December 2012 and 2013 Applicants !!!

kisunja85 wrote: And because there was no judge in Edmonton for 10 months, quite a high stack of files waiting for this rubber stamp has already piled up in our office. At least for Northern AB, edmonton2011's timeline is more accurate than those reported for, let's say Mississauga - one of the fastest offices for non-RQed applicants. My file went in process on March 27th, but as I said, I do not expect a test invitation any time soon. Not in 2013, to be exact...

I do not really know what goes on behind the curtain, but I have the sense (which is contrary to what I thought a year plus ago) that the real bottleneck, even in a local office like Edmonton, has more to do with CIC personnel and resource allocation than it does the availability of a Citizenship Judge. Yes, the lack of CJs is cramping the flow some, maybe quite a lot, but I think the biggest part of the slowdown is CIC itself.

While every citizenship application must be approved, or denied, by a Citizenship Judge (except as I previously noted, those withdrawn or abandoned -- not sure why memond12 is so insistent to the contrary, especially when anyone who has dealt much with CIC call reps knows how prone such calls are to miscommunication and being outright unreliable), it is worth remembering that for the routine case that is indeed very perfunctory, a single CJ probably capable of approving many hundreds each month . . . and when an office is short, the Citizenship Commission does shuffle CJs around to fill in when needed (relatively when needed . . . yes, there is still a shortage and delays due to that).

But, the bigger delays are for those who are not being processed as a routine case. This is where the lack of CJs is having major impact (but even relative to these applicants, I suspect, very much so, that it is nonetheless the allocation of personnel and CIC resources that is likewise the main cause for how long delays are in non-routine cases).

I get it, though, that there is frustration, and there is a lack of any reliable sense of when something will actually happen, like the test invite.

Patience remains the order of the day, day after day, after day.

polarbear wrote: Update: mamed: We started processing your application on November 5, 2012. We sent you a notice on December 19, 2012 to appear and write the citizenship test on January 31, 2013 at 8:30 AM. The notice you will receive by mail will be your official confirmation of your appointment. If you have not received this notice prior to the date of your scheduled appointment, please contact us. We sent you a notice on February 20, 2013 to appear and take the oath of citizenship at the citizenship ceremony to be held on March 26, 2013 at 9:00 AM. The notice you will receive by mail will be your official confirmation of your appointment. If you have not received this notice prior to the date of your scheduled appointment, please contact us. You became a Canadian citizen on March 26, 2013.

WOW!!!

polarbear wrote:   Ottawa office, 2012 Q2 applicant.

Edited by kisunja85 - 02 Apr 2013 at 12:17am

Send a letter to CIC and notify them that you will be out of country for 2 months. Notify them of you new address in Canada as well.

wishbefast wrote: Here is my timeline as per e-CAS: "We received your application for Canadian citizenship (grant of citizenship) on January 28, 2013.   We sent you a letter acknowledging receipt of your application(s), and a study book called Discover Canada on January 28, 2013. Please consider delays in mail delivery before contacting us.   We started processing your application on March 21, 2013." However I am worried as I haven't received anything from CIC and it has been more than 2 months (ie., AOR letter or booklet as stated above). According to the site, CIC sent me AOR and booklet at the end of Jan 2013. Or CIC won't actually send us AOR or booklet until they start processing our applications?? Any comments would be appreciated! Thank you!