Mr Griffin

Hi. Submitted my application over a year ago, and apart from getting the confirmation letter some time later, it's all been quiet. I read that it varies a lot from place to place, how long it takes from application to test to ceremony, but what I would like to get the feel for, is how much notice you get before your test date ( ie., days / weeks / months?). Just trying to find out if it is generally the same, or if this too varies from place to place / person to person. Thanks!

iaink

I got about 2 weeks notice of both the test and the swearing in.

Dashie

Hubby called them a few weeks ago because we couldn't see our status online. They said it would likely be 15-16 months ( I think) total until they even forward it to the regional office. Looking at 21 months total at the moment apparently.

Cookie

We applied January 2011. Status update changed to 'processing' mid November 2011. With less than 2 weeks notice we sat our test on September 25th 2012 and last Thursday we got notice to appear at our Citizenship Ceremony next week in Halifax on November 20th WOOHOO

Ollie3

You're right - the process varies wildly depending on where you live. There's quite a bit about this in the "CIC Citizenship timelines" thread.

My Vancouver timeline was as follows:

Applied: July 2011
Processing: April 2012
4 weeks' notice for test: August 2012
17 days' notice for oath: November 2012


Mavis W posted the following very helpful stats in the "CIC Citizenship timelines" thread.:

Number of applicants (highest to lowest)

Alberta 17 applicants
British Columbia 16 applicants
Ontario 15 applicants
Nova Scotia 4 applicants
Newfoundland 2 applicants
Saskatchewan 1 applicant

Fastest individual processing time 8 months!!!
Slowest individual processing time 21 months!!!

Average processing times of completed applications (fastest to slowest)

AB = 12.55555 months
ON = 14.77777 months
BC = 16.4 months
NS = 17.5 months
NL = 18 months
SK = ?

Average processing time of ALL completed applications = 14.9473 months

Dashie

But they have slowed down a lot lately someone at hubby's work had theirs in 8 months from London last year. Now they are taking nearly twice that just to send your stuff to the regional office

petemaz

We applied and received acknowledgement March 2011 in Ontario
Our notice of Process was received October 2011
Notice of test received middle of September 2012 for test
to be taken October 1st 2012
Notice of ceremony received November 1st exactly one month later - (we were told on test day it could take up to 4 months to find out whether we passed)
Our ceremony is this Friday 16th November 2012.
20 months since notice of process. First bit took forever, the last bit pretty quick!

MarkG

Same here.

Mr Griffin

Thanks everyone for your input, it has been very helpful. Seems like it averages about 2 - 4 weeks from notification of test to the test itself. I applied in Nov 2011, got notification of processing about January 2012 and hence have been wondering how much notice I'd get for the test. One further question about the test itself : Any questions on history etc., will have the same answers ( history is history, right?) but when it comes to politics etc., which can change a lot over the period from application to test, it leaves me a bit concerned about commiting too much current detail to memory, therefore, based on your experiences, are there many questions on current politics etc., or is more about history and structure, so to speak? Thanks again.

iaink

Unless its changed significantly its just a language comprehension exercise. Read the "a look at canada" book, or whatever it is called now and you will be fine.

The only questions that you MUST get right are the ones regarding voting rights etc, but its all spelled out in the CIC instructions. Dont worry about forgetting who your MP etc are on the off chance they ask, you can get a bunch wrong and still pass, but the voting questions are the ones you must know.

MarkG

It has changed significantly. There are no more 'must get right' questions, but you now need to get fifteen out of twenty.

I wouldn't have passed if I hadn't spent some time reading the book and taking online tests.

iaink

So now its a multiple choice language comprehension test with a 75% pass mark and no mandatory must get right questions?

Still doesnt sound overly taxing for EFLers like us. Most of the multiple choice answers can be ruled out as stupid even if you dont know the real answer.

Almost Canadian

I didn't find this to be the case at all. Based upon what I had read on here, I thought it was going to be much easier than it was.

iaink

Im guessing its still a lot easier than the UK citizenship test, but then Im crap at remembering dates and percentages and historical details...

'tis what it is I guess... prepare properly and it should be OK.


"Questions answered correctly: 10 out of 24 (42%)"
http://www.ukcitizenshiptest.co.uk/



http://www.v-soul.com/onlinetest/canada_citizen_test/
You need 75% to pass the test.
The time you spent was 5 minutes and 58 seconds.
You answered correctly 23 out of 30 questions. Your score is 76.7%.

Tangram

+1 ( well at least my wife's test I would have struggled with.... fortunately mine was a synch ).