Two Questions - Applying individually vs as a family and recommended location Oakville Vs. Burling.

[Moe2010]

Hello all,
I can't believe its almost time for submitting my citizenship application. I should be eligible to submit my application in April 2019 and i had two questions.

1- My wife will become eligible to apply in June 2019 and i am thinking that we submit two separate applications instead of one family application. both of us have been living in Canada and we are submitting our tax files annually. I have been actively working while she is not, but i don't think this should be a problem. Any one with similar experience to provide feedback and share insights?

2- I live in Oakville and work in Burlington. is there any preference to what location i chose for submission? Also, what is the average processing time for my location? I checked the tracker but didnt seem to have too many applicants (or enough data) from Oakville/Burlington.

Thanks,
Mohamed

 

[Yelsew]

You can only submit your application by mail or courier to the processing centre in Sydney, Nova Scotia (the exact address is shown on the application). The average processing time is still 12 months, regardless of where you are actually living in Canada.

 

[SideshowLoki]

You can only submit your application by mail or courier to the processing centre in Sydney, Nova Scotia (the exact address is shown on the application). The average processing time is still 12 months, regardless of where you are actually living in Canada.

I'll add that that's only the average and it is severely unlikely that you'll get citizenship in 12 months from the date you sent the application. IRCC is severely understaffed (especially in ON) and they're backlogged quite a bit. I live in London and sent out my application almost a year ago. I still have not even gotten a test invite. Keep in mind that with the recent changes to citizenship law more people than ever qualify for citizenship and thus will apply, causing an even WORSE backlog.

 

[dpenabill]

Hello all,
I can't believe its almost time for submitting my citizenship application. I should be eligible to submit my application in April 2019 and i had two questions.

1- My wife will become eligible to apply in June 2019 and i am thinking that we submit two separate applications instead of one family application. both of us have been living in Canada and we are submitting our tax files annually. I have been actively working while she is not, but i don't think this should be a problem. Any one with similar experience to provide feedback and share insights?

2- I live in Oakville and work in Burlington. is there any preference to what location i chose for submission? Also, what is the average processing time for my location? I checked the tracker but didnt seem to have too many applicants (or enough data) from Oakville/Burlington.

Thanks,
Mohamed

Joint/family application versus individual applications:

Historically family applications (including just spouses applying together) tended to be processed with lower risks for non-routine processing or delays EXCEPT when there was some concern or question as to any one of those in the family application. In the latter event, the entire family would be held up pending resolution of whatever questions or concerns CIC/IRCC had regarding any one of the applicants included in the family application. BUT, as you apparently already anticipate, it is also likely that to the extent one of the couple has a stronger case due to a work history which tends to firmly document the applicant living a life in Canada, that can help avoid questions or concerns for the other spouse, particularly in the stay-at-home spouse situation.

This is NOT so clearly evident in recent anecdotal reports. So it is difficult to say this still applies. It makes sense. But what makes sense generally often does NOT reflect what a bureaucracy does.

I have previously discussed a number of factors relevant to this, but I do not recall if those posts were in this forum or another similar forum. They were at least a few years ago.

My GUESS is that it is still better to apply together unless there is a large difference in the respective individual's actual physical presence. When one spouse applies individually that might suggest reason to question why, reason for a processing agent to wonder if the other spouse was abroad a lot, lot longer than the one applying, and if so, why, and if so perhaps it is possible the applying spouse was also abroad more than being declared. But of course if there is a big difference in how much one has been in Canada compared to the other, the risks of non-routine processing are probably much higher for the one versus the other, and in that situation individual applications make sense so that both are not bogged down.


Decisions Affecting Which Local Office Processes the Application:

Where an application is processed depends on the applicant's residential address. Period. According to how IRCC allocates applicants in the various postal codes to particular local offices.

There are some exceptions for some non-routine processing in which IRCC decides to send applications to this or that particular office for this or that procedure. There are also some exceptions when IRCC transfers applications due to workload distribution factors, such as when a particular office has more applications than it can timely process while another has the capacity to handle more.

Thus the only decision applicants can make which will determine which office processes the application is in deciding where to live. It is imperative to declare the residential address for where the applicant does IN FACT reside, the applicant's actual place of ordinary abode.

That said, many do play games with what they list for their residential address, and many get away with this. Many others do NOT get away with it. Best course of action is almost ALWAYS to be honest and accurate.

 

[Moe2010]

Joint/family application versus individual applications:

Historically family applications (including just spouses applying together) tended to be processed with lower risks for non-routine processing or delays EXCEPT when there was some concern or question as to any one of those in the family application. In the latter event, the entire family would be held up pending resolution of whatever questions or concerns CIC/IRCC had regarding any one of the applicants included in the family application. BUT, as you apparently already anticipate, it is also likely that to the extent one of the couple has a stronger case due to a work history which tends to firmly document the applicant living a life in Canada, that can help avoid questions or concerns for the other spouse, particularly in the stay-at-home spouse situation.

This is NOT so clearly evident in recent anecdotal reports. So it is difficult to say this still applies. It makes sense. But what makes sense generally often does NOT reflect what a bureaucracy does.

I have previously discussed a number of factors relevant to this, but I do not recall if those posts were in this forum or another similar forum. They were at least a few years ago.

My GUESS is that it is still better to apply together unless there is a large difference in the respective individual's actual physical presence. When one spouse applies individually that might suggest reason to question why, reason for a processing agent to wonder if the other spouse was abroad a lot, lot longer than the one applying, and if so, why, and if so perhaps it is possible the applying spouse was also abroad more than being declared. But of course if there is a big difference in how much one has been in Canada compared to the other, the risks of non-routine processing are probably much higher for the one versus the other, and in that situation individual applications make sense so that both are not bogged down.


Decisions Affecting Which Local Office Processes the Application:

Where an application is processed depends on the applicant's residential address. Period. According to how IRCC allocates applicants in the various postal codes to particular local offices.

There are some exceptions for some non-routine processing in which IRCC decides to send applications to this or that particular office for this or that procedure. There are also some exceptions when IRCC transfers applications due to workload distribution factors, such as when a particular office has more applications than it can timely process while another has the capacity to handle more.

Thus the only decision applicants can make which will determine which office processes the application is in deciding where to live. It is imperative to declare the residential address for where the applicant does IN FACT reside, the applicant's actual place of ordinary abode.

That said, many do play games with what they list for their residential address, and many get away with this. Many others do NOT get away with it. Best course of action is almost ALWAYS to be honest and accurate.

Thanks a lot for the detailed response. Much appreciated. and i agree with you - i might be better off submit my application as a family. I don't want my wife to face any challenges in her application, specially that she did not work for the first couple of years.

 

[omerhaha]

Hello all,
I can't believe its almost time for submitting my citizenship application. I should be eligible to submit my application in April 2019 and i had two questions.

1- My wife will become eligible to apply in June 2019 and i am thinking that we submit two separate applications instead of one family application. both of us have been living in Canada and we are submitting our tax files annually. I have been actively working while she is not, but i don't think this should be a problem. Any one with similar experience to provide feedback and share insights?

2- I live in Oakville and work in Burlington. is there any preference to what location i chose for submission? Also, what is the average processing time for my location? I checked the tracker but didnt seem to have too many applicants (or enough data) from Oakville/Burlington.

Thanks,
Mohamed

Regarding family or individual application my own experience suggests family application as we applied as a family and the whole process from submitting the application until the oath took exactly 4 months and 3 weeks

 

[canvis2006]

I would suggest applying individually, so that if one member's application is delayed due to whatever, the others are not affected/delayed.
No harm in separate applications as long as all requirements are met(eligibility).

 

[Yelsew]

Where an application is processed depends on the applicant's residential address. Period. According to how IRCC allocates applicants in the various postal codes to particular local offices.

I was surprised to read this. I always thought that since citizenship applications have to be mailed to the Sydney 'processing centre', that is where they are in fact 'processed'. It sounds like they are only collected in Sydney, and then sent back to local CIC offices for the actual processing?

 

[SideshowLoki]

I was surprised to read this. I always thought that since citizenship applications have to be mailed to the Sydney 'processing centre', that is where they are in fact 'processed'. It sounds like they are only collected in Sydney, and then sent back to local CIC offices for the actual processing?

The processing centre in Sydney is simply to see if all the documents are there and that you baseline qualify. They send the application to your local office after, who looks deeper into the details.