will this result in having my application rejected? How does that affect a future application?
If you know you do not meet the actual physical presence requirement, at least 1095 days credit for days in Canada during the five years immediately preceding the date you applied, the outcome is certain: this application MUST be denied . . . unless you first withdraw it.
The physical presence requirement is NOT flexible. IRCC has NO authority to grant you citizenship if you did not meet this qualification.
But you have submitted an application claiming you did meet the actual physical presence (APP) requirement. You are entitled to fair procedure. So IRCC cannot summarily deny the application. IRCC must give you an opportunity to submit evidence in support of the claim made in the application.
Even if IRCC concludes (a decision made by a Citizenship Officer) that it is clear you did not meet the APP requirement, it cannot just deny the application (unless you concede this). So, unless you concede you are not qualified, or you withdraw, IRCC must refer the application to a Citizenship Judge, and the CJ must give you an opportunity to make the case that you met the qualifying requirements, including actual physical presence. Which, apparently, you cannot do since you did not meet the APP requirement. So the outcome of a CJ hearing is certain, the application denied, since again there is no leeway in the law regarding the APP requirement.
For example, 1094 days does not make it. At least 1095 days is the absolute minimum.
Thus, no reason to continue with the process . . . well, except how you should go about it is more difficult to answer.
I am NOT qualified to offer personal advice. I cannot say what you should do or how you should otherwise handle the situation.
Withdrawing the application makes the most sense . . . but yes, of course, the fact that you failed to be a reliable reporter in making an application as important as a citizenship application, of course that can seriously hurt your credibility and elevate the amount of scrutiny IRCC must employ in regards to any subsequent application. But the situation will have this influence regardless how this application ends, either in you withdrawing it or it being denied.
It is somewhat ironic that how this actually influences your case when you re-apply can go in opposite directions. If, for example, it readily appears you made a simple mistake and in the meantime have added a lot of time to your APP count, that could make sailing through the re-application processing easier. But if there is any concern about your credibility (the extent to which IRCC can count on you, or not, to be a reliable reporter of facts) arising from having made false assertions of fact in the previous application, that can trigger elevated concerns and non-routine processing.
We have seen anecdotal reports going both those directions. Thus, some good, some more difficult.
Again, I cannot and do not offer advice. I can say that if I was in this situation I would submit an explanation, including a written acknowledgement of making a mistake which resulted in falling short of being qualified, and ask for permission to withdraw the application or concede that this application should be denied. And then apply again. Applying again will be from scratch. (You will need to submit proof of language, for example.)
Consulting with a lawyer, and following the lawyer's advice, also would be a reasonable approach.
In the meantime, best to do everything you can to obtain information from all available sources to help you get the travel history right . . . to make sure it is both complete and accurate. Obviously, you are the one and only person in the whole world who was for sure there each and every time you exited and entered Canada. You are the one best source. So, if there is evidence or records or suggestions your account is not complete and accurate, THAT HURTS. When the best source fails to be reliable, that makes proving the case a lot harder. This is why it is so important for PRs to keep ongoing complete and accurate records of all international travel.
The U.S. records, and CBSA records, and your own banking and credit card records, and any and all other sources, can help. The objective is to get it right. Right enough you are believable.
. This has got to suck.