Citizenship question
 

Hi guys,
Been a while since I posted here, but I still read threads and enjoy seeing what people are doing and how they're progressing :D

So, yesterday when I was at work, a guy I work with was going for his citizenship interview (he's over 55 so apparently doesn't have to take the exam :confused:) but anyway, he came to work today and told me he has a slight problem proving how long he's been in Canada because he doesn't have a stamp in his passport.

That got me thinking because when I moved here back in April 2009 I too did not get a stamp in my passport! :eek:
I already had my PR card at that point which I think was swiped at immigration, but since I don't have an official stamp, does that mean I too will have problems when I come to applying for Citizenship??

The guy at work said the interviewer at immigration cannot get permission to see when the PR card was swiped, instead he has to see an immigration judge (I think) and only they can apply to see when the PR card was swiped and they may not even do that if they don't want to.

So my question is, has anyone been in this position and how do I prove I moved here in April 2009? I don't have my original ticket. I can probably show evidence of opening a bank account, but I don't know if that would be enough.

Any thoughts??

Thanks guys! :D

Re: Citizenship question
 

Hmm to be honest not sure.
I would be inclined to see what kinds of things you still have like bills etc, to prove you have been living here.
I am pretty sure we got a stamp in our passport althought am not certain (we too had our PR cards having done the landing process a couple of years earlier) we got our Citizenship last november.
We just listed on the application form, the dates we were out of the country and the reasons (mostly hubbys work but it was for a Canadian company so was fine) and there was no problem with that!
Thankfully they didnt have an issue with it,as I worked out the dates from using my journal of moaning about him being away again, and the odd stamps that were in his passport which certainly werent all of them!
Good luck for when you eventually apply!

Re: Citizenship question
 

Thanks for the insight. Did he make it through though. I would have thought that in the 59 years it takes to process citizenship applications they would find the time to verify residency without being arses about it. They know everything, so it seems a bit odd that the make such a parade about verifying the exact nanoseconds of residency. I did get a stamp when I came over to live, then changed status while here, but not every absence from Canada has a stamp verifying this. I'm not too worried about this and if necessary it's only a matter of them confirming records of leaving and returning to Canada. Sounds like you have some time to get answers to your question, and by far the best people to satisfy your mind will be the CIC folk. Perhaps others who are in the same situation will rest your mind a little but ultimately it's down to the guys that wear the gowns and their minions. The application process says nothing about making sure you have all these stamps and I'm sure if you entered or landed on a specific day they already know this. Don't worry about it.

Re: Citizenship question
 

Wouldn't the IMM5292 prove it? And the date your DL was issued? I thought that was why they wanted to see it. Does sound daft because they don't stamp the passport after you get permanent residency. Although bizarrely they stamped my passport in 2009 for no apparent reason.

Re: Citizenship question
 

I too am applying for citizenship (believe it or not!). I had to provide details of my absences from Canada. I put a note with the dates stating that to the best of my knowledge they are correct as Canada doesn't stamp you on entry once you are PR. Seems bizarre for them not to do that if the information is important in determining citizenship/maintaining PR etc.

As far as I can determine they don't swipe PR cards etc either, so they really don't have any idea of your absences from the country, especially if you go to the UK and don't get your passport stamped at either end. So I guess they are relying on your honesty :blink:

If they are causing problems, I suggest the usual utility bills, bank statements, paychecks etc to prove your residency.

Re: Citizenship question
 

Yeah, I kept all my Enmax bills. God, the amount of stuff I'm going to have to take with me to this sodding test with me next week.

Re: Citizenship question
 

Wow, thanks for the replies guys! I appreciate your thoughts.

If I'm honest I'm not too worried right now, I still have a under a year to go before I apply, just trying to get my documents together and get ahead of the game!
Steve - what is the IMM5292?
I'm usually quite organised and up to date on my paperwork, but I'm not sure what this document is? If it's the landing papers, I don't know where the hell I put them! (Which isn't like me!)

So as I suspected, now I have a PR card, I don't get my passport stamped anymore....that makes sense. It is weird though if you need to prove how many days you've been in the country! How the heck do you do that now?!
I have bank accounts opening in mid-April 2009 and by July I was working and paying taxes....so worst case I would delay my citizenship a few months to make sure I can prove I've been here.

Thanks for your replys and thoughts....I really appreciate your help!

Pinzo :)

Re: Citizenship question
 

When you get called for your citizenship exam, once of the pieces of documentation they require you to present is your landing document - IMM5292 or whatever. Your birth certificate is another. If you don't have your landing document you can apply for a copy of the one that CIC holds on file for you. (Which is one of the copies that the Immigration Officer took from you when you landed.)

Re: Citizenship question
 

Thanks AE
I found my IMM5292 document - it's still stapled in my passport! It shows the date I first landed which was 2007. That being the case I still cannot prove I moved here in 2009 permanently. Again, like someone else stated, it seems it's purly based on my honesty of dates and showing bills and bank statements?!
Now I'm looking at my passport stamps and when I travelled to the Dominican for 1 week in January, Dominican shows my entry and exit stamp and I even have an entry stamp at Toronto so they must still stamp passports even when you show a PR card. I guess I was unlucky when I entered back in 2009 by not getting a stamp!!

Re: Citizenship question
 

I just got back from taking my test (20/20 :thumbup:).

So anyway I had all that crap on me, never even looked at the IMM5292, although he did match up all the stamps in my passport with trips abroad, and there was one where I'd gone to the UK and come back and there was no stamp at either end and he basically said he'd take my word for it. He said it was only a major issue if there were lots of trips unaccounted for or one really long absence unaccounted for, if it was just a week or two he didn't really care. He said it was a common problem for CBSA not to stamp the passport so they had to be a bit flexible.

There was an American girl in front of me in line, she didn't even have a passport, just a NEXUS card and her PR card. I heard her say she'd moved to Canada with her dad and used her ID to cross until the US started requiring something more official. So I take it she had nothing at all to match what she'd put on her application for absences but she took the test.

Long story short, I wouldn't worry about it too much. In Calgary at least.

Re: Citizenship question
 

I think about half the times I've been out of Canada they haven't stamped my passport on the way back. Whether they do or not seems to be largely random.

Re: Citizenship question
 

Well done getting full marks on your test Steve!

So it does sound that it's not that much of a big deal then, that makes me feel much better.
I've only been out of the country once for a week, that's all, and I don't intend to leave again in the next year.

Thanks for all the help. I'm not going to worry about the stamps in my passport if the citizenship people know it's a problem.

Hope your ceremony is soon!:thumbsup:

Re: Citizenship question
 

Wow, they told you already? My friends had to wait 2 months before they found out they had passed and then had the ceremony.
I was glad we got the test in the morning and knew right away if we had to come back for the afternoon ceremony!

Re: Citizenship question
 

Thread drifting slightly....

Here's an interesting thing if you are taking your citizenship test in a location where there are fewer applicants - such as St. John's, Nfld. I applied for Citizenship last year and got called for the test in March. Couldn't make that date as I was travelling on business to the States. Nothing heard from CIC for many months until I got a phone call from them earlier this week asking whether I could come sit the test next week. Phone call because they couldn't write to me because of the postal strike.

Well of course, law of sods, means that next week I will be back in Blighty on holiday. When I said could I do it later in July, the very nice lady on the phone explained that they have to wait until they get enough people together make holding the test worthwhile. In St. John's that likely means waiting until some time in the Fall!

Which'll probably coincide with another trip knowing my luck......:(

Re: Citizenship question
 

I finished the test first, I only took about three minutes to do it, so I asked on the way out the door as she put the grid over the test paper and she said no problem, you got all twenty.

The only question I hesitated on for a moment was: "What distinctly Canadian qualities are embodied in the constitution of Canada?"

a. Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness
b. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
c. Language rights, multiculturalism, aboriginal rights.
d. Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity

Obviously it's c, but it was a bit of a fluffy question. The rest of it was simple, the only question I got asked about Alberta was what were the main industries, "oil and gas" and the only person I got asked about was "who was the first prime minister of Canada?"