Can you be questioned if you were in CA after app?

timoti wrote: Can you be questioned if you were in Canada after application date? I was reading some threads here about presence, and was wondering about this. Basically I was working full-time until several months after my application date. Surely they can verify those days easily so I assume they don't have a reason to doubt those. But if you don't have a job currently, would they ask for poof or question you if you were still in Canada after applying?

The burden of proof is on the applicant. CIC does not have to verify anything. The applicant can be required to verify qualification.

This reminds me that I offer some rather detailed, lengthy exposition about the process generally and the RQ process in particular, and in doing that perhaps I too contribute to much of the misconception there is about the process, about RQ, responding to RQ, and proving residency in particular.

It really is not that complicated. There really is no cause to overthink these things. It comes down to giving the information requested, which is really just about a few straight-forward things:
-- time spent outside Canada
-- where the applicant has been actually, physically living (not just the address on file for this or that purpose, but where the individual has actually been living)
-- what the applicant has been doing, as in where the applicant has been working, or going to school, or otherwise if not working or going to school
-- some collateral information and documentation to corroborate this information

For most, what is in the application plus presenting (at the interview) the appropriate documents, together with responding to a few simple questions at the interview, is sufficient. If this is not sufficient, if RQ is issued, that's just the more extensive version, the more detailed version, plus some collateral information and of course inclusion of additional documentation to evidence the veracity of the information given.

For the most part, qualified applicants do not need to worry, just provide the information requested, be as accurate as possible and be as complete as possible, and there is little or nothing to worry about. (It could still take a long time, depending, but in terms of the ultimate decision, not a problem.)

That said: Even the most well-qualified applicant can be questioned. The burden of proof is on the applicant. Some people think they are well-qualified because they were, for certain, physically present in Canada more than 1095 days during the time that counts. No, that does not do it. To be qualified, the applicant can still be required to actually prove his or her qualification, including residency.

Whether or not a particular applicant is issued RQ and required to actually meet the burden of proving qualification depends on many, many factors, and is subject to very broad discretion.

In the meantime: if what underlies your query is some concern about being unemployed pending processing, I doubt that is a significant factor unless there is something in your circumstances indicating you are not unemployed but working abroad (at the interview, applicants without an obvious source income are sometimes asked how they have been supporting themselves).

Again, the qualified applicant just needs to follow instructions, be as accurate as possible, be as complete as possible, and all should go well (in time, recognizing that how long it takes can vary greatly).

(Also note: while what an applicant has been doing, and where, after applying, may be the subject of some inquiry by CIC, its relevance is indirect and it really only gives rise to issues if the post-application behavior raises questions about the veracity of the residency calculation declarations.)

Thanks alot guys, appreciate it. Yeah I guess sometimes reading about other people's topics here can make you anxious.