era1521 said:
Well, what I always tried was to understand what the reason behind choosing no following the rules is. Nevertheless very few can explain, due to a very specific situation, they choose to add some additional documents, acknowledging may be in vain, most of the others in same situation have no reasonable justification, but in fact believe doing that will expedite the process.
The question is why you would want to have all of the sudden the citizenship application completed as faster as it could.
What is the difference between PR and citizen?
Obviously, the right to vote and passport.
So, back to the cheese; people crave to vote? I dont think so; they want the passport. Why they want it at once? Who knows? maybe some want to get the passport and abandon Canada; maybe some want to get some tanning down south. Nobody knows for sure. May a well-documented statistics in this regard will be more enlightening.
Some of this seems unfair and over-generalizing to me.
Sure, the passport can be a big deal. It can make a huge difference in career opportunities with companies doing business with the U.S. for example. A delay in obtaining a Canadian passport can result in a loss of real income, perhaps even the loss of a particular job opportunity which might not come around again for quite some time.
There is nothing wrong with being concerned about this. It is a real and legitimate concern.
And as Canadians, Permanent Residents are entitled to a fair and judicious process, a process which includes the processing of applications for citizenship in a
timely manner. Two years is not timely. Wanting what is right, including what is timely, is OK, what Canadians (including PRs) are entitled to, entitled to insist upon.
As for reasons to include extra documents:
The reasons to include extra documents really boil down to two:
-- hope it will accelerate processing timeline for a routinely processed applicant
-- hope it might help to avoid RQ
Regarding the hope it will accelerate the processing timeline generally:
This is a
false hope. Totally. Nothing (other than specifically qualifying for urgent processing) will accelerate the routine processing timeline. Anyone the least bit familiar with bureaucracies readily recognizes and understands this. And relative to CIC in particular, there is no doubt, submitting additional documents with the application cannot possibly accelerate the timeline for a routinely processed citizenship application. Any hint to the contrary is, well, malarkey.
That said, it is not at all unreasonable to
hope for a faster timeline, particularly not in the context of how long
hundreds of thousands of applications have taken to be processed in the last four or five years. There are scores of qualified applicants who applied in 2011
still waiting. In contrast, CIC's listed timeline for "routine applications" when I applied in the summer of 2013 was around two years. I still would not be a citizen if it took that long. In contrast, I was able to vote in both last year's provincial election and our municipal election, and to my perspective, contrary to your dismissiveness about the significance of the right to vote, that was of
great importance to me. Did not make a difference in the outcome, but being able to vote is a huge, huge part of being a citizen, which is about being a part of the community where one lives, about belonging, about contributing, about caring.
The overriding importance of being a contributing part of a
democratic process in governing ourselves should not be derided or abused. And voting is a big part of that. Caring enough to vote is a big part of that.
But so is just being a
citizen. Perhaps, being from a much older generation, my perspective is a bit quaint, but to my view becoming a citizen was a huge part of making this place my true home.
This is the place. It took me a long, long time to find this place and figure that out. Decades. Many decades. My heart rate increases when I think of this. The sound of "O Canada, Our home and native land!" gives me pause and makes me smile, a deep from the heart smile (even though, of course, it is not my native land).
Becoming a citizen is a big deal. I doubt I am alone in feeling this way. Seemed to me that most of those who were at my oath ceremony, nearly a year ago now, were overflowing with similar feelings. We had found a place to make our home and it was Canada.
Regarding the hope additional documents might help to avoid RQ:
This has been the more difficult aspect of this issue to address. It has been difficult because there is no for-sure answer. This is where a lot of unknowns and maybe-this-or-maybe-that scenarios take the stage.
But, as I indicated in my post above, for the majority of those whose circumstances check off a
reason-to-question-residency (from the perspective of CIC, and as defined in the triage criteria set out in the File Requirements Checklist), RQ is going to be issued. No amount of proof of residency submitted with the application will change that.
Thus, for the overwhelming majority of applicants, there is no prospective benefit or potential gain for including additional documents with the application.
For the overwhelming majority of applicants, they are going to be routinely processed anyway, or they are going to be issued RQ anyway.
But the overwhelming vast-majority is not everyone. There are exceptions.
Thus, ultimately, it really comes down to each individual choosing for himself or herself what is the best way to navigate this process. This includes choosing the date to apply (I waited nearly two years after reaching the 1095 days of actual presence threshold before applying), and includes decisions like whether or not to include supplemental information or documentation with the application.
A forum like this works best when it offers real information, thoughtful analysis, honest anecdotal reporting, and in doing so helps others to be better informed
so they can make better decisions for themselves, based on their own particular circumstances, whether that is about when to apply, how to respond to a particular item in the application, and including whether or not to include additional documents.
It is worth remembering in this regard, there is
NO prohibition against submitting additional documentation. It is OK to submit more.
Whether or not any particular individual
should submit more is a very personal decision. Most applicants almost certainly do not need to submit more. For the vast majority, submitting more will make no difference (they will be processed as a routine application or will be issued RQ, and the additional documentation will have made no difference).
Overall I disgree with those who urge that applicants should submit addtional documents. For the vast majority that is taking unnecessary risks.
Overall I disagree with those who urge no one should submit additional documents. For some, the decisions to do so is a rational, reasonable choice based on their particular circumstances and what they know about the process.
Mostly I advocate becoming as well informed as possible and making a thoughtful, deliberated decision about how to navigate the process for oneself. Pursuant to which some might quite reasonably elect to include additional documents, a
few additional
key documents.
But there is nothing the least bit wrong about wanting the process to go a lot faster than it has for the majority of applicants in the last five years.
