ATIP: RQ Triage criteria interpretations

eileen wrote: One needs to call the Call Centre in order to request it. There is no downside to requesting it. Of course, if one's urgent need is like my urgent need: I urgently need to sunbathe in Cuba and I can't do it on an American passport, then it's not really urgent and it would waste 10 minutes of the Call Centre's time telling you so.

A call may initiate a chain of events which could possibly lead to urgent processing, but the practical reality is that a more or less formal request, in writing, and documented by supporting evidence is going to be necessary in order have a request for urgent processing seriously considered. (Of course there are some situations on their face which warrant urgent processing from CIC's perspective, such as for the applicant who won an appeal; and for such an applicant it is probably not even necessary to request urgent processing, as the operational guidelines for such applicants, for example, is to proceed forthwith to the grant of citizenship as soon as the GCMS, RCMP, and CSIS clearances are updated, which in effect means expedited or urgent processing.)

I avidly disagree that there is no downside to making frivilous applications. Not for the individual, at least not beyond wasting their time. But we are of course talking about citizenship and anyone pursuing citizenship should, at minimum, approach the process with the attributes of citizenship in mind, including being reasonable. Frivilous applications, requests, inquiries, and so on, place a huge demand on limited resources. Our tax dollars are diverted. Resources to process legitimate applications, requests, and inquiries are diffused and strained. There is a huge downside if one thinks outside the narrow parameters of how these actions impact just the individual. There is a deep current of narcissism underlying how more than a few view and approach the citizenship application process, and frankly it is utterly inconsistent with a genuine effort to be a Canadian citizen.

And it is clear that more than a few applicants, and perhaps some participants in this forum, abuse the process to the detriment of the rest of us by making numerous inappropriate or excessive inquiries. To be clear, this is about inquiries that are NOT necessary, not reasonable, but rather are excessive; sure, there are many occasions when it is appropriate to make inquiries. The issue is not about whether it is appropriate to ever make inquiries; the issue is about abusing the system and the detrimental impact that has on all of us.

I should note: many participants here have done a lot of service to others by making reasonable inquiries and obtaining information that is informative, illuminating, and oft times helpful. I not only do not mean to discourage this, but I emphatically encourage it.

But those who are motivated by narcissism with no regard for the impact their actions have on the rest of us, or the demands placed on the system, do not deserve coddling. Make no mistake: they are part of the problem.

So I do not agree that "we're pretty much all on the same side here." We have had more than a few participants passing through here who were overtly seeking advice on how to better manipulate the system, or in some cases outright decieve CIC. We have had some participants who went through the process and lost the appeal and it was clear in the decision that they were not qualified, which appeared to not temper their push to obtain citizenship nonetheless; in once case, since we did know the actual identity of the person participating here (until he revealed being the applicant in a published decision), a few of us discussed and linked the judicial opinion dismissing the appeal, to his chagrin (particularly since some of what he had posted under one user id -- he had a few -- was blatantly inconsisent with obvious fact) and dismay. While most of us accommodated his request to not refer to the case by name or to link it, the facts of that case were not a close call. And I suspect we will continue to have participants whose agenda is entirely personal with little or no regard for the impact on others, willing to abuse the system despite the cost.

As I have said, while it is perhaps not the fashion, the exercise of common-sense and reasonableness should be encouraged.

eileen wrote: But if your application has been lost by CIC for 18 months and you've got the postal receipt showing CIC receipt of your application, and they tell you that you need to reapply and wait another 2+ years for processing, then it might be worth asking about urgent processing due to administrative error.

That may very well be a case warranting (in CIC's perspective) urgent processing. Yet to see a credible claim reported here by someone in that position.

It is very different from the other scenario you pose:

eileen wrote: Or if your boss wants to give you a promotion to a really great and worthy position that requires Canadian citizenship . . .

The elephant in the room regarding the latter scenario is whether or not Canadian citizenship is a genuine, legitimate qualification. This criteria has very limited scope. Regardless of what you or I think the policy should be, from the perspective taken by CIC if the requirement for Canadian citizenship is about having a Canadian passport, that is not going to be an "urgency" likely to warrant (again, from CIC's perspective) expedited processing. Of course, each case stands on its own merits, its own facts, and these things do not happen in isolation but in a matrix of facts and circumstances -- but anyone who believes they have an urgency for which there is some chance CIC will expedite the processing: please consult with a licensed, reputable lawyer to learn more about what course of action you should take.

But I harbour no delusions about what underlies this issue when it comes up again every few months, which is far more about personal convenience, or to the extent it is about career opportunities that is about the Canadian passport not Canadian citizenship, and thus it is not within scope of what the Office of the Minister is at all likely to treat favourably and offer expedited processing.

By the way, regarding this:

eileen wrote: . . . my urgent need: I urgently need to sunbathe in Cuba and I can't do it on an American passport . . .

You probably know this, so more or less as a reminder for others:
American passport = American citizen therefore travel to Cuba is prohibited by American law, a criminal offence actually, unless authorized by American authorities, and it is an offence regardless of any other passport or travel document the American citizen might use for such travel. Not sure to what extent American authorities pursue enforcement of this, but for an American citizen with a Canadian passport it is still a crime (U.S. crime) to make an unauthorized trip to Cuba. (Seems to be a lot of Americans doing it with impunity. But then a particular intersection near my home is plagued by speeding red light violators as well.)

Justice4B wrote: Since you are not a lawyer . . .

I am not a Canadian lawyer. I have been a professional jurist for many decades, albeit it's been a long while now since I last appeared in front of a jury or appellate court or otherwise engaged in advocacy, but I have continued to be a professional jurist and for more than the last decade my day job has been analyzing and digesting law (both case law and legislation), rules, and regulations, composing and compiling what are known as secondary law sources (print and electronic) used and cited by practicing lawyers and judges in multiple jurisdictions. While this work is not about Canadian law, and so far I've not contributed to a formal treatise regarding immigration law, I get paid for my ability to read, understand, and digest (a type of summarizing) legislation and judicial opinions, as well bureaucratic rules and regulations, covering a wide range of legal subjects, and to do so from an objective perspective, without personal agenda, no narcissistic dictionary in hand, with an aim to figure out what it means from the perspective of those who make decisions based on it rather than based on what I believe it should mean.

And while what I do here, discussing citizenship in this conference and occasionally some other aspects of immigration in other conferences here, is not at all professional, and a bit sloppy much of the time (particularly in the style of composition), I make a concerted effort to be informed and to approach an understanding of CIC processes, including especially the grant citizenship process, without personal agenda, no narcissitic dictionary in hand, with an aim to figure out what it means from the perspective of those who make decisions based on it rather than based on what I believe it should mean.    

dpenabill,

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Edited by Justice4B - 19 Dec 2013 at 11:27pm

Edited by Justice4B - 19 Dec 2013 at 11:27pm