Oh dear! Departure order, PR and citizenship
Jun 27th 2010, 10:46 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 43
Oh dear! Departure order, PR and citizenship
Howdy,
Let me begin by saying that I cannot begin to express my appreciation for all the help I got from members of this forum during my PR application process. When I finally got it, I thought it was all over and done with but Oh how wrong I was.... Here is the story:
First a brief history: I had been working in Canada for nearly four years when In May 2008 I applied to extend my TWP but was denied on the grounds that I had previously withdrawn an application under another immigration category (I'm still unsure if this was really the case)... anyway, I still had a few days left on my then TWP so I rushed to make another TWP application to "buy" me time, that is, so that I could be under "implied status". A few weeks later I found out that my TWP application had been transferred to an immigration center near my location. After much reflection and after my employer offered to sponsor me under the Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Programme, I decided to return to my home country before any decision had been made on my TWP renewal application. Before I left, I made every effort to inform CIC and the Canadian Immigration Center about my decision to leave Canada: I called them, faxed them and typed a letter which I dropped off, in person, at the Center. When I got back home, I applied for PR through NSNP and waited. In the mean time, I learned that CIC had gone ahead and issued a DEPARTURE ORDER in my absence:
!!!! I asked a friend to send me the order and I quickly wrote a letter to the Canadian High Commmission in my country explaining the situation. I attached the DEPARTURE ORDER to my letter and a copy of the fax that I had sent to CIC while I was in Canada. Months went by and finally after a grueling nine months I was granted Permanent Residence! I landed in January 2010 without any problems.
Now my dilemma: I was so eager to know about the next step in becoming a Canadian citizen that I began to look into the application process. To my dismay I discovered that if you are under a "removal Order" then you are ineligible for citizenship!! So now a whole bunch of questions are flooding my mind: When I do eventually make my Citizenship application, will I have to check "yes" where it asks if I was ever under a removal order? Since an ARC (authority to return to Canada) was never asked for when I landed does that mean that I never was under a removal order? Did my DEPARTURE ORDER became a deportation order when I didn't confirm my departure with a CBSA officer at a port of exit?
Any input will be very much appreciated. Thanks and be blessed.
Let me begin by saying that I cannot begin to express my appreciation for all the help I got from members of this forum during my PR application process. When I finally got it, I thought it was all over and done with but Oh how wrong I was.... Here is the story:
First a brief history: I had been working in Canada for nearly four years when In May 2008 I applied to extend my TWP but was denied on the grounds that I had previously withdrawn an application under another immigration category (I'm still unsure if this was really the case)... anyway, I still had a few days left on my then TWP so I rushed to make another TWP application to "buy" me time, that is, so that I could be under "implied status". A few weeks later I found out that my TWP application had been transferred to an immigration center near my location. After much reflection and after my employer offered to sponsor me under the Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Programme, I decided to return to my home country before any decision had been made on my TWP renewal application. Before I left, I made every effort to inform CIC and the Canadian Immigration Center about my decision to leave Canada: I called them, faxed them and typed a letter which I dropped off, in person, at the Center. When I got back home, I applied for PR through NSNP and waited. In the mean time, I learned that CIC had gone ahead and issued a DEPARTURE ORDER in my absence:
!!!! I asked a friend to send me the order and I quickly wrote a letter to the Canadian High Commmission in my country explaining the situation. I attached the DEPARTURE ORDER to my letter and a copy of the fax that I had sent to CIC while I was in Canada. Months went by and finally after a grueling nine months I was granted Permanent Residence! I landed in January 2010 without any problems.Now my dilemma: I was so eager to know about the next step in becoming a Canadian citizen that I began to look into the application process. To my dismay I discovered that if you are under a "removal Order" then you are ineligible for citizenship!! So now a whole bunch of questions are flooding my mind: When I do eventually make my Citizenship application, will I have to check "yes" where it asks if I was ever under a removal order? Since an ARC (authority to return to Canada) was never asked for when I landed does that mean that I never was under a removal order? Did my DEPARTURE ORDER became a deportation order when I didn't confirm my departure with a CBSA officer at a port of exit?
Any input will be very much appreciated. Thanks and be blessed.
Jun 27th 2010, 10:58 am
#2
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 4,483
Re: Oh dear! Departure order, PR and citizenship
You are not under a removal order so relax. The earlier one died when you were granted PR.
Jun 27th 2010, 5:14 pm
#3
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 43
Re: Oh dear! Departure order, PR and citizenship
Phew! Thank you so much Jim 
I can now relax... although will I have to check the box in the citizenship application that asks if I have ever been under a removal order?
I can now relax... although will I have to check the box in the citizenship application that asks if I have ever been under a removal order?
