Travel document - form query

[Confused in Toronto]

Hello,

I am sorry to be inundating everyone with so many questions, but I am absolutely hitting my head against a brick wall trying to get a hold of anyone who will speak to me from the Canadian immigration authorities.

To recap, I need to apply for a travel document to enter Canada as of March 15th. I am living in Switzerland with my Canadian spouse, I am a Norwegian citizen. My confusion stems from the following:

1. On the TD application form, the section referring to 'Residency Obligation', box 15 refers to time spent in Canada. Do I list all of my visits to Canada here? Even though these visits were simply that, not 'living' in Canada as such.

2. Box 16 refers to time spent 'accompanying a Canadian citizen outside of Canada'. Do I list all the time we have spent in Switzerland here? I have already counted those particular days, and it is well above the minimum (1500 days). What I haven't included here is the time we have spent together on travels in other countries in Europe. Should I count those as well, since I am, in effect ,'accompanying' my husband, and they are all trips 'outside of Canada'?

3. Or should I just not worry about any of this, since my days are already well above the minimum? I am just trying to be as accurate and correct as possible, to avoid any possible hiccup in the application process.

I tried to call the visa application centre in England, and they just referred me back to the guide on the website. When I stated that the guide does not answer this question, they referred me back to the guide again. When I asked if there was someone within the CIC I could SPEAK to and ask, they said they did not have that information! So frustrating! If you can help at all, I would be hugely grateful!

Thank you,

Heidi

 

[spyfy]

I know exactly what you mean. The most frustrating thing about dealing with CIC is that even if you have a legitimate reason to talk to someone, you can't. That's because there are so many weirdos out there who ask really stupid questions on the phone ("How do I apply for PR?", "Do I need a language test?") that are answered on the website. But even if you have a very special and legit question, all you get is some call centre agent that just follows a script and says "sorry we can't help" and actually knows nothing. It almost killed me during my PR process that I seemed to be more knowledgeable than the call centre staff but I needed an answer to a real question.

Anyways, to your questions:

1. Box 15 asks for physical presence in Canada. This should be taken literally, i.e. it is irrelevant if you were in Canada "just for a visit" or "on vacation" or "because you live there". The PR residency obligation only knows one category: Either your feet were on Canadian soil or they weren't. This is intentional, since any other kind of criterion would be open to arguments. Bottom line: Yes, list every single day you spent in Canada in the last five years.

2. Yes, be as precise as possible on Box 16. Try to remember all your travels and if necessary use an extra sheet of paper. There is some leeway though:
- only list one city per country, the one that you would call your major destination (i.e. if you took a trip like Lyon-Paris-Strasbourg, just list one of these cities).
- only list trips where you stayed overnight. They don't care if you went to Germany for some shopping.
- Keep in mind that most of Europe, including Switzerland, is part of the Schengen area and since you are a Schengen citizen your travels inside the Schengen area are not tracked by anyone. So if you fear that you might miss some minor trips, don't sweat it. First, it is literally impossible for them to find out. And second, they don't really care if you were somewhere else for some small numbers of days as long as you were with your husband. Bottom line: This whole section has to look realistic and what actually is relevant is that you were with your husband, not if you were in Strasbourg or Paris.
I followed exactly these guidelines when I applied for PR and it worked well. I had the same issues, since I used to live in Konstanz (in Germany, directly at the Swiss border) and I crossed the border many times just for an afternoon. I never mentioned these trips anywhere because how should I even remember the details?
- However, try not to miss any trips to the UK or Ireland since they aren't Schengen countries and you actually get IDed at the border so technically they could find out (although, to be honest, they will never go through the hassle to ask the UK authorities for help. Your case isn't serious or anything, so it would be too much work for them).

3. Generally, the more accurate the better. Keep in mind that a human is going to process your application. If you sent in a form that lists even 2-day trips to other countries while you were in Europe, the officer will think "holy sh**t, that person is thorough" which will work in your favour. You should've seen the sparkly eyes the CBSA officer had at the Canadian Border when he asked me for my proof of funds and I got out my whole perfectly sorted folder full of transparencies with all the documents regarding my application. He barely looked at my proof of funds, that's how amazed he was by my folder ^^

I think your application won't face any problems at all. I know the anxiety that one has with these forms, particularly when you know that there is nothing wrong with your application and that they are supposed to accept it. But it'll work!

Lykke til!

 

[Confused in Toronto]

Thanks Spyfy...really appreciate your feedback and reassurance! I sent you a private message as well.

I'd already realized that I have to keep special focus on trips to the UK and Ireland - and you confirmed it. I'm less worried about the trips to other destinations in Europe - i.e. Norway - or driving trips to France, Italy or Germany, since there is no border check. But of course I am still trying to be as accurate as possible and include all of the trips I can possibly remember.

My form is going to be ridiculously long - extra pages and all. Hope they are ready for it!

Heidi