July/Aug 2011

No reason to call the call centre until the timeline posted for 80 percent of applications has passed.

The likelihood of learning anything useful, from calling the call centre, is very remote. No need to waste your time, CIC personnel time and resources, or our taxpayer's dollars, since there is nothing to be gained from the call.

dpenabill wrote: No reason to call the call centre until the timeline posted for 80 percent of applications has passed. The likelihood of learning anything useful, from calling the call centre, is very remote. No need to waste your time, CIC personnel time and resources, or our taxpayer's dollars, since there is nothing to be gained from the call.

beaverr wrote: Hi dpenabill but at least to know whether he has a hearing or a background verification

See other posts I have made regarding background verification. Bottom-line, though, is that for most the update of clearances is routine, so not a problem, not a reason for delay. For some, how many I do not know, due to particular circumstances it is not routine, in which case the reasons for this are not likely reflected in the part of GCMS which can be accessed by the call centre rep or otherwise divulged to the applicant. So, no, there is virtually no useful information in this regard to be obtained by a call to the call centre.

And no, while many applicants may be designated for a hearing, for this or that reason, except for the obvious (failed knowledge test; failed language screening for applicants who applied prior to change in process last fall; clear prohibitions cases), in which case the applicant knows they are headed for a hearing anyway, no need to make call to call centre, the call centre rep can only see if the case is designated for a hearing, but that does not really inform the individual applicant if there is indeed going to be a hearing. Many such cases (perhaps most?) are still referred to the Citizenship Judge for a file review (again, except for the obvious ones I just listed, where the applicant knows they are headed for a hearing anyway). There is no indication in the file which will indicate whether an actual hearing or a file review will take place in these cases unless and until the referral is actually made, at which point the applicant will be sent notice . . . no advance indication will be visible to the call centre rep. Nothing to be gained by calling the call centre.



Transitional phase in implementing OB regarding Test Results
Applicants who do not know whether they passed the written knowledge test, or not, should be able to make the call and find out. Going forward, applicants are supposed to be informed right away about their test results. So, those who took the test in the past should be given this information. So this may be a reason to make the call for some.

For those who find out they did not pass the test (looking backward), you will have to wait to see whether you get scheduled to retake the test or not (if not, then it will be an oral test, a hearing). The OB states specific triage criteria to be applied to the inventory of cases where applicants failed the first test, to determine who (in the inventory) will be retested and who will still go to a hearing.

oyott33 wrote: You won t get hearing invitation before getting rq

Many, perhaps most hearings, are not about residency, no RQ involved. So, indeed, applicants may be scheduled for a hearing without ever having been given RQ.