Hi, recently landed as a PR, and will want to apply for citizenship at earliest opportunity. Is there a good resource somewhere that lists the sort of records I should keep in order to demonstrate residence obligations, etc.?
What records to keep?
- Thread starter andrews65
- Start date
Preserve the following details throughout:andrews65 said:
-Credit card bills
-rental receipts/house ownership paperwork, property tax documents
-utilities bill
-cellphone/landline bills
-all boarding passes while travelling internationally outside Canada (Make a file when you left Canada, when you entered back, where did you go etc etc). When travelling by land, where you went, what was the purpose of trip, date entered USA, name of port of entry, time of entry. When returning back to Canada, name port of entry, date and time of entry etc etc.
-doctors/dentist visits
-don't loose your passports, keep them safe and photocopy or scan the pages as backup to preserve the stamps.
-car insurance papers
-house insurance papers
-employment records like pay stubs, record of employment,
Once you are eligible to apply for citizenship the above mentioned list may help.
Keep track of all your trips including day trips. I created a google spreadsheet. Keep all your boarding cards. On the day you leave buy something using your credit card and the day you come back buy something. This shows you the proof of your residence. Coz you may not be using the credit card on all days by buying before and after te trip you show them that you came back. Maintain it chronologically by scanning and uploading it to your phone, pc or cloud.andrews65 said:
Also for bank records download it as a PDF file and save it your phone, pc or cloud. Most banks allow only last 27 statements to be downloaded. You will need four years at the time of application. Bank will provide at if you make a request but will charge you heavily.
I did one mistake of not using one card during the four years. I had several cards over the period of the residency requirements. I got RQ and had to send all the crdit card statements. So if you can then use a single card there by you can be done with one set of statements in case of RQ.
Last but not the least apply with a lot of buffer so that you don't end up with RQ. If that happens then your case may take 2 years to be processed and not easy to convince CIC with any no of supporting document.
All the best.