After going through a long process of becoming a Canadian citizen from submitting the application to passing the exam, waiting for the invitation to take an Oath of Citizenship should be easy.
It will only take a few weeks to get the Notice to Appear To Take The Oath of Citizenship after successfully passing the citizenship test. Then another week.
The mailbox shows no letter from the immigration and so is the email.
No. It can’t be. I don’t want to become a bearer of bad new, but did you miss the Canadian citizenship ceremony, possibly, unintentionally.
OK. It’s not OK but you should know that things like these happen . . . to anyone. You are not being punished because you had cake instead of salad as you have promised to the forgotten lettuce in the fridge. (Maybe trying a new sauce could inspire you to eat healthier.)
Let’s turn into a Sherlock Holmes with a sweet tooth to quickly figure out how it did happen. Or you could skip on how to reschedule to take the citizenship oath.
How Did You Miss the Canadian Citizenship Ceremony?
The immigration always respond to applicants either through mail or email or both. But somehow, applicants are uninformed by some reasons that they missed the citizenship ceremony.
- You didn’t receive the letter or email from the immigration. (Don’t forget to check the spam folder.)
- The letter arrived in the right address where the applicant is no longer living. (Update your address online if you are moving out.)
- It’s a mystery. Who knows what happen to the letter or email. It might get lost in the cyber space or dropped in the middle of nowhere.
What’s your story? Is it different from the list?
As sad and frustrating it is, there’s no point of blaming anybody. Whining for a bit is understandable. I have something to cheer you up with the tips on how you can attend in the citizenship ceremony with an invitation.
Reschedule to Take the Oath of Citizenship
As soon as you found out that you missed the oath taking ceremony, immediately do one of these two ways to save yourself the spot for the next ceremony.
First, check online your application status to get more information about when the supposed letter be received. Second, include the details in your letter.
Option 1: Send a email using the IRCC Webform.
Option 2: Write a letter to IRCC. Check the Notice to Appear – To Write a Citizenship Test letter that you received to find out the address of the IRCC offices in your area.
If you want to make sure and ask how to take the citizenship oath, you can also call and talk to a Client Support Centre agent (1-888-242-2100 in Canada only). But that’s all to be done. The agent cannot set an appointment for you.
Choose among the two options or do both. It will give you extra security and peace of mind.
Note: You have 30 days to inform IRCC of not appearing on the appointment with reasonable explanation through email or mail.
When is the Next Ceremony?
Wouldn’t you want to attend the citizenship ceremony as soon as possible. After making an appointment to take the Oath of Citizenship, you’ll receive a letter in the mail or email about when is the next date to attend the ceremony.
That’s a good news, right?
The downside is, it could take a month or two or more to appear for the ceremony. It’s still a good news no matter how long you have to wait. Use the waiting period to celebrate and prepare for the big day.
Time to Spruce Up
Open up your closet to look for your outfit for the Canadian citizenship ceremony. That’s the next logical thing to do once you reschedule to take the Oath of Citizenship.
Worrying in the present is not part of the “getting ready” routine before the big day. And it’s going to be big. Imagine how many relatives you could invite to share the momentous event of becoming a Canadian.
New Canadian Citizen
Becoming a Canadian citizen has many challenges, big and small. On the less critical stumbling block, you could miss the Canadian citizenship ceremony for the first time. So may all the odds be in your favour for the second opportunity to take the Oath of Citizenship.
Have fun with your family and friends. Enjoy the cake, salad, and relish your first day of becoming a Canadian citizen.
Hi Quang and Kharina,
We have recieved the invitation too but were wondering if we can reschedule. So how long did you guys wait to be called in again or are you guys still waiting for the invitation?
Took exactly 2 months for me. 🙂
We missed ours too in July, it’s been almost two months now and we’re still waiting to be re-invited but we’re in one of the busier offices(Mississauga). You get rescheduled for sure if it was your first time, they told us we’re going to be rescheduled 100% after we sent them multiple letters, webforms. We even got our local MP to contact them, and they told him we’re in the next batch so hopefully that’s soon.
I missed my ceremony oath too and I feel sad and angry to myself too because that’s what we were waiting for so long; but I’m praying and hoping that they will give us second chance and they will accept the explanation why we missed the ceremony.