JamesM

Done and dusted.

18 out of 20 on the exam. Glad I studied on the weekend as if I had just bowled in I'd have probably got about 13/14 and leaving the rest to guessing.

I'm fairly certain I got a question wrong on Canada's highest mountain. I couldn't tell you the other question I got wrong.

The good news is at the interview they gave me a letter to go back and do the Oath next Tuesday. So just about finished now.

JulieandDave

Congratulations

smivers

Just got an update online... Test on the morning of October 8th, oath in the afternoon. Don't know where yet, and none of the Alberta locations have a citizenship ceremony listed for that date. Will have to see what the letter says. I think I applied a year ago today, so that's faster than I was expecting.

Time to start cramming!

roxye3

Just spoke to my MP. Looks like CIC are insistent on pushing my application to their max processing time. 4 years! Sad times! My application will hit 4 years of processing in December!

Steveh27wp

Absolutely unbelievable! Hang on in there!
Steve

roxye3

Thanks Steve! Will do my best. I feel a stiff letter coming on once this is all over!

Roxy

hpka

I just received my Notice to Take the Oath!! 20th October is my date... just over a year since I first applied.... despite getting both fingerprints and a residence questionnaire!

HORRAY!

(full timeline coming)

Steveh27wp

Congratulations

allycat231

I'm beginning to think the long wait times are just a Nova Scotia thing?

hpka

OK, went back through the scanned documents and here is my timeline:

All dates are dates from the letters unless stated (add 5 days usually for them to arrive)

• 3rd July 2009 - Arrived in Canada on a work permit... later went through BC Provincial Nominee Program
• 5th May 2011 - Crossed the border at Peace Arch to become a Permanent Resident
• [The time between then] - Ran the Residence Calculator a few times with all my holidays/trips away to work out when I could send the application: https://eservices.cic.gc.ca/rescalc/resCalcStartNew.do
• 2nd October 2013 - Sent Citizenship Application to CIC Sydney ('s address)
• 21st January 2014 - Acknowledgement Letter from CIC Sydney with Client ID and Discover Canada study book, but I think this arrived in the mailbox on 20th February. (By chance, I called on 17th February to find out my file number as I had heard nothing)
• 26th March 2014 - Request for Fingerprints from CIC Vancouver
• 4th April 2014 - Fingerprints taken at Commissionaires BC
• 10th June 2014 - Test Notice
• 2nd July 2014 - Citizenship Test passed. During the document check afterwards, they asked why I was in the airport in January 2010... wracked my brain but suddenly remembered a weekend trip to LA that hadn't been included on the Residence Calculation. Residence Questionnaire received (in person), and a very helpful CIC person said I should send it back to his attention.
• 6th August 2014 - Residence Questionnaire sent to CIC Vancouver. Lots of help from both BE and here in finding where to pull all the required documents like health records and records of movement (hint: http://i94.cbp.dhs.gov for USA border crossings). The Canada Border Services Agency and UK Border Agency (since renamed to UK Visas & Immigration) Data Protection Act Request Responses had not arrived before the RQ had to be sent.
• Still 6th August 2014 - I get home to find the CBSA records in my mail box. I know the CIC have them (I was requesting them so I could match up every record)
• 11th August 2014 - Sent the CBSA records to CIC Vancouver anyway
• 9th September 2014 - The UK Border Crossing Records arrive in the mailbox, the letter the sent is dated 20th August, and the report attached to them was run on 19th July...
• 11th September 2014 - Sent UK Border Crossing Records to CIC Vancouver
• 14th September 2014 - Clarification phone call from CIC Vancouver, wondering why they have an eTicket for a flight but no sign of it on the border records. I had just forfeited that flight, it was cheaper to buy a return ticket than a single, and mentioned that I had done so in the cover notes.
• 20th September 2014 - Oath Notice letter sent by CIC Vancouver
• 25th September 2014 - Oath Notice letter received by me!
• 20th October 2014 - I will take the Oath!!!!

scottymallo

Hi hpka,

did the UK border service agency have all the information of your flights? I contacted them and they said they only capture about 50% of flights in and out of the UK.

Did you post your residence questionnaire of before your UK entrance documents?

thanks Scott

hpka

Yes to both.

The cover letter had the same warning, but all of my trips were there.

scottymallo

that's good news, Mines a little more complicated as some of my trips were in 2009. The letter I received said they only keep records for 5 years. So nothing before Sept 2009 with be there! Did the UK letter have entrance and exit information?

all the best for your ceremony.

hpka

It did give the limits of data retention and reasons etc. I sent a copy of everything I received to the CIC, so they could see it too. Seemed to work.

smivers

All done, under 13 months from submittal to ceremony. Test was in the morning (20/20 ), with the ceremony in the afternoon. Was very impressed by the clerk - out of 93 names, she only stumbled on two, both the same, very Dutch, surname...