Qualified applicants who follow the instructions, and who completely, accurately, and honestly respond to all items in the application and presence calculation, and who apply with a reasonably comfortable margin over the minimum threshold for actual physical presence, and who otherwise do not have complicating factors (unusual travel history, particularly strong continuing employment or residential ties abroad, history of PR RO compliance issues, among others), HAVE A RATHER LOW RISK FOR RQ-RELATED REQUESTS.
Forum discussions tend to be about problematic cases. This can give the impression that non-routine processing is more common, perhaps even appearing to be more prevalent, than is actually the case. Generally qualified applicants who followed the instructions have very little reason to worry about additional requests let alone full-blown RQ.
So, the BEST way to minimize the risk of delays attendant RQ-related non-routine processing is:
(1) wait to apply with a comfortable margin over the minimum physical presence requirement (how much varies depending on individual factors)
(2) carefully and thoroughly read ALL the instructions, and carefully FOLLOW the instructions (hint: answer the question asked, NOT what you think IRCC wants), and be complete and as ACCURATE as possible
(3) be especially meticulous in providing travel history information; get it right, reporting ALL trips (even day trips to the U.S.) ACCURATELY (avoid common mistakes like relying on entry stamps into another country and reporting that as date of exit from Canada, especially for Trans-Pacific flights when the arrival date can easily be two days later than actual exit from Canada date)
Of course there is NO guaranteed way to avoid RQ-related requests, but again the percentage of applicants who get such requests is rather small.
RQ-related non-routine processing is discussed in depth in numerous topics here. Those discussions often include details about what is requested. See, for example, discussion in the topic explicitly about RQ-related requests here:
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/rq-versus-physical-presence-questionnaires-including-cit-0205.534082/
Do Not Bother To Submit Additional Documents With the Application:
There is no reliable information that submitting more with the application, than what the instructions and checklist specify, will help at all.
IRRC, including Citizenship in particular, is a bureaucracy, and bureaucracies are what bureaucracies do. They like their forms. They follow the forms. When the applicant is
colouring-outside-the-lines, so to say, in most instances at best it gets ignored, and might otherwise tend to invite non-routine inquiries.
There are many reports of applicants getting RQ'd despite including a lot of additional documents, including one instance (older example) in which the applicant was assisted by an attorney and with the application submitted virtually every document later requested in the RQ given the applicant; internal CIC memos (again, this was years ago) show the attorney was advised that his client still needed to provide a full response to the RQ, although in doing so he could specifically reference particular documents which were already submitted. Obviously NO time was saved. And who knows, maybe including all those extra documents is what triggered the RQ.
For passports, follow the instructions for what to include with the application, meaning only copies of the bio-pages. Remember to bring a translation of stamps not in an official language to the test-interview. And otherwise some applicants may want to bring a complete copy of all passport pages to present during the INTERVIEW (not to be sent with application itself), if asked or if it otherwise seems appropriate to offer this during the interview.
Some Common Requests (not RQ-related)
:
The Finger Print request is among the more common requests applicants get, and generally this needs to be done according to information provided with the request itself and thus is not something one can do in advance; moreover, ordinarily this can be done quickly and there should be minimal delay caused by how long it takes to submit the FPs.
The risk or prospect of getting a request for a police clearances from another country should be easy to predict, so applicants who have had criminal charges abroad, or who have ongoing ties and extended presence in another country (even though falling short of meeting the threshold for which a police clearance MUST be submitted with the application), may indeed want to proactively obtain, just-in-case, a police clearance. Bring to interview, but only present it if asked. This should affect a rather small number of applicants.
Some Common Passport-related Requests:
A significant number of applicants are asked, after the test interview, to submit a proper translation of stamps in passports. However, the instructions for citizenship applicants make it clear, consistent with IRCC policy and practice generally for any documentation presented to IRCC attendant an application, for almost any application, that ANY document presented to IRCC containing information in a language other than an official language needs to be accompanied by a properly authenticated translation. Thus, those following the instructions will already do this, already have a properly authenticated translation, and bring the properly authenticated translation to the test-interview.
Some applicants are asked, after the test-interview, to submit a complete copy of ALL pages in the applicant's passports. As already mentioned above, this is one of the few items it can be helpful to have in advance and bring to the test-interview.
More Specifically RQ-related Requests for Documents or Records:
MOST of the RQ-related information and documentation, that might be requested, a PR and citizenship applicant should be able to easily provide since it is mostly about records one keeps in the ordinary course of living in Canada, such as rental agreements and proof of payment, or mortgage or property tax documents for owners, and employment or business related records, and banking and credit statements. If needed, just open your filing cabinet, photocopy, and submit. (Or, open your digital records folder, print selected contents, and submit.)
There may be a request for documentation which must be obtained from third parties. The most common is a request for a Record of Movement or some other version of a Travel History from another country. This can be a specific request on its own or it may be included with additional requests attendant RQ-lite (CIT 0520) or full-blown RQ (CIT 0171). More than a few applicants report getting this request at or following the test interview event, but it is clear this is still a rather small percentage of applicants. It appears that among applicants with a higher risk for a Record of Movement (Travel History) request are those who have significant ties to the U.S. or otherwise frequently travel to the U.S., and those with residence or work visas or permits in countries other than their home country, with the U.S. again looming large in this regard, and certain countries in the Middle East as well. This is one record which can be difficult to obtain or at least be slow acquiring. With some exceptions and those with the higher risk (just described above), however,
most applicants do NOT need to anticipate this. Thus, for example, if in contrast you have a U.S. Green Card or other work permit, perhaps a good idea to apply for a copy of your U.S. entry records sooner rather than later. BUT again, the vast majority of applicants do NOT need to worry about this.
Among other documentation to be obtained from a third party, the more formal versions of RQ suggest submitting a copy of use-records from Canadian health coverage providers (for Ontario, for example, that would be OHIP records -- not a copy of medical records but access or use records, showing dates when medical services were accessed). These should be relatively easy to obtain and submit and not cause any additional delay.
RQ-Related Non-routine Processing Delays:
Except for problems getting a Record of Movement from another country, gathering and submitting documents in response to RQ-related requests should not take much longer, if at all, than the time the applicant is given to provide a response. And then comes the delay. It is built-in. It is part of the process. Like most IRCC queues, it will take as long as it takes. There is little or nothing an applicant can do which will accelerate the process.
In particular, having the documents ready to immediately submit if given RQ-related requests is NOT likely to diminish the timeline delay. Applicants who believe that sending the response in sooner will mean less delay are not well informed. RQ-related non-routine processing delays tend to be hard-wired into the process. Getting responses in sooner can avoid making the timeline longer but is NOT likely to make it go much if at all faster.
